Pepper rasam is one of the easiest and great tasting south Indian rasam recipes. Easy because it needs very few ingredients and also because you can go from start to finish in 30 minutes or less. Let’s get started! This is basically a watery pepper-flavored rasam enriched with flavors from tomatoes and supporting spices. It is typically served as a pairing with steamed rice, but can also be enjoyed as a drink or soup. I agree to be sent email.
My family and I enjoy this simple dish during wintery days just like you would enjoy soup or bisque in the winter. It keeps us warm and helps fight cold and fever during cold weather seasons. If you are looking for a rasam recipe for cold, this is one of the easy and best-tasting rasam recipes you can find. If you generally prefer rasam recipes over any other recipe, check out similar recipes that I have shared in the past like tomato rasam, hesaru bele saaru, and horsegram rasam. Pepper rasam or any rasam pairs well with steamed sona masoori rice and a side of vegetable stir-fries like Swiss chard and potatoes, beetroot poriyal, beans playa, and rice.
Ingredients
Black pepper: Use whole black pepper instead of ground peppers to make sure you get the freshest of flavors. Ground pepper that is stored for a long time can lose its flavor. Tomatoes: Fresh or canned tomatoes work equally good for this recipe. Regardless of which one you use, you will have to puree it before using it for the recipe. Cumin seeds: This is not something you can skip because its a big source of the flavor for the dish. Similar to pepper, look for cumin seeds instead of cumin powder. Seeds that are not older than an year provides the best falvor. Other spices: Mustard seeds, Urad dal, and Turmeric are the other supporting spices you will need to complement the flavors. As always, be sure to store the spices in an airtight container to get the best out of them for this recipe.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
First, wash and chop the tomatoes into cubes and puree them with a blender. Place it aside for use later.
Grind the black pepper and cumin seeds in a little (coffee) grinder and make them into a coarse powder. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, you can use a mortar and pestle to get it done.
Add curry leaves and green chilies to the pot and saute it for 30 seconds.
As the oil heats up, add mustard seeds and urad dal. Saute until mustard seeds start to crackle.
Add the tomato puree, turmeric powder, and tamarind paste and mix well. (If you are using tamarind pulp, soak it with ½ cup of warm water for 5-10 minutes, extract the tamarind essence and add it to the pot.)
Add 2 ½ cups water and salt. Give it a nice stir.
As you continue to simmer, froth starts forming on the top indicating the time to turn off the flame. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Once it starts boiling, simmer it on a low flame for 10 minutes until the raw smell of the tamarind disappears. By this time, the rasam quantity would have reduced a little. Add ½ cup water if the dish is too thick.
Variations
If you love garlic in pepper rasam or milagu rasam, add crushed or chopped garlic as you saute the spices. You could skip the tomatoes altogether and boil the water with just tamarind paste or water. If you are not a big fan of tamarind, feel free to skip it and replace that with one extra tomato instead.
Storage
Pepper rasam has a decent shelf life and makes it a good choice to reuse leftovers throughout the week. You could store the pepper rasam in a refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Be sure to reheat before serving it.
Top tip
Add ¼ - ½ cup water if your rasam turns out spicy or sour. I used medium spicy green chilies. Green chilies come in different temperament. If your green chiles are very spicy, be sure to vary the quantity to suite your taste preference.If you have rasam powder stowed away in your pantry, you could also add ½ teaspoon of that along with other spices to get some enhanced flavor.
You might also like
Just subscribe to my newsletter for more delicious vegan recipes such as this sent directly to your inbox.
📖 Recipe
