This lemongrass and ginger rasam is a light, refreshing soup like rasam that can be had as it is or if you are like me, with a little rice. There can be very few things better than slurping into a bowl of rasam rice on a cold winter afternoon, isn’t it? I made this for the first time way back in 2019 when we were growing lemongrass often at home.
After making mugs of tea and brewing it just to sniff the beautiful smell, I had to make a rasam! Now, I LOVE lemon rasam. It is my most favourite of all rasams ever. The comfort of dal, the freshness of lemon, the zing of ginger – oh beautiful symphony! Borrowing from that, I made a lemongrass rasam.
I make most of my rasams in the pressure cooker. This may be a surprise to you if you have grown up hearing that a rasam must not be boiled beyond a point and it may lose its flavour. Turns out, that ‘right’ amount of boiling is one whistle in a pressure cooker. In this recipe, I will share how I make it but of course, you can do it in a way that is comfortable to you. Do remember that like most rasams, this one too should not boil but only simmer to a foam.
What is in this Lemongrass and Ginger Rasam?
- Lemongrass – I use fresh lemongrass usually, but this will also work with lemongrass paste.
- Ginger – freshly grated ginger works best!
- Chilli – leave it out if you are serving to a kid, but for adults and (some babies) this won’t be a lot since we add a lot of dal!
- Coriander stems and leaves – stems add an amazing flavour to this rasam ( or to any rasam) but especially this one!
- Pepper, Cumin – because what is a rasam without this?
- Lemon juice – yess, for the zing. This recipe has no tamarind or tomatoes.
- Dal – this forms the base of this rasam
- Mint – optional but highly recommended garnish
Lemongrass and Ginger Rasam
Ingredients
To grind to a coarse paste
- 1 inch lemongrass or 2 tsp lemongrass paste
- 1 inch ginger grated
- 1 tbsp coriander stems chopped
- 1 tsp pepper to grind
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 green chilli
To make rasam
- the above paste
- 1 tsp rasam powder or sambar powder works too
- 1 inch lemongrass sliced into small pieces
- ½ cup cooked dal toor, moong or masoor dal
- ½ tsp hing
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 cups water
- salt to taste
For thalipu/tadka
- ½ tsp ghee
- ½ tsp mustard
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
For garnish
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- mint leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Make a coarse paste with the ingredients mentioned to grind. Add about ¼ cup of water to help
- Add all the ingredients listed for rasam along with the paste to a vessel. To a 2L cooker add 1/2 cup water, place the vessel, close and cook for one whistle.
- Alternatively, to a vessel, add the ingredients given to make rasam and let it come to a boil. Then, simmer for 5 minutes.
- Strain to remove any lemongrass pieces. Biting into one may be too fibrous! Or, if you have young leaves, let it stay and remove when eating.
- Add a thalipu as mentioned. Squeeze some lemon juice and mint leaves to garnish.
Notes
- There is no tomato or tamarind in this rasam. The tang comes wholly from lemon juice so add accordingly.
To make a delicious Lemongrass Ginger Soup..
To serve this as a soup, use moong dal instead of toor dal. Skip the thalipu and filter the rasam before serving. Add mint leaves instead of coriander leaves as garnish!
This rasam serves better if it sits. So, let it sit for 10 minutes before serving for the flavours to mix and get to know each other so they can have a party on your palate!
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help me learn more about your preferences and will help other readers.
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