Rasam Is Memory

 For decades, her family swore by her culinary skills. For someone who did not know how to cook when she married into a joint family of 50 members to authoring a book on the ubiquitous south Indian favorite, Rasam, things have come full circle for Sandhya Rani Linga. Her debut book, From My Kitchen to Yours, details 40 different kinds of rasams, with varieties ranging from cauliflower to lemon and kokum to pepper and spinach!

“When I started cooking, my priority was my children. They disliked vegetables, so I began collecting rasam recipes from everywhere — my mother, my mother-in-law, and family friends. I used to note down every new rasam I cooked. Soon, preparing a fresh rasam each day became a habit,” she recalls.

Travel added to her collection. In Tirupati, she tasted a vegetable kadhi and recreated it. In Sikkim, another version caught her attention: a thin, red chili–based kadhi. Some inspirations came from childhood. “My mother’s close friend made an unusual rasam from chukka kura (sorrel leaves). I incorporated it in the book, as it was uncommon.”

From memory to manuscript

The book itself took root because of her daughter. After observing that Sandhya had not repeated a rasam in 30 days, she suggested turning the collection into a book. The first draft actually came from a personal gift. “For my daughter’s mother-in-law’s 60th birthday, I wrote down 35 rasams with dosas and pachadis and gifted it. That became the core of this book.”

Once she and her daughter finally sat down to refine the recipes, the process became a family project. Measurements were tested, steps rewritten and clarified, and new rasams added to complete the set of forty. She shares, “We edited step-by-step, organized the ingredients, and then came photography. My nephew suggested adding memories, origins, and serving notes for each rasam. That changed everything. Writing those stories brought back my childhood.”

The highlight of the book is how Sandhya suggests pairing options for each version. For example, the best way to eat Mixed Pappu Charu is by pairing it with mango pickles and curd chillies, while for Miriyala Charu, she advises eating it with a simple potato fry or a raw banana stir-fry.

Ingredients often drove innovation. While most use one basic rasam powder, the author advises variety. “Every rasam needs its own spice blend. If the same powder is used everywhere, everything tastes alike. Tomato rasam uses rasam powder; chukkapura rasam uses sambar powder. Coconut milk rasam needed more aroma, so I added ginger, basil, coriander, and cumin to balance the blandness.”

Why is this simple food such a staple of South Indian homes? “Rasam is not just food. It’s comfort, tradition, and healing,” she says. “When someone is unwell, we don’t give them heavy curries. We give pepper rasam or simple chaaru. When we return from long travel, that’s what we crave.” Each festival has its own version, she adds. “For Ganesh Chaturthi, it’s tomato rasam. For Gauri-Ganesha, moong dal rasam. For Sankranti, pappu chaaru. Every festival has a flavor.”

Buoyed by the response to her debut, Sandhya is already working on her next project: a book dedicated to pachadis and veypudus, with plans to follow it with pulaos, biryanis, and more.