Rasam (dish)
Soup dish from South India
Rasam, (Tamil: ரசம்) Thili saaru (Kannada), chaaru (Telugu), chaatambde or saatramudhu (Tamil: சாற்றமுது) is a spicy South Indian soup-like dish. 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 watery in consistency. Chilled prepared versions are marketed commercially as well as rasam paste in bottles.
An Anglo-Indian variety of rasam is the soup-like dish mulligatawny whose name is derived from the Tamil word milagu thanni.
Origin
Rasam in Tamil and Malayalam, Thili sāru in Kannada (Kannada script: ತಿಳಿ ಸಾರು), Thili means watery, Saaru means curry/stew, 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.
The name rasam is derived from Sanskrit रस; transliterated: rása, meaning sap, juice, or essence. The Sanskrit word also yielded the English word rasa, in the aesthetic sense.
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