Beetroot Rasam/Beetroot Soup is a nutritious broth using healthy beetroots and some mild Indian spices with a tanginess from tamarind extract, garnished with cilantro leaves. I love it with hot steamed rice and a vegetable stir fry on the side!!!
Rasam is a south Indian soup (broth like consistency), traditionally made with tomatoes and some aromatic Indian spices, normally served with rice but often relished as a soup too!! Today I have tried to make a variation of this with beetroots.
This amazing vegetable is a powerhouse of nutrients. It is very low in calories, full of vitamins and minerals and packed with powerful antioxidants. It is high in fiber, very good for the skin and excellent for cardiovascular health. Beet greens have more nutrients and antioxidants than beetroot and I have already posted a recipe of beet greens ambat.
Beetroots are rarely eaten in our house as my family prefers carrots and cucumber than beetroots in their salads. Sometimes I do make a stir fry with it or as mentioned, a coconut based curry Konkani style.
When I was trying to figure out what to make with rice today, I remembered the beetroots I had bought a couple of days back, hoping to serve this nutritious vegetable with its lovely pinkish red color in some interesting way. So I decided to try making a rasam out of it, and voila, they loved it!! Now, of course, it will be on my menu often!!
It is a very simple rasam which can be made in about 15 to 20 minutes!! (I love the color it imparts to my skin as I peel and cut it!!) Just puree the cooked beets, dilute and add tamarind and salt and jaggery along with rasam powder and season. Beetroot Rasam will be ready in no time!! Relish it with rice or just as a soup!! Your kids will love seeing their fingers and mouth turning pink (and you will have gotten them to eat their beets!!).
Beetroot Rasam/Beetroot Soup is a nutritious broth using healthy beetroots and some mild Indian spices with a tanginess from tamarind extract and garnished with cilantro leaves.
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized beetroot
- 2 green chillies slit or finley chopped
- 1 small marble sized tamarind or ½ teaspoon tamarind paste
- 2 teaspoons rasam/sambar powder
- 1 teaspoon jaggery(unrefined sugar)
- Salt to taste
- For the seasoning:
- 2 teaspoons ghee/clarified butter or oil
- ½ teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon hing/asafoetida powder
- Few curry leaves
- Coriander leaves for garnishing
Instructions
- Soak tamarind in a little water for about 15 minutes.
- Peel the beetroot, cut into cubes and cook in a pressure cooker or pan for 2 whistles.
- Once the pressure reduces and the pan cools down, open it and transfer the beetroot pieces into a blender.
- Blend to a fine paste. You can use the water in which it was cooked.
- Transfer this paste to a saucepan. Squeeze tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add to the beetroot mixture.
- Add the jaggery, salt to taste and rasam powder along with slit green chillies and bring to a boil on medium heat.
- Once it comes to a boil, taste for salt and sweetness and adjust according to your taste.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, heat the oil or ghee and once hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. As the mustard seeds start spluttering add the curry leaves and hing and immediately season the beetroot rasam with it. Mix well and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with a steaming bowl of hot rice accompanied by a vegetable stir fry.
- You can also serve it as a nutritious soup along with your meal or with toasted bread.
Notes
If you do not have tamarind or do not like it, you can use lemon juice instead.
After seasoning the rasam, squeeze half a lemon and mix well.
Try to use all the water in which the beetroot was cooked as it has a lot of nutrition!!
If you do not have rasam or sambhar powder, use any curry powder or even garam masala powder.
Step-by-step method:
- Soak tamarind in a little water for about 15 minutes.
- Peel the beetroot, cut into cubes and cook in a pressure cooker or pan for 2 whistles.
- Once the pressure reduces and the pan cools down, open it and transfer the beetroot pieces into a blender.
- Blend to a fine paste. You can use the water in which it was cooked.
- Transfer this paste to a saucepan. Extract tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add to the beetroot mixture.
- Add the jaggery, salt to taste and rasam powder along with slit green chillies and bring to a boil on medium heat.
- Once it comes to a boil, taste for salt and sweetness and adjust according to your taste.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the seasoning:
- In a small saucepan, heat the oil or ghee and once hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. As the mustard seeds start spluttering add the curry leaves and hing and immediately season the beetroot rasam with it. Mix well and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with a steaming bowl of hot rice accompanied by a vegetable stir fry.
You can also serve it as a nutritious soup along with your meal or with toasted bread.
Other soups you can try : Creamy Mushroom Soup, Tomato and Carrot Soup, Red Radish Soup etc.
Enjoy and Happy Eating!
Thank you so much 🙂 Do try and I would love a feedback 🙂 🙂
Wow, this is something so unique! I've never had beetroot in a rasam before.
Bookmarking this recipe to try later. 🙂