1001 Rasam ( Thin South Indian curries)

Rasam meaning ‘extract / essence’, is a clear , thin South Indian curry. Though normally eaten mixed with hot cooked rice, It can be and is usually drunk as a soup.It is usually made from lentil stock ( the water in which tuvar dal has been boiled) and tamarind paste.The famous Mulligatawny soup of the Western world is actually a rasam (Mulligatawny is actually Milagu Thanni or Pepper water) .

Called Chaaru in Telugu and Saaru in Karnataka, Rasams are cooked all over South India, with minor variations across regions. Iyengars elevate it to the status of ambrosia calling it amudhu.

Tamilnadu and Karnataka take their rasams seriously and serve them at every meal. Some of the most innovative Rasams come from Karnataka. It is here you'll find chopped onions, green beans, spinach and coconut in Rasams. It is in Karnataka we see vegetable stock (water in which vegetables have been boiled) being used for making the delicious Rasam called Bus saaru.

Rasam is nothing but a clear sambar / kulambu. The most basic rasam is just flavoured tamarind water. In fact, the early rasams were nothing more than boiled tamarind water served with a pinch of salt and pepper. Rasams are still known as Puli Charu (tamarind juice) in pockets of Tamilnadu. Later, mashed lentils or lentil stock (the water in which lentils have been boiled) was added to fortify the rasam, thus creating the rasam we know and love today.

The defining characteristics of a Rasam are sourness, flavouring and its clear, watery consistency.
The sourness comes usually from Tamarind, flavour from rasam podi / Sambar podi. By varying the sourness, flavouring and the goodies added, we can cook up scores of rasams. The one page cookbook summarises many of these variations.

Change Souring agent
Change the souring agent and new families of rasams appear. Replace tamarind with tomato and you have Thakkali rasam. Use Mango and you have Manga rasam. Use buttermilk and you have more rasam and so on
Tamarind juice can be mixed with other juices to make more rasams. Mix in orange juice with tamarind and you have Orange rasam, mix in coconut milk with tamarind water and you have coconut milk rasam and so on. Feel free to experiment with a variety of juices.

Change lentils
Change the lentils used and you have the tuvaram paruppu rasam, pasi parppu rasam, Chana dal rasam, Horse gram rasam or masoor dal rasam.
Column 1 lists the types of rasams you can cook up by changing the souring agent and the lentils.

Change flavouring
Change the flavouring style and new classes of rasams like thalithu kottiya rasam, podi potta rasam, poricha rasam, seeraka rasam, milagu rasam etc., spring up.
Column 2 summarises these changes. Feel free to add a pinch more or less of flavouring to your taste.

Change goodies
Change goodies used and more rasams appear. Use garlic and you have poondu rasam. Use rose petals and you have paneer rasam, use lentil balls and you have Paruppu Urundai Rasam and so on.

Thus, a staggering array of rasams can be cooked with minor variations of the basic building blocks.

As Rasam is a thin clear soup, all rules of soup making apply. The western world has a range of soups and you can borrow techniques from these soups to make rasam tastier.
Tip 1 : Using stock
Instead of using plain water, you can use vegetable stock (the water in which veggies have been boiled). This would give rasam a depth of flavor. For a clear rasam, use a fine mesh filter and filter out the solids just before serving. Add garnish to this clear rasam and serve. Non vegetarians can experiment with a range of meat stocks.
Tip 2 : Using bouquet garni
A popular flavouring technique is to tie herbs / spices in a cheesecloth bundle which is steeped in the cooking liquid to flavor it. This technique is ideally suited for Rasams. Experiment with a variety of herbs / spices to cook up a range of exotic rasams.
Tip 3 : Garnish & Presentation
The techniques of garnishing and presenting a western clear soup work great for all rasams.

Understand these basic building blocks and you have a supply of Rasams to last a lifetime.
Happy cooking !

And that goes to Lisa's No Croutons required event.

1001 traditional Andhra curries

Andhra Pradesh, being one of the largest producers of chilies in the world, is famous for its hot and spicy curries. Like other Southern states, the staple food is rice (the delicious Sona masoori), which is served with a variety of curries built from tamarind, lentils, yogurt, and coconut.

Andhra cuisine can be divided across three regions - The eastern Kosta (Coastal Andhra), the northern Telangana and southern Rayalaseema. Kosta is famous for its fiery tamarind curries and spicy sea food, Telungana for its Mogul influenced cuisine and Rayalaseema for its vegetable curries.

In coastal Andhra, tamarind is much loved and is added to just about anything. It is here you’ll find tamarind eaten raw and even young tamarind leaves being used in curries. Hardened by centuries on a spicy tamarind – chili diet, the coastal cuisine seems to have been immunized against the relatively bland Muslim or Christian cuisines. This is probably why despite its proximity to the center of the Muslim rule, coastal Andhra cuisine shows little signs of Muslim influence. This is why Vijayawada cuisine is so very different from Hyderabadi cuisine.

