The contemporary South-Indian restaurant Avartana by ITC Hotels has an inventive take on classics like rasam, Malabar parotta and Tirunelveli halwa. The restaurant started at ITC in Chennai in 2017, came to Kolkata in 2022 and opened in Mumbai earlier this year. One of their most famous dishes is the distilled rasam that comes in a French Press and is served in a Martini glass. The process of distillation extracts the essential flavours and the technique of French Press infuses it with the freshness of coriander and cherry tomatoes. The hearty rasam served in this manner has now gone viral on the Internet.
Food content creators are making steaming pots of rasam, pouring it into the French Press and serving it in Martini and Coupe glasses in line with Instagram aesthetics. In home cooking the process of distillation is left to the experts, like the chefs at Avartana. But, anyone can work with the French Press. It adds a punch of flavour of the garnishes and acts as a filter to make it easy to drink. Digital creator Anushka Rawat uploaded this recipe on her Instagram page and YouTube channel (@the.food.cravers).
Rasam has a penchant for going viral. Few months ago, another digital creator Sowseelya Pedamallu posted a reel of her son on her Instagram page (@sowseelya_pedamallu) straining rasam over steamed rice to remove the tadka masalas and any chewy bits.
In 2020, just after the lockdown was announced, food writer and content creator Krish Ashok posted a video of rasam recipes on his YouTube channel @krishashok. It was widely shared and saved. It has a template that simplifies the myriad recipes of rasam. He explains rasam-making by talking about its basic components including stock, flavouring, acid, optional stock and more flavourings and the unmissable tempering. Go through the video, and add the French Press twist if you wish to.
