Rasam: All About South India's Favourite Comfort Food

Comfort food, it’s what you’d like to eat after a long International flight or a frenetic day at work, almost always in the comfort of your home. Our definition of comfort food might change along the way but then there are some dishes that remain a constant. Like a wholesome biryani or just a simple dal and rice or in the case of many of us in Karnataka or Tamil Nadu, piping hot rasam with rice. It’s an integral part of any elaborate meal at a restaurant or wedding feast almost across Southern India, but it’s in homes in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka where the humble rasam makes it to most dining tables daily.


Saaru in Kannada, Rasam in Tamil Nadu and Kerala or Chaaru in Andhra and Telengana. So, what defines a rasam? It’s probably the consistency, similar to a ‘thin’ soup sans cornflour and similar to a shorba. The ingredients can vary – while a large number of rasams are built with dal as a base, there are quite that don’t use dal at all. Cumin, curry leaves, asafoetida, tamarind are usually in the mix but again there are many exceptions like the lime rasam where no tamarind is used. In most regions, rasam is served as the second course (with rice) after sambar but in many parts of Karnataka it’s usually served as a first course. Despite all these contradictions there is one common thread, a hearty rasam is the equivalent of a broth (or soup) and almost always a ‘go to’ option when someone needs relief from a cold or to wake up those numb taste buds when you are unwell.

It worked for the British during the days of the Raj too. Mulligatawny Soup is not just an anglicised version of milagu thani (pepper water in Tamil) but is essentially a pepper rasam that has been rejigged with some interesting additions like apple. There are at least 200 known varieties of Rasam, each with their own distinctive ingredients and flavours. There’s Ulava Charu made with horse gram, arguably the most popular Rasam in Andhra Pradesh (from the Krishna and the Guntur districts) and is eaten with rice and occasionally as a soup with a dollop of cream. It’s quite similar to the kollu rasam that’s popular in Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu. There’s the Mysore Averakkai (Lima Beans) Rasam that gets its thick consistency from the generous quantities of coconut. Wedding cooks in Tamil Nadu have never shied away from experimenting with rasam. From the more conventional lime rasam or ginger rasam to the more exotic, sweet and sour pineapple rasam, the list is almost never ending.