A lot of similarities can be found in the cuisine of Rayalaseema and the cuisine of Southern Karnataka. This is where you find a roti - the Jonna Roti (made from Sorghum/Jowar/ cholam) challenging rice for a place on the dinner plate.

Telangana is where the mild Mogul cuisine was shocked by the fiery spices of Andhra and gradually morphed into the Hyderabadi cuisine. These curries are very different from regular south Indian curries and are not covered here.

In spite of regional variations, certain curries are so popular, they are cut across regions. A variety of Pachadis (vegetables blended with tamarind, coconut and chilies into a thick sour curry) are eaten throughout Andhra. The chief among them is the Gongura Pachadi (sour spinach blended curry) - a uniquely Andhra curry. See 1001 Blended curries for recipes.

Podis (Roasted lentils powdered with chili) are very popular and are eaten across the state mixed with hot, cooked rice and ghee. Powders like the Kandi Podi (Yellow lentil powder) Papulla Podi ( Roasted gram powder) , Karvepaaku podi (curry leaves powder) are eaten everywhere. See 1001 Podis for recipes.

Eggplant is probably the best loved vegetable, though all other vegetables common to south India are consumed. A specialty vegetable is the Dosakkai - an orange sized, round, yellow variety of cucumber which is not common in other southern states.

Andhra pioneered the cooking of vegetables along with tuvar dal into a thick curry - the Pappu. The delicious Maamidikaaya Pappu, Beerakaaya Pappu and Dosakaaya Paapu are uniquely Andhra curries.

Let us now take a bird's eye view of the curry families cooked across the state.

Majjiga pulusu is a medium thick curry where vegetables are simmered in a spiced yogurt base. This is closely related to the Kadis of North India and More Kulambu of Tamilnadu. As yogurt splits on prolonged cooking, this curry needs to be cooked for as less time as possible, on low heat. Using boiled vegetables would greatly shorten cooking time.
Sailaja's Majjiga Pulusu ( Sailaja’s recipes dominate this cookbook – thanks Sailaja !)

Charu is a flavoured, thin sour curry, without lentils, simmered with select vegetables ( usually tomato / garlic). A variant called Majjiga Charu is also cooked where buttermilk replaces tamarind water. If the sourness comes from lemon, it is called nimbu charu.
Maha’s rasam
Aruna’s Majjiga charu
Majjigae Charu

By adding boiled and mashed lentils to Charu above , we get Pappu Charu.
Cooking 4 all season’s Ulava Charu – a charu with a twist as the regular tuvar dal is replaced by horse gram.

Pachhi pulusu is thick, sour curry made by mixing raw tamarind paste with boiled and mashed vegetables. Andhra's love affair with tamarind is so strong that it is only here you'll see tamarind eaten raw.
Shivapriya’s Eggplant Pachhi Pulusu

Perugu Pachadi is the uncooked variation of Majjiga Pulusu. Mix in a variety of raw / boiled vegetables with raw yogurt and you have perugu pachadi. Majjigae pulusu is normally yellow due to the use of turmeric, but perugu pachadi is usually white as turmeric is not used.
Vaniram’s Eggplant Perugu Pachadi
Cilantro Perugu Pachadi

Kura is nothing but spiced vegetables. The vegetables used are cooked in numerous ways. They can be boiled, stir fried, deep fried, steamed, baked or braised. In some variations, the spice mix is stuffed inside the vegetables, which are then cooked as in the much loved Gutti Vankaya Kura. ( Stuffed Eggplant Curry).
Sailaja’s Chana Dal Kura

Pappu, as the name suggests is just dal (tuvar dal / mung dal) boiled with a pinch of turmeric. Popular variations have a variety of vegetables boiled along with the dal to cook up a range of vegetable- dal curries like Dosakkaya Pappu, Mamdikkaya pappu etc.
Srivalli's Mamdikkaya Pappu (Mango Dal)
Mudda Pappu (Boiled Tuvar dal)
Daily Meals' Nimmakaya Pappu (Lime Dal)
Luv 2 Cook's Cabbage and Carrot Pappu

Kottu is vegetables cooked in a coconut- cumin curry.
Sailaja’s Sorakaya kootu ( Bottlegourd Curry)

Pulusu is vegetables simmered in a medium thick tamarind curry. Usually a bit of jaggery is added to balance the sourness of tamarind. A few pinches of rice flour / gram flour is normally added to the boiling curry to thicken it.
Thotakoora Pulusu ( Spinach Tamarind curry)
Amar’s Sorakaya pulusu ( Bottlegourd Tamarind Curry)

Pappu pulusu :: Add boiled and mashed tuvar dal to a pulusu and you have the pappu pulusu, very similar to a sambar.
Onion- Tomato pappu Pulusu
Jyothi’s Pappu Pulusu with a twist, using lemon instead of tamarind for sourness.

If you have a traditional Andhra recipe not listed here, please leave a comment or mail me. Thanks !