Recipe Cooked, Photographed and Written by Praveena
PrepTime:5 mins CookTime:Given Below Cuisine:Indian
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The South Indian Andhra Sakhahara Bhojanam (Vegetarian Meal Platter) in particular, is by default served with at least one dal / pappu. And this, Tomato Dal / Pappu, is the easiest of all the lentil based recipes, from South Indian cuisine.
In my family, my younger daughter is a hard core fan of any dal / pappu from Andhra cuisine that I make. I make it a point I prepare variety of dal / pappu recipes, mainly for her sake. 🙂
This is a purely Vegan+Gluten free recipe. It can be made Whole Food Plant Based recipe if you exclude the ‘TEMPERING’ part of the recipe below.

Health Benefits of, ‘Tomato Dal / Lentil Stew’:
As we all know tomatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin C and K.Being a water vegetable / fruit, tomatoes are generally low in cals. Hence, tomatoes easily fit into Weight Loss Diet recipes.
Toor Dal/ Kandi Pappu /Yellow Lentils have many health benefits like improves digestion, good source of protein,iron, fiber, controls cholesterol, has folic acid. Toor dal is one of the most common pulses in an Indian kitchen.

How to serve ‘Tomato Dal / Lentil Stew’:
South Indian style Dal / Lentil stew, is a side dish or accompaniment for small platter to full meal platter. It tastes best when paired with steamed hot rice. Here is my collection of Daily Meal Platters with details, tips & plan⇒ Bhojanam / Thali / Meal Platter
And not to forget the dollop of homemade ghee / butter. If you are Vegan, go for same amount of sesame oil / sunflower oil.
Second option is, to serve as a side with Indian bread like, roti, phulka, paratha, naan.

Before starting to cook, don’t forget to see the Tips mentioned at the end.
My Dal Recipes collection⇒ Dal / Pappu / Lentil Stew
No Onion No Garlic collection⇒ No Onion & No Garlic Recipes
Instant Pot recipes collection⇒ Electric Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Recipes
Related Posts:
- Nimmakaya Pappu / Lemon / Lime Dal
- Tomato-Carrot Soup
- Roasted Tomato Chutney / Tomato Pachchadi
- Tomato Raita / Tomato-Yogurt Dip
- Brinjal-Tomato Curry / Vankaya-Tomato Koora
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Ingredients:
- Tomatoes – 5 (medium size) (cubed)
- Toor Dal / Kandi Pappu / Split Pigeon Peas– 1 cup (medium size)
- Salt – 2 teaspoons
- Green Chillies – 3 (slit length wise)
- Red Chilli Powder – 1 teaspoon
- Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon
- Tamarind – tiny lemon size (or) 1 tablespoon of puree
- Water – as required for cooking
- Coriander – 2 to 3 twigs
Ingredients for Tempering :
- Mustard seeds / Aavalu – ¼ teaspoon
- Jeera / Cumin Seeds -½ teaspoon
- Nuvvulu / Sesame Seeds – ¼ teaspoon (optional)
- Asafoetida / Hing / Inguva – half of ¼ teaspoon
- Dry Red Chillies – 3
- Curry Leaves – 5 (optional)
- Cooking oil – 2 tablespoons
- Garlic – 3 cloves (optional)
Special Ingredients:
- Asafoetida / Hing / Inguva

Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Tomato Dal / Lentil Stew’:
STOVE TOP METHOD (time:15 mins)







INSTANT POT / ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER METHOD (time:7 mins)




Tips:
- I preferred this dal/stew to be No Onion-No Garlic recipe, but you can add chopped onions (2 small size) while cooking the veggies and add garlic cloves in the tempering pan.
- Stove-top Pressure Cooker Method: Follow the same method as per Instant Pot method, but let the cooker whistle 3 times and let the pressure release naturally.
- Adjust the salt and spice as per your taste.
- For the tempering, try to add the spices whichever you have, but try not to skip the tempering.
- Storage: time of this Tomato dal / lentil stew at room temperature is just 1 day but when refrigerated stays good up to a week.
Result:
- The taste of this, Tomato dal / lentil stew is mild in spice and the texture is very soft.
- It is suitable as a side with any rice, quinoa,any bread .
- We had this dal / lentil stew / pappu as a side with rice.


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Tomato Dal / Pappu / Lentil Stew with Fresh Tomatoes
Equipment
- Sauce Pan / Vessel (for stove-top method)
- Instant Pot or Electric Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 5 count Tomatoes (medium size)
- 1 cup Toor Dal / Kandi Pappu / Split Pigeon Peas (measuring cup)
- 2 teaspoons Salt (or as per taste)
- 3 count Green Chillies
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder (or as per taste)
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- tiny lemon size Tamarind (or 1 tablespoon of puree) (optional)
- as required Water (for boiling and cooking)
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Coriander Leaves (chopped)
Ingredients for Tempering:
- 2 tablespoons Cooking oil
- ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds / Aavalu
- ½ teaspoon Jeera / Cumin Seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Nuvvulu / Sesame Seeds (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon Asafoetida / Hing / Inguva
- 3 count Dry Red Chillies
- 5 count Curry Leaves (optional)
- 3 cloves Garlic (optional)
Instructions
STOVE-TOP METHOD (time:15 mins)
- Take the lentils/kandipappu/toordal into a wide vessel / sauce pan and wash them twice thoroughly.Pour 3 times of water, such that the lentils/dal are well immersed. Set this vessel aside.
- Add the tomato pieces, slit green chillies along with tamarind into the vessel.Close with lid, put it on stove-top under medium flame for 15 mins/ until the dal becomes soft.
- Later, reduce the flame to ‘LOW’. Add the salt, turmeric powder,red chilli powder & ½ cup of water. Mix everything thoroughly.Let the dal thicken to desired consistency.Switch the flame after 2 minutes.
- TEMPERING:Put a small frying pan on stove top under medium flame. Add all the ingredients for tempering. Saute by stirring continuously. Switch off flame.
- Transfer all the tempering onto the dal. Mix up everything,take into a serving dish, garnish with chopped coriander. Done!!
INSTANT POT / ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER METHOD (time:7 mins)
- Wash the dal / lentils twice with running water, take them into the Instant Pot. Add 2 cups of water, tomato pieces, slit green chillies & tamarind (optional).
- Switch the gadget ON, close the Lid, set to ‘PRESSURE COOK’ mode,for 5 mins,under ‘HIGH PRESSURE’ with valve to sealing.
- Release pressure naturally (NPR) or quickly (QPR) anyway is fine. Set the IP to ‘SAUTE‘ mode for 2 mins. Add the salt,turmeric powder,red chilli powder,chopped coriander leaves & ¼ cup of water.Mix everything.Later switch off the gadget.
- TEMPERING:Put a small frying pan on stove top under medium flame. Add all the ingredients for tempering. Saute by stirring continuously. Switch off flame.
- Transfer all the tempering onto the dal. Mix up everything,take into a serving dish, garnish with chopped coriander. Done!!
Notes
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Hi. You have mentioned tamarind in ingredients . So when do we need to add that to the dal coz its nt mentioned in the process it seems .plz revert. I really liked your recipies.
Thanks a lot! 🙂 Thats my mistake I missed it. But, now corrected it after seeing your comment. Thanks once again.
The way you made this recipe looks very unique and different. Will try this soon!!!
Thank you 🙂 Thats nice to know and let me know how you liked it!