The Book Of Rasams

Rasam, is where it all begins.

Who invented it?  Who named it?  We will never know.

Who owns it?  Well, who doesn’t?   You  taste it,  you own it.

Rasa , essence,  is  the finest part of anything.  And the finest part of our meal is  rasam. 

The Taittiriya Upanishad has famously said,  ” Man consists of the essence of food”.  The self consists of food, of breath, of understanding, of bliss.”  They must have had rasam in mind,  for anyone who has been swamped by the bliss of consuming rasam knows there is no better soul food  than this.

It takes so little of everything  -time, effort, ingredients, to rustle up a rasam that rises to every occasion.

In  South India,  little girls make the first foray into the kitchen under mother’s  watchful, indulgent eye, making the rasam.

From contemplating the little jar of rasam powder, watching the tomato and tamarind pulp simmer gently, adding the  rasam powder, never allowing it to boil over, tempering with mustard-cumin popped in ghee,throwing in  a sprig of coriander and curry leaves, and finally, adding lashings of it on a steaming mound of rice…………. truly, the self consists of  rasam, …….and bliss!