Quick, Easy, and absolutely delicious recipe for lunch or dinner – Rasam Chawal (Rice). This dish is perfect especially for dinner because it is quite light and gets ready fast. You can even enjoy this meal if you are feeling sick, under the weather, or have an upset stomach. It has a blend of spices that soothes you and can calm you down.
For more dinner recipes, you must check out – Dalia Pulao, Vegan Pad Thai Noodles, and Chickpea Pulao.
Story Time
I have friends, especially from South India who love rasam chawal (rice) a lot. And I always thought about what is so good about this recipe. I never tried that. I remember my roommate used to make rasam if she is not feeling well and was crazy about that. She had a big jar of rasam powder and always made it after coming back from the office. She made the one without dal (lentil) and just water. And I always wondered how come someone enjoy this spiced water with rice. It is watery and had nothing else in it except for some spices. And until now I did not know that it can be made with dal (lentil) too.
One day I was watching an interview of Deepika Padukone and she was asked about her favorite food. She replied that it is Rasam Chawal. That’s it. It is high time now. I had to try it. That very same day, I looked for the recipes and found the one with dal. I tried that. Oh my…it was so delicious. Even Jatin was surprised by the taste. We had a nice dinner on our balcony and I made a big batch of rasam and we finished all. Jatin even had it as a soup 🙂 He said that it tastes like sambar. Maybe because of the tempering ingredients and sourness. And guess what, now I also keep a small jar of rasam powder since this became our go-to dinner recipe.
P.S. I am not saying that it is the most authentic rasam but you are going to love it.
If you are in a hurry, watch the video instead and If you enjoy watching it, Plz Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
What is Rasam?
Rasam is a soup recipe from the southern part of India. It means juice in Tamil & Telugu. The two main ingredients for this recipe are tomatoes and tamarind paste. They are cooked with a lot of water and tempered with the ingredients like mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, and black pepper.
More than the dish it is a medicine to cure a cold, cough, body ache, headache, upset stomach, or simply if you are feeling a little weak and need some protein-rich food. It has so many beneficial ingredients like black pepper and curry leaves that are perfect to boost immunity and prevent sickness. It has turmeric powder which is anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and has anti-septic properties. It is light and easy to digest.
It is often made with just water and some blend of spices and tomatoes. But there is another version of it that is made with lentil water (water in which lentil has been cooked). Often, when sambar is made, people collect the water after boiling lentils for sambar. That water is used to make rasam. Its consistency is thin like a runny soup or stock and is served with rice, idiyappam, idli, dosa, etc.
But here in this recipe, I boiled the lentils with chopped raw mangoes till they are absolutely soft and then mashed them using a potato masher. It should be absolutely mashed up with no chunks. While tempering, I add a lot of water and cook again. It is very thin in consistency but you will love it. Trust me on this.
How to store Rasam Powder?
Rasam Powder can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 6 months. You can even store it for a much longer time if you keep it in the refrigerator. Make sure that the container is clean and dry.
Next time make a big batch of rasam powder so that you can make this recipe anytime you want to.
How to store Rasam?
You can store rasam in an air-tight container and refrigerate it. Consume it within 2 days.
You can even freeze it for up to a month. Do not add coriander leaves. While serving, heat it well and then garnish it with some fresh coriander leaves. Although, I never tried freezing it since I prefer to make it fresh.
Is this recipe vegan?
Yes. Of course. All the ingredients used in this recipe are vegan and plant-based.
More Indian vegan recipes to try – Misal Pav, Seviyan, Vegan Dum Biryani.
Easy Swaps
- Raw Mango: If you don’t have raw mango, you can simply increase the quantity of tamarind paste and adjust the sourness of the recipe.
- Tamarind Paste: The sourness of tamarind is different from the sourness that you get from amchoor powder (dry mango powder) or lemon juice. But it is all up to you. You can replace tamarind paste with lemon juice or amchoor powder.
- Lentil/Dal: Instead of Toor dal (Arhar dal), you can make it with yellow moong dal or masoor dhuli dal (orange dal).
- Coconut Oil: Use sesame oil or any other cooking oil instead.
More recipes to try
Now we are all ready to make this deliciously simple and comforting meal – Rasam Chawal. It is a nourishing bowl of happiness. Make it over lunch or for a quick dinner. Make a little extra so that you can have it the other day too.
If you make this recipe and like it too, please share the photo of your dish on Instagram and tag us too @thefearlesscooking. We love to see your recreation of our recipes.
Happy Cooking 🙂
Love from us
Richa & Jatin
Tell us what you think