Ask any South Indian what his favorite comfort food is, you will no doubt hear him say ” Rasam” . Just as a dal chawal is comfort to a North Indian, us South Indians cannot survive without eating some sort of rasam for atleast once a week. We actually make it pretty much everyday!
Rasam is a traditional South Indian dish, made with a tangy base consisting of tamarind, tomatoes and aromatic spices like cumin, turmeric, coriander, pepper, curry leaves etc.. The spices you add vary according to the type of Rasam you make and there are many types of Rasam. It is usually served as a side with rice or had like a soup for an appetizer.
Rasam with its various spices is the perfect dish to have when you have a cold. As per Indian medicine, spices like turmeric, cumin, black pepper all have medicinal properties which helps you battle a cold. Also the hot Rasam is usually soothing for a sore throat.
My mom used to make different kinds of Rasam. You have some with lentils, some without, some with tomatoes, some with lemon.. there are versions with different combination of spices. The type of Rasam we make mostly would depend on our mood.
Rasam is one of the easiest dish you can make for everyday cooking. When paired with some rice and a vegetable stir fry, you have the best comforting meal ever! This instant pot garlic pepper rasam is just as easy! No need to cook dal or soak anything. It is a pretty simple recipe and gets done in less than 20 minutes!
Other South Indian Instant pot recipes you might like – Mixed vegetable kootu, karamani kuzhambu, Mor kuzhambu, Vellai kurma
Tamarind – As much as I would like to give you a substitute for this, I would recommend using tamarind, either paste or fresh tamarind for this particular rasam recipe. But if you cannot find it, I would skip it and add lemon juice in the end.
Tomatoes – Tomatoes gives the dish a great flavor and some sweetness.
Garlic – What’s a garlic Rasam without Garlic? But for a non garlic version, you can totally skip it! Just call it Pepper Rasam!
Toor dal – Gives some body and thickness to the dish and also the lentil flavor it needs. You can either grind the toor dal as mentioned in the recipe or add diluted boiled toor dal. You can substitute the toor dal with yellow moong dal or masoor dal.
Spices – Black Pepper, Cumin, Coriander seeds, Turmeric, Asafoetida to give flavor to the Rasam
Curry leaves and cilantro – Herbs which completes the whole dish. If you have to skip it, then it should be okay. But I would strongly suggest you don’t!
First we will make a spice paste with the cumin, coriander, pepper, garlic, curry leaves, asafoetida, toor dal and tomatoes.
You will make an extract with the tamarind. Soak the tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes and crush it well to extract the juice. If using paste, dilute about 1/2 tbsp of the paste with water.
Now add everything in the instant pot and cook in pressure cook / manual mode for 5 minutes. Release pressure!
That’s it easy Instant pot Garlic pepper rasam is ready!
Lets see how to make this tangy and comforting Instant pot Garlic pepper Rasam and the stove top version for the same!
South Indian style Tangy peppery Garlic pepper Rasam made with tomatoes, tamarind and aromatic spices
Grind the toor dal, tomato, cumin, coriander seeds, black pepper, 3 pods garlic, about 5 to 6 curry leaves to a paste and set it aside.
Extract tamarind juice by soaking the tamarind in hot water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind until you get the juice from it. If using tamarind paste, dilute the paste in 2 cups water.
Add the tamarind extract in your instant pot.
Add the ground tomato spice mixture and 21/2 cups water too.
Next add the salt, turmeric powder, remaining curry leaves and garlic , half of the cilantro leaves and close the lid.
Cook on manual / pressure cook mode for 5 minutes.
Release pressure immediately or after the pressure releases.
Prepare the tadka by heating 1 tsp oil/ ghee. When it becomes hot, add the items mentioned to temper ( mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chilly)
Add the tadka to the rasam and top with remaining fresh cilnatro/ coriander leaves.
Serve the instant pot Garlic pepper Rasam hot with rice.
Grind the toor dal, tomato, cumin, coriander seeds, black pepper, 3 pods garlic, about 5 to 6 curry leaves to a paste and set it aside.
Extract tamarind juice by soaking the tamarind in hot water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind until you get the juice from it. If using tamarind paste, dilute the paste in 2 cups water.
Add the tamarind extract in a saucepan and add the remaining curry leaves, turmeric powder, salt, remaining garlic, 11/2 cups water and let it boil for 5 minutes or so until the raw smell goes.
Next add the ground tomato mixture and boil until the rasam becomes frothy. When it becomes frothy along the sides, switch off immediately.
Prepare the tadka by heating 1 tsp oil/ ghee. When it becomes hot, add the items mentioned to temper ( mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chilly)
Add the tadka to the rasam and top with remaining fresh cilnatro/ coriander leaves
Serve the Garlic pepper rasam with rice and potato curry.
Substitute the toor dal with yellow moong dal / masoor dal.
While cooking the rasam in stove top method, you can cook the garlic separately until soft and add it to the rasam if you liked well cooked garlic.
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Thank you for this easy yet yummy recipe. My 6 year old and my husband loved it so much. This is my third time making rasam, following the same recipe.I’ve shared the recipe to my mom as well and she liked it too. I’ve added your website to my homescreen to keep checking for new recipes. Thank you again :))
Oh thank you so much for the feedback Sindhu :) I am so glad your family enjoyed it :) Kids are the best critics :)