rassam... juice, or essence as its sanskrit meaning would be, akin to sambar but little different from it as sambar is thick vegetable stew where as this is thinner version majorly prepared with tamarind, tomato to provide the tangy flavour. Rassam has its own condiments to give its flavour which again vary as it changes the state. In tamil they call Rassam; saaru in Kannada; chaaru in Telagu.
this preparation basically has four major ingredients tamarind for sourness; lentils as liquid base; peppers for spicyness; curry leaves with fenugreek it all makes rassam the true rassam .. but it may change as the georaphy changes some parts use tomato instead of tamarind and may wont use the lentil water as liquid. even some uses coconut milk and cilantro to flavour their rassam.
but whatever the way they end up in making rasam, even the rasam is closer to mulligatawany. where as muligatawany has a tamil origin and it is translated as mulligu and thanni.. mulligu stands for pepper thanni for water as black pepper is major ingredient in the rassam.
rassam recipe: 1/2 kg tomato; 1/2 cup red lentils; 1/2 cup tamarind pulp; salt; curry leaves; 1 tsp cumin; 1 tsp mustard; 2 cloves of garlic; cilantro; 1 tsp red chilli powder(substitute paprika for milder version); 1 tsp turmeric
for spice mixture: 1 tsp coriander seeds; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp fenugreek seeds; 3 red chillies; 1 tsp black pepper; dried curry leaves; pinch of asafoetida
1. broil all the spices in a pan and grind in a coffee grinder leave them aside.
2. cut tomatoes add in a pot with water and lentils let them cook until tomatoes cooks well.
3. strain the liquid by strainer crushing the tomatoes or use the food mill. the result puree thin it down to a liquid consistency again keep it to boil add tamarind to it add sugar and salt to taste.
4. in a separate pan heat the 2 tbsp oil add mustard seeds when they start to crackle add cumin asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric and paprika temper the rassam with this mix well add cilantro and let it boil
serve as a soup or with rice.
Indian Food is synonymous with these two words since 3 centuries now.. British raj with the indian globe trotters spread the cuisine world over taking the flavour and the spice hunger with them. i'm not over exagerrating but every major and minor city all over the world has space for indian restaurant.