This was an impromptu preparation solely for the purposes of cleaning up my fridge. I am not sure as to the authenticity of the recipe, but i just loosely followed the steps from a previous Rasam recipe that i had made. However it is not even close to the thin watery version of what a Rasam represents. But this is my way of making a Tomato rasam, and since it turned out to be so amazingly delicious, i am going to stick to this recipe for future references.

Ingredients

3 medium tomatoes- chopped or crushed with hand
3 tbsp toor dal (yellow split lentils)- boiled
1/4th tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp rasam powder (you can alternately crush coriander, black pepper and cumin seeds if you dont have rasam powder)
salt to taste
2 tsp tamarind paste
2 tsp jaggery
2 tbsp cilantro

For tempering

2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4th tsp asafoetida
2 dried red chilies (or as per your spice level)
4-5 curry leaves

1. Heat oil in a cooking pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the turmeric, asafoetida, curry leaves and red chilies in that order.
2. Saute for 2 minutes and add the diced/crushed tomatoes and toor dal.
3. Add 1/2 cup water and let cook till the tomatoes are completely done.
4. Add the salt, jaggery, chili powder, tamarind paste, rasam powder and coriander/cilantro and 1-2 cups water depending on how thick or thin you want the rasam to be.
5. Let the rasam boil for 15-20 more minutes and serve hot with rice or roti and vegetables.

I served mine with Green onion/Spring onion sabzi and needless to say they paired beautifully.