Name: Tulasi Rasam | Holy Basil Rasam | Pepper Soup with Basil
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon cumin seeds/jeera; ½ tablespoon Tuvar dal/toor dal/Tuvaram paruppu/split pigeon peas; 2 nos medium ripened tomatoes chopped; 1 no green chilli; 2 fistfuls fresh tulsi leaves / holy basil leaves; a small piece of ginger; a sprig curry leaf; 1½ teaspoon Homemade Rasam Powder; ¾ teaspoon Salt or to taste; fresh coriander for garnish; juice of half a lemon; 1 teaspoon of oil/ghee; ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds; ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds; ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder; ¼ teaspoon hing/asafoetida; ½ teaspoon freshly pounded black pepper

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Tulasi rasam | Tulsi rasam, south-indian style soup with Indian holy basil leaves. This flavorsome herbal rasam, aka south-indian style pepper soup with basil uses no tamarind, but packs a punch with zingy ingredients.

Rasam : Comfort Food

Ask any South-Indian, they will immediately suffix rasam, with "ahh, comfort food", yes for us a hot bowl of rasam mammu/rice is one of the best things we enjoy on tired a day.

Rasam is a south-indian style thin soup. The base ingredients for any rasam is tamarind and tomatoes. The must include spices are cumin, pepper and coriander. It is usually finished with dal water or just plain water, depending upon the type of rasam made.

A simple rasam and potato curry/Beans parupuusli is my comfort food on any day. Mainly it is very easy to make, secondly it has got so many flavors in it.

This simple and easy to make rasam has a variety of spices that go into it like ginger, garlic, pepper and cumin, when this spiced soup is mixed with steaming hot rice with a dollop of ghee, it is an out of the world experience.

One should try rasam during a cold/flu, you would be blessing the person who made that elixir for you. My hubby always pairs it with narthangai urukai(dried & salted citron pickle), when he has flu and he would be going on and on about it.

Spice Powder For Making Tulasi Rasam

As I always mention, there will be 100 recipes when you look for tulsi rasam, each recipe is unique, some might be similar. The difference is in the spice mix that goes into making of the rasam.

When it comes to rasam powder, every family has their own recipe. I normally use my mom's kootu podi to flavor my rasam. Whereas my In-laws place they have separate rasam powder. I know many, who use sambar powder to make rasam. Check this Milagu rasam from Jeyashri's Kitchen made with sambar/rasam powder.

Apart from the regular rasam powder, this tulsi rasam uses soaked tuvar dal/split pigeon peas and jeera/cumin seeds, which is ground with fresh tulasi, holy basil leaves to get this flavorsome, aromatic, herbal soup. The tulsi rasam is garnished with fresh coriander leaves and lemon juice for added flavor.

Rasam Varieties

Horsegram Rasam/Kollukai Satruamudhu : A Karnataka style, hebbar iyengar special rasam made of horse gram or what we commonly call as kulith.
Killu Milagai Rasam : Amma's famous, no boil, no spice powder, rasam. Absolute bliss on days you have no energy to cook.
Coconut Milk Rasam : A Pondicherry special, rasam made with coconut milk. .

Tomato garlic rasam | South-Indian style tomato soup

Tomato garlic rasam, a south-indian style tomato soup, flavored with garlic, served along with rice as part of everyday lunch.

Check out this recipe

Jeera Milagu rasam/Pepper rasam

Jeera milagu rasam/pepper rasam is a south-indian style soup, made with tamarind and tomates and spiced with pepper & cumin.

Check out this recipe

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Some Dry Curries to Pair with Rasam

Sweet potato fry | South-Indian style dry subzi

Sweet potato fry, South-Indian style dry subzi made with sweet potoates and simple spices in your pantry. A delicious side to rice dishes.

Check out this recipe

Kovakkai Fry | Tindora Fry | South Indian Lunch 1

Kovakkai fry, commonly known as tindli, tindora or tendli, a simple to make dry curry with coconut. A delicious curry that can be served with rice.

Check out this recipe

Avariakkai poriyal | Broad beans stir-fry | How to make Avaraikkai poriyal

Avaraikkai poriyal, a simple and mildly spiced stir-fry with broad beans. The dry curry takes literally 15 minutes to make, if you are ready with chopped broad beans.

Check out this recipe

Recipe Card for Holy Basil Rasam

Tulasi Rasam | Holy Basil Rasam | Pepper Soup with Basil

5 from 11 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: South-Indian

Keyword: Easy rasam recipe with Indian holy basil leaves, Herbal rasam recipe, How to make rasam with tulsi leaves, How to make tulasi rasam, How to use Tulsi leaves in Indian cooking, Rasam recipe

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 45

Servings: people

Calories: 14kcal

Ingredients

Soak & Grind

1 teaspoon cumin seeds/jeera
½ tablespoon Tuvar dal/toor dal/Tuvaram paruppu/split pigeon peas

To Grind

2 nos medium ripened tomatoes chopped
1 no green chilli
2 fistfuls fresh tulsi leaves / holy basil leaves
a small piece of ginger
a sprig curry leaf

Spices & Seasonings

1½ teaspoon Homemade Rasam Powder
¾ teaspoon Salt or to taste
fresh coriander for garnish
juice of half a lemon

Tempering

1 teaspoon of oil/ghee
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon hing/asafoetida
½ teaspoon freshly pounded black pepper

Instructions

Soak jeera/cumin seeds and tuvar dal together for 30 minutes.
In a mixer/blender jar, take chopped tomatoes, soaked jeera and dal along with the water, ginger, curry leaves, tulsi leaves, green chili together. Blend smooth by adding ½ a cup of water.
Take the blended mixture in a saucepan, add rasam powder, salt and another cup of water.
Let this cook on a medium flame. Let it boil rapidly for 5-8 minutes for the rawness of the rasam powder to escape.
Check the consistency of the rasam, if it is too thick add another ½ cup of water.
My rasam was thick. It is usual as pigeon peas tend to thicken when boiled, so I added water. Take it of the stove.
After adding water, reduce the flame to simmer, let the rasam froth on top. Then take it off the stove.

Lets Tadka

In a small tadka pan, heat ghee/oil, splutter mustard seeds, crackle cumin, add hing and a dash of freshly pounded pepper powder
Pour this sizzling tadka over the hot rasam, add lemon juice.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it with hot steaming rice.

Nutrition

Disclaimer

I m not a Doctor or a Nutritionist The Nutrition information provided above comes from the plugin and is only an estimate.

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How to make rasam with indian basil leaves

Jeera tuvaram paruppu rasam | Jeera rasam

Jeera rasam, a south-indian style tomato soup, flavored with an extra dose of cumin. Jeera rasam uses less tamarind and more of cumin flavor, that gives the rasam much needed zing during the flu season.

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Beetroot Rasam | How to make Beetroot rasam

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Lemon Rasam/Yelumichampazham rasam

Lemon rasam, a south-indian style tomato and dal soup, flavored with lemon. A perfect accompaniment with rice and dry curries.

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Enjoy this flavorsome, punchy herbal rasam with steaming hot rice and a generous drizzle of ghee. You will need a tissue box to manage your sinus clearing off.