1. Mix tamarind with 2 cups of water in a vessel.
2. No need to extract the juice from tamarind.
3. Add salt, asafoetida, rasam powder and boil until the raw smell is gone (12-15 minutes).
4. Add 1 more cup of water and boil for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.
5. Fry season ingredients and add it to the rasam.

Note: Fry neem flower till it turns dark brown. If you don`t have neem flower, substitute it with 1 tsp of pepper-cumin powder (1/2 tsp each) to make pepper-cumin rasam.

Courtesy: http://spicesetc.blogspot.com/