Sambar and Rasam, are traditional Brahmin rivals of South India like the

Iyengars and Iyers !! Who is more smarter. Like the great sages Vashishtar and
Vishwamithrar.
They are kulagurus of Tamil brahminical lunches and dinners. Both have army
of admirers and at times one is substituted for the other. In marriage lunches and
dinners they go together, and in our homes, for the day-to-day lunches and
dinners, we either prepare sambar or rasam but less frequently both.
 
For Sambar in Palakkad, they use ground and grated
coconut,  whereas in Tamil Nadu, sambar powder is preferred. Availability of
coconut and pulses determine this and one is not superior to the other. However,
for marriage lunches, Arachuvitta sambar ( sambar with ground and grated
coconut) alone is prescribed. Powdered sambar is looked down upon, as if it
plays for the B team. Rasam doesn’t entertain such distinction. Rasam powder is
universally used and coconut in rasam is unheard of.    
 
Sambar has to face stiff competition from Morkhuzhambhu,  Vettakhuzhambhu
and pitla though often, it either overshadows or is overshadowed by the other
two. Rasam fears no such alien threats, save the competition within the specie
Rasam itself.  
 
Like Manchester United and Real Madrid Football Clubs followers, the Rasam
consumers are categorized into two fiercely opposing groups – those who take
their rasam with the sediments (kalakkivitta rasam), and those would prefer the
sediments to remain in the container ( thelivu rasam). Concerns for the
preferences of others demand that those who opt for the thelivu rasam should
have the right of use first, as they would not disturb others. Sediment-rasam
protagonists should realize that the right of first use to them means the purists
are deprived of their right of choice.
 
Lime Rasam dispenses with tamarind and is healthy.  However, pepper rasam,
jeerah rasam and kandanthippili rasam all have therapeutic value and hence are
prepared as medicinal prescriptions. They are not opted for their pandering to
our taste, but are consumed under compulsion to come out of certain ailments.
My mother would often hurl a threat, when we children misbehave, that the
following day, she would prepare pepper rasam (milagu rasam) only. Pepper
rasam is invariably prescribed for those whose temperature level is above 100
degree F. 
Mysore rasam has all modern ingredients and it appeals to our palate. Senior
members of the family frown upon it for fear that it might promote libido. If
pure rasam is like a Chemmangudi concert playing with the subtleties of
swaraprasthara,  Mysore Rasam is like Dire Strait’s “Sulthans of Swing “ -
stirring the youngsters’ soul. For a few enthusiasts, garlic rasam is the greatest.
Though garlic promotes good health, it has many sworn enemies too. 
 
As comma doesn’t end your sentence but indicates only a pause, sambar doesn’t
end your meals. Invariably it has to be followed by rasam or dahi bath. Rasam is
independent and can stand apart, alone. There is no compulsion that rasam has
to be followed by dahi or any other bath.
 
Vadai soaked with sambar, is known as vada sambar, prominence being given
to vadai.  Vadai soaked in rasam is known as rasa vadai, rasam stealing the
show. This indicates, rasam  scores over sambar, wherever necessary.
 
As barbeque is connected with a grill and rotis and nans are linked to the
tandooris, sambar boiled in a kalchatti assumes a significant flavour and taste
and Rasam boiled in Kumbakonam made eeyachombhu lords over our lunch
plates/leaves.
 
In certain homes, those who are below six and above seventy are served only
rasam rice because rasam is easily digestible, tamarind being a strong ingredient
notwithstanding. Perhaps, asafoetida (perunkayam) acts as an antidote to
tamarind.
 
One can start and end with rasam rice.  There is no taboo or stigma attached. 
But, sambar cannot stand alone.  If one seeks sambar rice only, eyes would
pierce him to pieces and his sanity may also be questioned. Similarly, when one
is not hungry, a cup full of rasam would be offered as a solace. A cup of sambar
to sip is blasphemy in a brahminical home.
 
My daughter can prepare both milagu rasam and mysore rasam with equal ease,
a mother would say proudly. My daughter in law is just experimenting with her
rasams, a mamiyar would say indifferently, leaving it to our guess whether she
is paying compliment or picking holes in the preparation.  The statement that
"my grandfather still enjoys his rasam' confirms that his faculties are in tact and
that he continues to be in good health.       
 
The vegetables that go well with sambar – porial or paruppu usili are acceptable
to rasam too with equal eagerness.  Whatmore, rasam has an extra affinity to
appalam and papadam. In marriage lunches, an extra appalam is offered when
rasam is being served. The appalam has the added advantage of covering up the
shortfall of the rasam too. Sambar without vegetable pieces looks barren. Rasam
is basically barren, but the addition of pieces of tomato and handful dhania
(kothamalli) lends rasam dignity and extra flavour.
Rasam is a Monarch of all it surveys.  No wonder, when we take rasam rice, the
quantity of rasam dominates.  In sambar rice, the high quantity of sambar is
frowned upon.
 
In addition to its own intrinsic merits, Rasam is also enjoyed for one more
reason. In the marriage lunches, rasam is immediately followed up by payasam.
If rasam comes, can payasam be far behind, many of us seem to parody Poet
Shelley’s words. 
 
Milagu rasam, in western garbs becomes mulaguthanni soup in star hotels. In
fact, rasam is precursor to varities of modern soups. No wonder, rasam is
considered as resplendent and one of the greatest contributions of the Tamils to
the culinary world. The software techies from South India thrive on varieties of
rasams in their pursuit of excellence in their chosen fields.
 
A cup of rasam, a piece of papadam (roasted in microwave oven), a hand-held
instrument to browse, one is in paradise now, Khalil Gibran would have
repeated today.  
 
(This writer's predilection is for powdered sambar and rasam with the
sediments).