Beetroot Rasam (South Indian Soup)

By demystifying beets, I hope I have convinced you to give this nutritional powerhouse a try. One way to eat beets more frequently without getting "beet fatigue" is to eat them in different cuisines and recipes. After making beet energy juice and picklish beet borscht with an egg, how about trying beets in Indian rasam. Although this beetroot rasam (soup) with South Indian spices is quite similar to borscht in texture, it offers the gamut of sizzling flavors--spicy, tangy, garlicy, and gingery.

This is not the traditional rasam recipe. But on my frequent travels to the Southern part of India, I have observed that rasam can be made in many different ways. Rasam in literal sense means juice (usually tamarind), but is referred to a soup made with tamarind juice, tomatoes, and spices. We are going to stay true to this definition by using all the basic rasam ingredients except adding a good amount of diced beets to increase the nutrition quotient of the soup. This beet-dense rasam recipe idea comes from a friend Neena Khan: a healthy food enthusiast who performs many culinary miracles in her own kitchen.

If you don't maintain an Indian pantry, you will need rasam power (can also substitute with sambhar powder) to get the authentic rasam taste. Most of my South Indian friends make this at home (stay tuned for the recipe), but you can also find it in Indian stores. My favorite brand is MTR (no affiliation). You can also find the brand on Amazon (links included below).

MTR Rasam Powder  & MTR Sambhar Powder

Whether you are new to adding beets to your diet or a seasoned beet lover, you may also like the following recipes with and information on beets.

Beet Borscht with an Egg (vegan)

Beet Energy Juice

Demystifying Beets: Colorful Nutrition on your Plate

A note on tempering spices

Tempering spices, known as Tadka in India, is an integral part of Indian cooking. The technique entails cooking whole or ground spices in heated fat/oil till they are fragrant. Tempering spices can be done either at the beginning or end of the cooking process. Stay tuned for a whole tutorial on how to do tadka, but for now we will do the tempering process after the beetroom rasam is cooked. The goal of this process is to transfer the strong fragrance and flavor of spices to the dish. Curry leaves, mustard seeds, and dried red chillies are the usual ingredients in the South Indian cooking. Since the oil needs to heated to a very high temperature, extra-virgin olive oil (or any other oil that has lower smoke point) is not recommended. In India, the choice of fat for tempering is ghee, which has a high smoke point. You can also use avocado or grape seed oil: these oils feature high smoke points.

To make tadka for this beetroot rasam, heat oil in a small pan. Add a few mustard seeds. When the seeds start to crackle, add curry leaves and whole dried red chillies; cover with a lid. Once the mustard seeds stop crackling add the tempering to beetroot rasam and stir. Please note that if you are new to the process, use a pan slightly bigger than the burner flame and keep the heat on medium. If the pan/or spoon is too small, smoking oil can start a fire in the pan/spoon. Also it is best to use large steel spoon or small pan for this process; avoid utensils with any kind of coating, i.e. non-stick kind.

I don't use the tempering process every time I make Indian daals, curries, or rasam/sambhar as heated oil (even the high-smoke oils) can develop health-harming substances (stay tuned for a clarification on that one). Therefore, if you don't feeling like using tadka in the rasam, it will still taste good. You can serve the rasam just by itself as a soup or  enjoy with brown rice or idlies (South Indian savory rice/lentil steamed cakes, also shown in the picture). Enjoy!

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