Rasam powder
Preparation Time
12 minutes
Cooking Time
11 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Lunch
Serves 16
Key Ingredients
- Black peppercorns
About This Recipe
In South Indian kitchens, rasam powder is the roasted masala kept beside the salt box. With the spices already roasted and ground, everyday rasam is quick: the cook simmers a spoon of the powder with tamarind, tomato and water and tempers it with ghee. Our guide to black pepper covers the peppercorn that gives this powder its heat.
This version roasts each ingredient on its own schedule: the dals longest, until a shade darker; the chillies and curry leaves next, until crisp; the coriander, cumin and pepper last, only until fragrant. The grinding order matters as much. The dals are ground first because they are the hardest, and their powder carries the softer seeds into a fine, even mix the colour of roasted coriander, deep brown with flecks of chilli.
For a milder powder, cut the chillies to four or five and keep everything else the same; the pepper and dal carry the flavour, not just the heat. Leave the curry leaves out if you have none. The batch makes about 150 g, roughly 16 tablespoons; use one level teaspoon (3 g) for two cups of rasam, or a full tablespoon, about 9 g, for a six-cup pot.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Dals
- Toor dal (arhar dal) — 25 g
- Chana Dal — 25 g
Spices to roast
- Coriander seeds — 50 g
- Dried red chillies — 12 g
- Black peppercorns — 20 g
- Cumin Seeds — 15 g
- Dried curry leaves — 8 nos
To grind
- Turmeric Powder — 1 tsp
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Serving Suggestions
For quick rasam, boil two cups of water with a small chopped tomato, a little tamarind and salt, stir in a level teaspoon of this powder and simmer for two to three minutes, then finish with a ghee, mustard and curry leaf tempering. Our rasam recipe makes the tomato-pepper version from freshly crushed spices when you want to skip the powder. A pinch also lifts a bowl of sambar or a potato poriyal.
Tips for Cooking Rasam powder
Roast on a low flame and keep the spoon moving; these spices go from toasted to burnt in seconds. Trust the cues, not the clock: the dals should turn a shade darker and smell nutty, the curry leaves crisp, the coriander fragrant. Cool everything fully before grinding, or the steam makes the powder cake in the jar. Stick to this batch size rather than doubling it, so the jar stays fresh.
Chef’s Note
The two dals do the quiet work here: their powder gives the mix body, rounds off the chilli heat and thickens the rasam a little as it simmers. Toast them patiently, a shade darker but never browned. A level teaspoon of this powder adds about 9 kcal to a two-cup rasam, and the batch keeps for a few months in an airtight jar.
Per serving (approx.): 27 kcal, protein 1.4 g, carbs 3 g, fat 0.9 g, fibre 2.8 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Sep 13, 2026
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