Instant Pot Tomato Charu with Onions | Pappu Charu

Love soups? Then you got to try this flavorful and comforting soup – pappu tomato charu or the lentil soup with tomatoes and onion.  Making this delicious tomato lentil soup in Instant Pot is super easy. Let’s see how to make it!

Tomato Charu | Tomato Lentil Soup:

Pappu charu is a popular recipe from Andhra/Telangana. Pappu in Telugu means lentils, and charu means soup.  It is more like sambar but without any vegetables and sambar powder.  I would explain it like dal rasam (thin lentil soup) with onions. To keep it simple, let’s call it as Andhra/Telangana style tomato lentil soup. :-) 

 It’s been a long time since I posted any rasam recipe. I always wanted to try different rasam recipes from other cuisines, and this upcoming thali theme helped me to explore and experiment this tomato charu recipe. I prepared this charu recipe as part of the Andhra/Telangana Thali.  

 This pappu charu with garlic tempering is very soothing and delicious. It can be served as a rice accompaniment and also as a starter soup. I kept the consistency of this pappu charu thin more like rasam.

How to Make Tomato Charu in Instant Pot?

After posting Instant Pot sambar recipe, I received a couple of recipe requests for Instant Pot rasam. I tried two different rasams, and both turned out great. Today I am going to share this charu recipe prepared in instant pot. I took the base recipe from Srivalli’s blog. The moment I read it, the addition of onions intrigued me a lot and wanted to try it right away.

I pretty much followed her recipe but adjusted the spices as per our preference. Also, I included some fresh ground pepper. I like fresh ground pepper in my rasam. But it’s entirely optional. As I mentioned, I prepared this in Instant Pot, but this can be made in a pressure cooker too. (Refer Notes)

This tomato pappu charu partially falls under “Instant Pot Dump and Start” recipes. Add all the ingredients (except the tempering items) including the spices and salt and cook for about 12 minutes at high-pressure manual mode. When the pressure is all released, add more water, mash it and let it simmer in the saute mode. Meanwhile, you can prepare the tempering and add it to the rasam or charu. Simple right? 

Tempering at the Beginning or the End:

As I am adding the tempering separately, I cannot call this a one-pot meal. I personally prefer to add tempering in the end, but you can always start with the tempering. In that case, set the Instant Pot on saute mode and do the tempering and then add all the ingredients and pressure cook.

What I usually do is, I dump everything in the Instant Pot in the morning before going to work and in the evening I just simmer and do the tempering. 

Before getting into the recipe, if you like this tomato charu, then do check out my Instant Pot Tomato Soup recipe and these lentil-based recipes below.

• Yellow Cucumber Dal
• Moong Dal Curry
• Tomato Dal

Without any further delay, here comes the delicious Pappu Tomato Charu recipe with Onions.

Instant Pot Tomato Charu Recipe with Step-Wise Pictures:

 Prep – work:

• Wash the toor dal and set aside.
• Chop the onion, cilantro, and tomato.
• Slit the green chili.
• Peel and crush the garlic cloves and set aside.
• If you are not using tamarind paste, then soak small gooseberry sized tamarind in water for ½ hour and extract 1 cup juice.

Steps:

• In the Instant Pot, add the washed toor dal, onion, tomato, green chili, tamarind paste/extract, red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt.
• Add 2 cups of water (if using tamarind extract, add one cup of water) and mix well.
• Set it in manual mode and cook for 12 minutes and let the pressure release normally.
• Note: The above three steps can be done in a pressure cooker too. Add all the ingredients and pressure cook for up to 4 whistles.

• Once the pressure is all gone, open the IP and mash the mixture with a ladle or potato masher and set it in saute mode.
• Add two more cups of water and the chopped cilantro and pepper powder and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
• In a separate tadka pan, heat ghee or oil. Once the ghee is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, hing, and crushed garlic.

• Let the garlic brown for a bit and add this garlic tempering to the simmering charu.
• Let it simmer for a couple more minutes, and that’s it.

Yummy charu is ready. Garnish with more cilantro and serve hot.

Notes:

• You adjust the green chilies, salt, and spices as per your preference.
• I did not add any jaggery, but if preferred a small piece or 1 tsp of sugar can be included.
• While tempering, let the garlic brown nicely. That adds a distinct flavor to this rasam. I used small garlic cloves. If you prefer more garlic, you can add up to 7 to 8 garlic cloves.

📖 Recipe

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Instant Pot Tomato Charu with Onions

Soothing and comforting Andhra / Telangana special tomato-onion charu recipe prepared in Instant Pot with garlic tempering.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: rice accompaniment

Cuisine: Andhra/Telangana Cuisine

Servings: 4

Calories: 117kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup Split Pigeon Peas toor dal
• ▢ 4 cups Water 2 cups + 2 cups
• ▢ 1 Green chili
• ▢ ⅓ cup Onion chopped
• ▢ 1 Tomato
• ▢ 1 tbsp Tamarind paste
• ▢ ¾ tsp Red chili powder
• ▢ ½ tsp Coriander Powder
• ▢ ¼ tsp Pepper Powder
• ▢ ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
• ▢ ¼ cup Cilantro chopped
• ▢ 2 tsps Salt

For tempering

• ▢ 2 tsps Oil or ghee
• ▢ 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• ▢ 2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• ▢ 6 Curry leaves
• ▢ 5 Garlic crushed
• ▢ ½ tsp Hing

Instructions

Prep - work

• Wash the toor dal and set aside.
• Chop the onion, cilantro, and tomato.
• Slit the green chili.
• Peel and crush the garlic cloves and set aside.
• If you are not using tamarind paste, then soak small gooseberry sized tamarind in water for ½ hour and extract 1 cup juice.

Steps

• In the Instant Pot, add the washed toor dal, onion, tomato, green chili, tamarind paste/extract, red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt.
• Add 2 cups of water (if using tamarind extract, add one cup of water) and mix well.
• Set it in manual mode and cook for 12 minutes and let the pressure release normally.
• Note: The above three steps can be done in a pressure cooker too. Add all the ingredients and pressure cook for up to 4 whistles.
• Once the pressure is all gone, open the IP and mash the mixture with a ladle or potato masher and set it in saute mode.
• Add two more cups of water and the chopped cilantro and pepper powder and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
• In a separate tadka pan, heat ghee or oil. Once the ghee is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, hing and crushed garlic.
• Let the garlic brown for a bit and add this garlic tempering to the simmering charu.
• Let it simmer for a couple more minutes, and that's it.
• Yummy charu is ready. Garnish with more cilantro and serve hot.

Notes

You adjust the green chilies, salt, and spices as per your preference.
I did not add any jaggery, but if preferred a small piece or 1 tsp of sugar can be included.
While tempering, let the garlic brown nicely. That adds a distinct flavor to this rasam. I used small garlic cloves. If you prefer more garlic, you can add upto 7 to 8 garlic cloves.

Adapted from Cooking4AllSeasons

Nutrition

Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1242mg | Potassium: 161mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 591IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 2mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

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