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    Home » Recipes » Soups

    Published: Dec 18, 2018 · Modified: Aug 5, 2020 by Usha Rao

    Tamata Chaaru ~ Tomato Rasam Recipe

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    Tamata chaaru is a spicy, light, flavorful South Indian soup. It is a side dish for steamed rice.

    A bowl of tamata chaaru.  It is a spicy, light Indian version of tomato soup.

    Theme of the Week

    Theme for this week is meal time dishes and I picked one of the staple side dishes from South Indian cuisine. It is a simple and easy tamata rasam and is also called chaaru in Telugu, my native dialect. This recipe does not require any make ahead spice mix and tamarind. It was my meal few days ago, long with carrot radish salad and Thai eggplant curry.

    What is Chaaru?

    Chaaru is a tangy, spicy, South Indian thin soup. It is usually prepared with tamarind extract as the main ingredient with or without tomatoes. However, in tomato chaaru, tomatoes are the main ingredients and tamarind is optional, depending on how tart and tangy the tomatoes are.

    Everyday meal - vankaya masala koora carrot salad and rasam with white rice

    No Tamarind, No Rasam Powder Tamata Chaaru

    Today’s tamata chaaru is my aunt's recipe. I do not remember the exact recipe but this is a recreation of her version of tamata chaaru.

    Boil tomatoes, puree them, boil again along with the seasoning and finish off with a tempering. The change I made is, blanch tomatoes, puree and boil with spices and finally temper it. It is as simple as that and tastes pretty good as well.

    If the tomatoes are not tangy enough, squeeze a few drops of lime or lemon juice. Serve it with rice or drink as soup. It is comfort food during the monsoon season and in winters.

    This is a no lentils chaaru, however, I was a little under the weather yesterday and made this chaaru to clear up my sinuses. To increase the nutritional value, I added some powdered toor dal to chaaru. Here is another version of tomato rasam with tamarind extract. Even this is no lentil but you can add some powdered toor dal for extra nutrition.

    a bowl of tamata chaaru

    Tamata Chaaru Recipe

    A bowl of tomato tamata chaaru. It is a spicy, light Indian version of tomato soup.

    Tomato Rasam or Tamata Chaaru

    Tomato rasam is a thin, spicy South Indian soup serve with rice
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: South Indian
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    Servings: 3
    Calories:

    Ingredients

    Main Ingredients

    • 2 medium to large or 250 grams Vine Ripe Tomatoes
    • 3 cups Water
    • ¼ - ½ teaspoon Chili Powder
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • 4 Curry Leaves
    • 1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
    • Cilantro or Kothmir
    • ½ small Onion chopped, opt
    • Few drops of Lime Juice, opt

    Spice Blend

    • 1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds
    • ¼ teaspoon or 20 Black Peppercorns
    • ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds

    Tempering

    • 3 teaspoon Oil
    • 1 Red Chili broken into two
    • 3 Curry Leaves
    • ¼ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
    • ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
    • ½ teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste or Crushed Garlic
    • ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek Powder opt
    • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

    Instructions

    • Take water and washed tomatoes in a pot and bring to boil.
    • Once the skin of the tomatoes begins to peel off, remove from water, remove the skin and puree tomatoes. Pour puree back into boiled water. Alternative is roughly cut peeled tomatoes, put them back in boiled water and blend using an immersion blender.
    • Grind all the ingredients listed under spice blend and add it to tomato puree mixture.
    • Add chili powder, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, kothmir sprigs and onions (if using) to tomato puree mixture and boil for about 10 minutes or until raw smell of tomatoes and spices is gone.
    • Meantime, make the tempering by heating oil in a pan.
    • When oil is hot, add red chili, mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves and ginger garlic paste.
    • Once seeds splutter, add turmeric and turn off the heat.
    • Pour it over tomato chaaru, cover and let boil for couple of minutes.
    • Taste rasam and adjust seasoning. For a tangy rasam, squeeze some lime juice. Squeeze lime juice just before turning off the flame or after turning off the flame.
    • Garnish with kothmir and keep the rasam covered until ready to serve.
    • Serve hot with steaming rice.

    Notes

    • Tomatoes - I use vine tomatoes but any variety should work. If the tomatoes are not tangy, add some lime juice
    • Spice Blend - i normally do not roast spices but one can do so and then make a fine powder for a variation.
    • Lentils - I prefer not to use any lentils in this rasam. But if one wishes, grind toor dal along with rest of the spices listed under spice blend.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 0g | Carbohydrates: 0g | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 0mg | Potassium: 0mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 0g | Vitamin A: 0IU | Vitamin C: 0mg | Calcium: 0mg | Iron: 0mg
    Tried this recipe?Share a photo! Mention @usha_myspicykitchen or tag #Usha_MySpicyKitchen!

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    A bowl of tomato  chaaru is a flavorful south Indian soup and a side dish

    « Carrot Radish Salad ~ Gajar Mooli Koshimbir
    Sauteed Ivy Gourd ~ Dondakaya Koora »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Priya Srinivasan says

      February 16, 2019 at 2:09 pm

      Give me rasam everyday, i would be one happy soul enjoying it without any complaints!! Real comfort food!! Looks delicious usha!

      Reply
    2. Srivalli says

      January 21, 2019 at 12:08 am

      Ah the pictures look amazing Usha, and that mini thali looks awesome!..

      Reply
    3. Chef Mireille says

      January 16, 2019 at 1:42 am

      5 stars
      I love all varieties of rasam especially when it is so cold in the winter it makes perfect comfort food

      Reply
    4. Pavani says

      January 12, 2019 at 9:58 am

      5 stars
      I love spicy tomato rasam - so good to eat with some hot rice when under the weather. lovely clicks of simple everyday rasam.

      Reply
    5. Priya Suresh says

      December 23, 2018 at 11:11 am

      My comforting food, i can survive for many days with a bowl of rasam rice. My all time favourite and that whole platter is seriously very balanced and healthy to please some hungry tummies easily.

      Reply
    6. Gayathri Kumar says

      December 22, 2018 at 8:45 am

      We usually add the water from cooking dal. That adds so much taste to rasam. Your version of tomato chaaru looks so good and I just love that whole platter.

      Reply
    7. Swati says

      December 20, 2018 at 11:57 pm

      5 stars
      I love rasam and this one looks so tempting. I usually use store bought rasam powder like the use of fresh spice blend, will try your way next time.

      Reply
    8. Suma Gandlur says

      December 19, 2018 at 10:40 pm

      It is one comforting food. I use lemon instead of tamarind too but was wondering about the absence of rasam powder until I saw the spice blend. That is pretty much what we use to make rasam powder. I have seen some making the rasam powder fresh each time they make rasam, just the way you did. I think this way the rasam would be more flavorful.

      Reply

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    Hi, I am Usha! Welcome to my space. I am the content creator and photographer here. I love cooking and all the recipes on the site are tried and tested in my kitchen.

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