I have a cold! And the best thing for a cold is soup. I was going to make my mother in law’s rasam recipe which is delicious but I wanted something a little different, maybe a little creamy. I looked up coconut rasam randomly and found this recipe on Edible Garden for coconut milk rasam. It was exactly what I was looking for and so quick to make. So exciting!

I added onions and a little cumin too and it came out wonderful. Perfect over rice.

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion chopped
2 small or one big tomato chopped
1 tablespoon tamarind natural paste (or soak a lemon sized ball of tamarind in water)
1 tablespoon rasam powder (available in Indian grocery stores)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch sugar
Salt
1 can coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen light coconut milk today)
1/2 tablespoon more olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
5-6 curry leaves
Cilantro to garnish

1. Heat oil in a saucepan and saute onions until translucent. Add tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes.
2. Add tamarind paste, rasam powder, turmeric, sugar and salt and cook for another couple of minutes.
3. Add coconut milk and about a half can more of water.
4. In a tadka or other small pan, add the rest of the oil. Once the oil is heated, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, add the curry leaves and cook for a second. Add to the rasam.
5. Cook for a few minutes, top with cilantro, then serve with rice.