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Best Rasam (dish) in London

A watery, spice-forward South Indian soup with a distinct taste—served alongside rice as part of the traditional meal.

Rasam (dish)

What the real thing tastes like

Rasam, (Tamil: ரசம்) Thili saaru (Kannada), chaaru (Telugu), chaatambde or saatramudhu (Tamil: சாற்றமுது) is a spicy South Indian soup-like dish. It is usually served as a side dish with rice. In a traditional South Indian meal, it is part of a course that includes sambar rice. Rasam has a distinct taste in comparison to sambar due to its own seasoning ingredients and is watery in consistency. Chilled prepared versions are marketed commercially as well as rasam paste in bottles. An Anglo-Indian variety of rasam is the soup-like dish mulligatawny whose name is derived from the Tamil word milagu thanni.

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Rasam is a watery, spice-forward soup from South India—a sharp counterpoint to the heavier sambar that often shares the same plate. It arrives as a side to rice, its distinct seasoning profile cutting through the meal with heat and brightness. The dish has traveled far enough to inspire mulligatawny, the Anglo-Indian soup whose name carries the Tamil words for pepper and water straight into its identity.

Order it here when it has

  • distinct seasoning profile
  • traditionally paired with rice
  • commercially available in bottled forms

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