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Home >> Recipes >> Dal Recipes

Tomato pappu | Tomato dal recipe | Andhra pappu recipe

By swasthi , on July 23, 2019, 45 Comments, Jump to Recipe

Tomato pappu – Andhra pappu recipe. Tomato pappu is one of the basic dal dishes from Andhra cuisine. An Andhra meal is incomplete without a dal dish cooked with some veggie. Tomato pappu is eaten with plain rice, ghee and Avakaya (Andhra style hot mango pickle). This is the only recipe you will ever need to make a delicious, rich and healthy Andhra pappu.

tomato pappu andhra pappu

With this basic Andhra pappu recipe, you can make tons of variations by adding your favorite veggies or even leafy greens. The recipe I am sharing here is the most common method followed in most Telugu speaking homes and even in Andhra restaurants.

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If you have ever tasted a pappu from an Authentic Andhra restaurant and loved it then this recipe may help you to recreate it.

Andhra tomato pappu is a winner for its simplicity and unique taste. The recipe is super simple as all the ingredients are pressured cooked and tempered. The key ingredient in a tomato pappu recipe is the tamarind which brings a unique taste & flavor when it is pressure cooked along with the dal.

Andhra pappu is usually made with only toor dal or kandi pappu. Feel free to use a small portion of moong dal to enhance the taste. Most times I use it that way.

Preparation for tomato pappu recipe

1. I usually cook the dal directly in a pressure cooker. But for this post I have shown it in a bowl and then placing it in cooker. If you do not have a cooker you can make this in a pot.
2. Add dal to a bowl or cooker or pot.

adding toor dal to a bowl to make tomato pappu

3. Wash the dal several times until the water runs clear. Drain the water.

pouring water to bowl to make tomato pappu

4. Add green chilies and cleaned tamarind.

adding chilies tamarind to dal to make tomato pappu

5. Next add the tomatoes. I prefer to deseed the tomatoes and use. Pour 1 cup water and little turmeric. You can also add turmeric later after cooking.

adding tomatoes to make tomato dal

6. Pour water in your cooker. I used about 1 ½ cups water. Place the plate.

pouring water to cooker to make tomato dal
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7. Keep the bowl in the cooker.

placing the bowl in pressure cooker to make tomato pappu

8. Cover the bowl.

covering tomato dal in cooker

9. Pressure cook for 3 whistles on a medium heat. If cooking directly in cooker, then let it whistle twice.

If cooking in a pot, add more water as needed and cook until soft.

pressure cooking dal
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How to make tomato dal

10. Dal and tomatoes have to be soft cooked. If you have kids, you can set their portion aside before mashing the chilies and tempering. I usually do it for my younger boy.

cooked tomato dal

11. Mash and check the consistency. Pour little water if needed.

pouring water to bring tomato dal to consistency

12. Add salt and mix.

adding salt to tomato pappu

Tempering tomato dal

13. Poppu or Tempering can be done in 2 ways. First method is to temper in a small pan and pour it to the cooked dal. The second method is to pour the entire cooked dal to the tempering pan. This method doubles the taste and flavor of tomato pappu.
Heat ghee or oil in a pan. Add mustard, cumin and red chilies.

tempering with ghee spices to make tomato pappu

14. When they begin to splutter, lower the heat if needed. Add garlic and curry leaves.

adding chilli powder to tempering
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15. When they turn crisp, add red chili powder.

adding garlic red chilies to make tomato dal

16. Quickly mix it with ghee.

mixing the spices to add to tomato dal

17. Pour the dal to the pan.

Pour the dal
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18. Turn off the stove and mix well.

Turn off the stove and mix well

Serve tomato pappu with rice, avakaya and ghee.

tomato pappu recipe

Tips to make tomato pappu

1. I have not used onions as we don’t like the pressure cooked flavor of onions in pappu. If you like to use add about 2 to 3 tbsp chopped onions.

2. Red chili powder is usually added to the pressure cooker along with tomatoes. Again it is personal choice, I prefer to add it to the tempering.

3. If making for toddlers or young kids, then set aside their portion after pressure cooking (before tempering with chilli). Just add ghee, salt and pepper to their portion.

