Warm, richly spiced, and built for a satisfying meal, Tomato Pappu Recipe | Tomato Dal - Andhra Style | Pappu Tomato Curry is a vegetarian andhra dal made with toor dal, ghee, and turmeric in about 30 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 Servings
  • Category: dal
  • Cuisine: andhra

Ingredients

for pressure cooking:

  • 1 cup toor dal (rinsed)
  • 1 tsp ghee
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 cup water

for dal:

  • 2 tbsp oil
  • ½ onion (chopped)
  • 3 tomato (chopped)
  • 4 chilli
  • ½ cup tamarind extract
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp coriander (chopped)

for tempering:

  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 10 cloves garlic (crushed)
  • 2 dried red chilli
  • few curry leaves
  • pinch hing

Method

  1. Firstly, in a pressure cooker take 1 cup toor dal. You can even soak the dal for 15 minutes to hasten the cooking time.
  2. Add 1 tsp ghee, ¼ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp salt and 3 cup water.
  3. Cover and pressure cook for 5 whistles or until the dal is cooked well.
  4. Once the pressure settles down, mash the dal slightly and keep aside.
  5. In a large kadai heat 2 tbsp oil and saute ½ onion until the onion softens.
  6. Add 3 tomato and saute for 2 minutes or until the tomato softens.
  7. Further add 4 chilli, ½ cup tamarind extract, ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp chilli powder and 1 tsp salt.
  8. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and mushy.
  9. Add in cooked toor dal and mix well.
  10. Adjust the consistency, and boil for 5 minutes or until the flavour is absorbed well.
  11. Now to prepare the tempering, heat 2 tbsp ghee. Add 1 tsp mustard, 1 tsp cumin, 10 cloves garlic, 2 dried red chilli, few curry leaves and a pinch hing.
  12. Splutter the tempering and fry until the garlic turns golden.
  13. Pour the tempering over the tomato pappu and add 2 tbsp coriander. Mix well.
  14. Finally, enjoy Tomato Dal or Tomato Pappu with hot steamed rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.