Lunch · 25 min · indian

Rasam

Dinner decisions, handled: Rasam pairs tomatoes with tamarind pulp for a 25-minute Indian lunch. It is weeknight cooking that still hits your targets — 3 grams of protein per serving. Naturally vegetarian, it scales cleanly if you are cooking for more than one.

Ingredients

• 4 Tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Tamarind pulp
• 1/4 cup Toor dal
• 2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 2 tsp Black peppercorns
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 8 Curry leaves
• 1 tbsp Ghee

Steps

1. Simmer the toor dal in 2 cups water 20 minutes until soft, then whisk smooth with its cooking liquid.
2. Crush the cumin, peppercorns, and garlic to a coarse paste — the pestle-and-mortar texture matters more than fineness here.
3. Simmer the chopped tomatoes, tamarind, and 3 cups water 8 minutes until the tomatoes slump.
4. Stir in the dal and the spice paste; simmer 5 minutes until the rasam froths gently at the edges.
5. Heat the ghee, pop the mustard seeds and curry leaves, and pour the sizzling tempering over the rasam.
6. Taste for the classic balance — sour first, then heat, then salt — and adjust tamarind or salt.
7. Serve steaming in mugs as a soup, or ladled over rice.

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