More Dal recipes
Dal makhani
Dal fry
Chana dal
Masoor dal
Dal palak

Andhra Tomato pappu recipe or tomato dal

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tomato pappu andhra pappu

Tomato pappu recipe | Tomato dal recipe | Andhra pappu recipe

Tomato pappu or tomato dal is a everyday lentil dish cooked with tomatoes from Andhra cuisine. It is best served with plain rice and ghee. If you do not have a cooker you can also cook in a pot.
Pin Recipe Print Recipe

For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings2
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

To cook pappu

  • ½ cup split pigeon peas (kandi pappu or toor dal)
  • 2 medium tomatoes cubed ( I also deseed)
  • 1 to 2 green chilies slit or chopped
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ to 1 tbsp tamarind or chintapandu (use as needed)
  • 1/8 tsp turmeric or haldi

Tempering tomato pappu

  • 1½ tbsp Ghee (or oil)
  • 1 sprig curry leaves or kadi patta
  • ¼ tsp cumin (jeera)
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 to 3 cloves garlic crushed (if you don’t use garlic, use ginger)
  • 1 red chilli (broken)
  • ½ tsp chilli powder
  • 1 pinch hing (optional)
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Instructions

Cooking tomato pappu

  • Add toor dal to a cooker or pot or a large bowl. Wash until the water runs clear. Pour 1 cup water to the dal. 
  • Then add tomatoes, tamarind,green chilies and turmeric. 
  • If using a pressure cooker then pour 1½ cups water to the pressure cooker and place the bottom plate. Place the dal bowl inside and cover. Pressure cook on a medium heat for 3 whistles. If you are coking directly in the cooker, then 2 whistles. Or you can also cook in a pot until soft.
  • Once the pressure releases open the lid. Add salt and mash the dal to slightly coarse or smooth to suit your taste. To adjust the consistency you can very well add more water. 

Tempering tomato pappu

  • Heat a pan with ghee or oil.  Add cumin, mustard. When they begin to splutter, add red chilies,  garlic and curry leaves. If needed you can add more green chili as well. 
  • Fry till the leaves turn crisp. Add red chili powder & hing (optional). Quickly stir in the pan and pour the mashed dal to the tempering.
  • Mix well and do not cook further. Serve tomato pappu with with rice, ghee and avakaya.
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Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.

Video

Video of tomato pappu or tomato dal

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
Tomato pappu recipe | Tomato dal recipe | Andhra pappu recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 306 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 28mg9%
Sodium 32mg1%
Potassium 832mg24%
Carbohydrates 39g13%
Fiber 8g33%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 12g24%
Vitamin A 450IU9%
Vitamin C 52.3mg63%
Calcium 72mg7%
Iron 3.4mg19%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!

© Swasthi’s Recipes

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I doubled the recipe and made. Please do not gauge the quantities in the pictures.

Tomato pappu | Tomato dal recipe | Andhra pappu recipe
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About swasthi

I’m Swasthi shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthis recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
Read more..

Recipe Rating




Recipe Rating




45 Comments
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Helis
November 20, 2020 7:48 am

So simple yet so good, thank you!? The taste of fried garlic is just perfect there. Although I added 6 small cloves. I have done it twice this week, once with onion and the other without. I agree with your taste and comment and next time I skip onion also ?

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Helis
November 23, 2020 3:42 am

Hello Helis,
Glad to know! Yes skip the onions it tastes better
🙂

Reply
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ANSHU SINGH
August 30, 2020 7:04 am

Cooked this just now. Being a north Indian, I had always loved the uniqueness in its flavour. You made it super easy to cook. It tastes delicious! Thank you so much for posting!

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  ANSHU SINGH
August 30, 2020 1:55 pm

Welcome Anshu
Glad you liked it. Thank you!

Reply
KK
June 8, 2020 4:53 am

5 stars
Awesome ! Thanks for sharing !

Reply
Tara
April 15, 2020 9:24 am

I have made this recipe like a million times already. I add a bit of jaggery to the mix and it is super:)

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Tara
April 16, 2020 2:17 pm

Glad you like it!

Reply
Sneha Mody
April 7, 2020 6:09 pm

5 stars
Amazing , easy to make and delicious recipe! I just have 2 suggestions, please don’t get me wrong, I love the recipe but I found two things that might help future users:
1. Tamarind is mentioned as an ingredient but, in the textual recipe, there is no mention of when to add it. It is there in the pictorial step-by-step recipe though.
2. If we need to make more servings, do we double all the ingredients? I did that but, again maybe mentioning it might help!

Your recipe is great, ma’am and helped me a lot but, I thought these suggestions might help future users. Hope you don’t mind 🙂 Thank you once again!

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Sneha Mody
April 8, 2020 3:28 am

Hello Sneha,
Thank you so much! Yes true it will surely help other readers. I have updated it. Yes the recipe can be doubled. Thank again for your time. So glad to know you liked it.
🙂

Reply
Aditi
April 4, 2020 7:03 pm

5 stars
I made this recipe and it was very yummy. Thanks SwathiJi.

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Aditi
April 5, 2020 2:27 am

Hi Aditi
You are welcome! Thank you

Reply
Kajal
April 4, 2020 8:53 am

5 stars
I like the way you teach with the pics step by step. It is easy to understand……?

