Go Back
4.84 from 6 votes
Instant pot tomato jeera rasam
Print
Instant pot Tomato jeera rasam

South Indian style comforting tamarind and tomato soup flavored with cumin, curry leaves, pepper and mustard.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: South Indian
Keyword: instant pot
Author: Preethi Venkatram
Ingredients
  • 2 large tomatoes pureed
  • 1 tbsp tamarind paste or 1 small gooseberry sized Tamarind soaked in hot water
  • 11/2 tsp Sambar powder or rasam powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 fat pinches asafoetida
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 sprigs curryleaves (roughly torn)
  • 2 tbsp coriander leaves
For the jeera masala paste
  • 1 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp Toor dal
  • 5 to 6 black pepper corns ( use more if you like more pepper flavor)
  • 5 to 7 curry leaves
For tadka
  • 1 tsp oil / ghee
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida
Instructions
STOVE TOP METHOD

  1. If using tamarind paste, dilute the tamarind paste with 2.5 cups of water. Otheriwse, soak the tamarind in 2.5 cups of hot water for 10 minutes and extract the juice. set it aside.

  2. Add the tamarind water, tomato puree, salt, turmeric powder, sambar/ rasam powder, asafoetida, curry leaves (roughly torn) to a pan and let it boil until the raw smell of tamarind is gone in medium high flame.

  3. While that is cooking, grind the ingredients mentioned under jeera paste with 1/4 cup water to a somewhat coarse paste. It does'nt have to be very smooth. 

  4. When the raw smell of tamarind is gone, add this ground paste to the pan and mix. Let it boil until you see it becoming frothy and bubbly. You can add more water if needed at this stage depending on how diluted you want it to be. When you see the yellow froth, switch off immediately and add some chopped coriander leaves.

  5. Now make a tadka - Heat a small pan and add oil/ ghee. When it becomes hot, add the mustard, cumin and asafoetida. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add this tadka to the rasam.

  6. Serve hot with rice or as a soup.

INSTANT POT METHOD

  1. If using tamarind paste, dilute the tamarind paste with 2.5 cups of water. Otheriwse, soak the tamarind in 2.5 cups of hot water for 10 minutes and extract the juice. set it aside.

  2. Add the tamarind juice, tomato puree, salt, turmeric powder, curry leaves, asafoetida, sambar/ rasam powder to your instant pot and cook in manual / pressure cook mode for 8 minutes.

  3. Mean while, grind the ingredients mentioned under jeera paste with 1/4 cup water to a somewhat coarse paste. It does not have to be very smooth.

  4. When the tamarind mixture is done cooking, release pressure and add the ground paste to it.

  5. Switch on the saute mode and let it boil until frothy and bubbly for 2 to 3 minutes. Add extra water if needed ( depending on how thin you want your rasam to be)

  6. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and add tadka to it. To make tadka, heat a small pan and add oil. Add the items mentioned under tadka and let the mustard seeds splutter. Add this to the rasam and mix

  7. Serve hot with rice or drink it as such.