Rasam is staple food in South India. It is watery and soup consistency, but eaten with rice. Rasam tastes sour, tangy and flavorful. It is made of tamarind juice base. It can be made of tamarind juice cooked in a variety of vegetables or plain cooked tamarind with tampering, adding cooked lentils and spices. You can make wide varieties of rasams by changing sour agent. Ranging from tamarind to tomato, raw mango. Rasam is called Chaaru in Telugu, Saaru in Karnataka. Many variations of Rasam is made in different regions.
Rasam is traditionally eaten with simply rice, or rice mixed with lentils and cooked rice, or as a gravy with dry fry dishes. Lately, its been consumed a soup as well. Made with all natural ingredients, including sour, tangy tampered in spices. Traditionally it is made from lentil stock (the water in which dal is been boiled in) and tamarind juice. The well-known Mulligatawny soup in the Western world is actually a rasam.