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Kajal
April 4, 2020 9:13 am

Thank you!

Reply
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Saraswati
November 6, 2019 9:09 am

Dal is not mashing properly. What to do? Even after 8 whistles it’s not mashing to smooth consistency. Is there pressure cooker problem?
Also why did u put Dal in pot & then pressure cooked it? U can directly put it in the cooker right?

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Saraswati
November 6, 2019 9:17 am

Hi Saraswati,
If the dal is too old stock or if you do not add enough water then dal will not get cooked. In the recipe I have given the option to cook directly as well. We make tomato pappu this way. Dal in one bowl and rice in another bowl. Mine does it in 3 whistles with this method.

Reply
Lalitha
July 6, 2019 11:16 am

For cooking millets in the pressure cooker can you tell me what is the ratio of water for one cup of millet and how many whistle. Thanks

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Lalitha
July 6, 2019 4:07 pm

Hi Lalitha,
Which millets do you want to cook? Each kind has a different cook time.

Reply
srinivas
Reply to  swasthi
July 27, 2020 3:27 pm

5 stars
usually 1:3 is good, 1 cup millet, 3 cups water

Reply
Ayesha
June 11, 2019 9:53 am

5 stars
I like the way u teach step by step wit very clear pics

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Ayesha
June 12, 2019 2:51 pm

Thanks Ayesha!

Reply
Sujatha
October 8, 2018 12:35 am

5 stars
Hi Mam,

Can we add hing to the papu?

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Sujatha
October 8, 2018 1:08 am

Yes You can add

Reply
Geetha prasad
November 24, 2017 10:00 am

5 stars
Hey swasthi..I am just loving your recipes..making cooking easy for me..thank you so much.
But there is some problem with this site it seems as it is showing reload page again n again..kindly look into this.thank you?

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Geetha prasad
November 28, 2017 1:17 pm

Welcome Geetha
Thanks for trying the recipes. I didnt understand the problem. Can you pls tell me in detail

Reply
supriya
June 11, 2017 10:20 am

5 stars
Hi swasthi how r u ? Tried tomato pappu several times always tasts good thank u for the recipe

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  supriya
June 18, 2017 3:40 pm

Hey Supriya You are welcome
I am good. Thanks for asking.
🙂
How are you doing?

Reply
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m.madhu
May 22, 2017 7:43 am

5 stars
I want to learn all south indian snaks , curry, breakfast etc

Reply
pavani
January 24, 2017 7:53 am

5 stars
Hi swathi…ds web site is vert useful to learn cooking…and to learn how to make yummy healthy food…thnk u so much nd thnx to indianhealthyfood page….

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  pavani
January 26, 2017 1:42 am

Welcome Pavani
Glad to know the recipes are useful.
Thank you

Reply
Rosemary
October 27, 2016 7:11 am

Really like this with the tamarind

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Rosemary
November 1, 2016 1:41 am

Thank you

Reply
Maddy Maguire
October 5, 2016 10:22 am

5 stars
I was very poor in cooking until my late twenties. Then I married an Irish man who loves Indian food. Following your recipes with images has made cooking a walk in the park for me. I have tried some very interesting recipes from here. Thanks a million for doing what you do.

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Maddy Maguire
October 5, 2016 2:08 pm

Glad to know you Maddy. You are welcome.
Really happy to know the recipes have helped you.
Thanks for the feedback.

Reply
Harshini
November 6, 2015 6:37 am

Dear mam
I am working on a story for The Hindu Metro Plus (Chennai, India) on native Indian cuisine and we have listed Tomato Pappu as one of the recipes.

Could you give us permission to use this image (with credit) or could you send us the image used in the above link for publication? We would need it as soon as possible.

Awaiting your response
Thanking you
Warm Regards
Harshini

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Harshini
November 6, 2015 8:07 am

Hi Harshini,
Thanks for contacting. I have sent the image to your email. Do let me know once it is published.

Reply
Prathima
October 19, 2015 1:04 am

5 stars
Love your recipes very much. Tomato pappu very nice and easy. Thanks

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Prathima
October 19, 2015 1:05 am

Welcome and thank you prathima

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sushila
February 3, 2015 4:11 am

5 stars
Thanks, very nice

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  sushila
October 19, 2015 1:06 am

welcome

Reply
Ashokaras
December 18, 2014 8:59 am

5 stars
Hi Swasthi, prepapred it for the second time, was really yummy. Everybody loved it at home. Thanks to u again

Reply
swasthi
Reply to  Ashokaras
December 18, 2014 2:51 pm

Hello Ashokaras,
Iam glad you all liked tomato pappu. Thank you so much for your comment.
🙂

Reply

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