Pineapple Rasam - Ripe pineapple chunks cooked with tomato, lentils and homemade rasam powder. Sweet, tangy and mildly spiced rasam recipe without tamarind under 30 mins.
Rasam for the uninitiated is the quintessential South Indian Soup. Piping hot rasam is comforting in winter or rainy season. It provides warmth and eases chest congestion.
Of all the Rasam varieties, my personal favorites include Jeera Milagu Rasam and Pineapple rasam. I love drinking rasam as appetizer.
You can make this rasam with fresh or frozen pineapple chunks. This rasam does not contain garlic.
Serve pineapple rasam as appetizer or soup in a mug OR with steamed rice, dollop of ghee and poppadums.
Ingredients
Pineapple - Choose ripe yet firm pineapples. Cut them into big chunks so that it doesn't integrate when cooking with tomatoes and spices.
Tomato - This is a no-tamarind rasam recipe. Hence, we will be using tomatoes for the sourness.
Rasam Powder - Use homemade or store bought. Check the label to ensure the rasam powder does not include garlic (unless you aren't specifically looking for a no-garlic recipe).
Cooked Lentils - Rinse and cook the lentils until mushy.
Jaggery is optional. As a rule of thumb, all my sambar and rasam recipes include jaggery. It is the traditional method of cooking.
Tempering - I have used ghee or clarified butter. Feel free to substitute with oil.
How to make Pineapple Rasam recipe
Roughly chop pineapples and tomato.
Rinse and pressure cook Tur Dal until soft and mushy.
Cook pineapple, tomato with spices and salt.
Cook until the pineapples are soft and tomatoes are mushy.
Next add the cooked lentils, water to adjust consistency of rasam. Season with salt.
Add jaggery and finely chopped coriander leaves. Switch off heat and prepare for tempering.
Heat a tempering pan, add ghee along with mustard seeds and whole red chillies. Once the mustard crackles, add the tempering to the piping hot rasam.
Serving Suggestion | Side Dish for pineapple rasam
Serve rasam with Rice, cooked millets or quinoa. A side of vegetables would make it a complete meal.
Rasam pairs well with Potato Roast or Potato Podimas.
Some of the other vegetables that we love are Vazhakkai Podimas, Beans Carrot Thoran Cabbage Poriyal or Koorka Mezhukkupuratti.
More Rasam recipes to try
Vepampoo Rasam (dried neem flower rasam)
Pudina Rasam (Mint leaves rasam)
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Pineapple Rasam recipe
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 cups Pineapple peeled, thorns removed and chopped into big chunks
- 1 Tomato large, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup Tur dal
- 4 ½ cups Water refer notes below
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder or Haldi Powder
- 2 tablespoon Rasam Powder
- 1/8 teaspoon Red chilli powder (optional) refer notes below
- 1 teaspoon Jaggery refer notes below
- Finely chopped Coriander leaves as required
- Salt to taste
For tempering
- 2 teaspoon Ghee or Clarified butter See Notes below
- 1 pinch Hing or Asafoetida
- 2 Whole Red Chillies (broken into two pieces)
- 1/2 teaspoon Mustard Seeds
Instructions
- Roughly chop pineapples into big chunks and keep aside. Finely chop tomatoes.
- Rinse and pressure cook 1/4 cup of Tur dal or split pigeon peas with enough water (read notes below) until lentils are soft and mushy. Keep aside to cool.
- Heat a heavy bottom pan, add the pineapple chunks, chopped tomatoes and water. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add rasam powder, turmeric and salt to taste. Mix well.
- Cook until pineapples and tomatoes are slightly mushy.
- Add cooked lentils and water to adjust consistency. Simmer rasam for 5 minutes.
- Next add jaggery, mix. Taste check, adjust spices at this point. Garnish with finely chopped coriander and switch off the flame.
- Heat a tempering pan, add ghee, mustard seeds and whole red chilies. Add hing or asafoetida once mustard crackles and switch off heat.
- Add the tempering to the rasam, mix, cover and close the lid for 5 mins. Serve rasam piping hot.
Notes
- You can use fresh or frozen pineapple. Do not used candied pineapple or canned pineapple preserved in sugar syrup
- Add extra tomatoes, if you prefer a more sour tasting rasam.
- Water - The recipe uses 4 and 1/2 cups of water in total. This does not include water used for pressure cooking lentils / dal. Consistency is a personal choice. Adjust accordingly.
- I have cooked lentils without salt or turmeric powder. Since both the ingredients are added while cooking rasam.
- Rinse and soak lentils for 10 mins before pressure cooking for soft and mushy lentils.
- For Vegan recipe - substitute ghee with oil for tempering.
- Spices - I have used Kashmiri red chilli powder for color. Heat is mild.
- Adding jaggery is optional. It balances taste and flavors.
- For Gluten Free recipe - omit hing or asafoetida from the recipe.
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We will be back again with yet another exciting recipe .. Until then, stay healthy and happy!
Vidya Narayan