Rasam is a spicy South Indian soup-like dish.[1] It is usually served as a side dish with rice. In a traditional South Indian meal, it is part of a course that includes sambar rice. Rasam has a distinct taste in comparison to sambar due to its own seasoning ingredients and is fluid in consistency. Chilled prepared versions are marketed commercially as well as rasam paste in bottles.[2]
An Anglo-Indian variety of rasam is the soup-like dish mulligatawny whose name is derived from the Tamil word mulagu thani.[3]
Origin
Rasam in Malayalam and Tamil, Tili sāru in Kannada (Kannada script: ತಿಳಿ ಸಾರು), or chāru(చారు) in Telugu means "essence" and, by extension, "juice" or "soup". In South Indian households rasam commonly refers to a soupy dish prepared with a sweet-sour stock made from either kokum or tamarind, along with tomato and lentil, added spices and garnish.