As promised in my previous Ulava Charu Biryani recipe, today I am going to share yet another special winter recipe. It is the Ulava Charu – the traditional rasam/soup from Andhra/Telangana prepared with horsegram lentil. It is traditionally served along with rice and ghee making it as a perfect rice accompaniment. Check out how to cook this Ulava Charu Recipe in both Instant Pot and Pressure cooker.
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Ulava Charu:
Ulava Charu:Like I mentioned in the last post, I got introduced to this Ulava Charu at our friend’s place. I enjoyed the flavor and got the recipe as well. Our friends shared store-bought ones as well. What I learned was that the main difference between the store-bought one and the homemade is the consistency of the charu. The store-bought ones are super thick without any tempering and other ingredients like onion and garlic. (At least the one that I got did not have any)
There is no doubt that homemade is always the best and also you can adjust and play with the flavors as per your preference, and that’s what I did too. I got the recipe from our friends and made a few changes to suit our taste buds and viola here is my version of ulava charu.
This charu recipe needs proper planning as it involves soaking time. But once you have soaked horse gram you can prepare this in no time. We use the same water used for soaking to cook the lentils and then the same for making this ulava charu. I used a little bit of cooked horsegram for this charu and used the remaining for other recipes like,
I would like to thank IP Recipe finder for including my Rice and Walnut Kheer in their repository. :-) Check it out here – Instant Pot Recipe Finder.
Instant Pot Ulava Charu Recipe | Horsegram Lentil Soup
The traditional rasam/soup from Andhra/Telangana prepared with horsegram lentils/Kollu.
Ingredients:
- Horsegram – 1 cup
- Water – 5 cups
- Shallots – 3
- Garlic cloves – 2 to 3
- Red chili – 3
- Mustards seeds – ½ tsp
- Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
- Hing – ½ tsp
- Salt – 1.5 tsp
- Tamarind Paste – 1 tsp
- Curry leaves – few
- Oil – 2 tbsp
- Cooked horsegram – ¼ cup
Prep – Work:
- Wash the horse gram at least twice and let it soak for a minimum of 8 hours in 5 cups of water.
- After 8 hours, do not discard the water used for soaking.
- Peel and chop the shallots and garlic.
Pressure Cooker Method:
- Pressure cook the soaked horse gram along with the water used for soaking for three whistles and after three whistles, reduce the heat to low and let it cook over low flame for 30 minutes. Ignore the whistles during that time.
- Allow the pressure to release and strain the water and set aside. Reserve ¼ cup of cooked horse gram.
- Grind that ¼ cup of cooked horsegram into a coarse paste.
- Heat the kadai and add oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves and red chilies. Break the red chilies into small pieces before adding.
- Fry for a minute and then add the chopped shallots and garlic.
- Cook until the raw smell goes away.
- Then add the horsegram water, ¼ cup of cooked horsegram (apart from the paste) salt, tamarind paste.
- Mix them all and cook over low heat 10 minutes.
- Then add the ground horsegram and mix well and let it simmer for 15 more minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
Instant Pot Method:
- Add the soaked horsegram along with the water used for soaking and set it in manual mode for 30 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally and strain the water and set aside. Reserve ¼ cup of cooked horse gram.
- Grind that ¼ cup of cooked horsegram into a coarse paste.
- Rinse the instant pot once and set it in saute mode.
- Add the oil and when the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves and red chilies. Break the red chilies into small pieces before adding.
- Fry for a minute and then add the chopped shallots and garlic.
- Cook until the raw smell goes away.
- Then add the horsegram water, ¼ cup of cooked horsegram (apart from the paste) salt, tamarind paste.
- Mix them all and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Then add the ground horsegram and mix well.
- And let it simmer for 10 to 12 more minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
Notes:
- Adjust the salt, spice, and tamarind as per your preference.
- If using tamarind, soak small gooseberry sized tamarind in 1 cup of water and extract the thick juice. The sourness of the tamarind depends on the quality and age of the tamarind so adjust accordingly.
- Instead of red chilies, you can use green chilies or red chili powder.
- This charu has a longer shelf life and stays suitable for up to 4 days when refrigerated.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Ulava Charu Recipe | Horsegram Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup Horsegram
- 5 cups Water
- 3 Shallots
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 3 Red chili
- ½ tsp Mustards seeds
- ½ tsp Cumin seeds
- ½ tsp Hing
- 1.5 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Tamarind Paste
- 10 Curry leaves
- 2 tbsp Oil
- ¼ cup Cooked horsegram
Instructions
Prep – Work:
- Wash the horse gram at least twice and let it soak for a minimum of 8 hours in 5 cups of water.
- After 8 hours, do not discard the water used for soaking.
- Peel and chop the shallots and garlic.
Pressure Cooker Method:
- Pressure cook the soaked horse gram along with the water used for soaking for three whistles and after three whistles, reduce the heat to low and let it cook over low flame for 30 minutes. Ignore the whistles during that time.
- Allow the pressure to release and strain the water and set aside. Reserve ¼ cup of cooked horse gram.
- Grind that ¼ cup of cooked horsegram into a coarse paste.
- Heat the kadai and add oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves and red chilies. Break the red chilies into small pieces before adding.
- Fry for a minute and then add the chopped shallots and garlic.
- Cook until the raw smell goes away.
- Then add the horsegram water, ¼ cup of cooked horsegram (apart from the paste) salt, tamarind paste.
- Mix them all and cook over low heat 10 minutes.
- Then add the ground horsegram and mix well and let it simmer for 15 more minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
Instant Pot Method:
- Add the soaked horsegram along with the water used for soaking and set it in manual mode for 30 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally and strain the water and set aside. Reserve ¼ cup of cooked horse gram.
- Grind that ¼ cup of cooked horsegram into a coarse paste.
- Rinse the instant pot once and set it in saute mode.
- Add the oil and when the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves and red chilies. Break the red chilies into small pieces before adding.
- Fry for a minute and then add the chopped shallots and garlic.
- Cook until the raw smell goes away.
- Then add the horsegram water, ¼ cup of cooked horsegram (apart from the paste) salt, tamarind paste.
- Mix them all and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Then add the ground horsegram and mix well and let it simmer for 10 to 12 more minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
Notes
- Adjust the salt, spice, and tamarind as per your preference.
- If using tamarind, soak small gooseberry sized tamarind in 1 cup of water and extract the thick juice.
- The sourness of the tamarind depends on the quality and age of the tamarind so adjust accordingly.
- Instead of red chilies, you can use green chilies or red chili powder.
- This charu has a longer shelf life and stays suitable for up to 4 days when refrigerated.
Nutrition
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.
Ulavacharu is a traditional Andhra recipe, and the explanation is good.
Thanks.
Step 8 – do we all the remaining Horsegram and its water or only horsegram water?
Hi Chetna, sorry its horsegram water and a little bit of cooked horsegram. Not all. Updated the post as well.
Thank you for this recipe. One small thing, one should never consume the water used for soaking lentils. It should be thrown away. Using this water can give gases and digestion issues.
Thanks. I get that. I will modify the recipe accordingly. Thanks again.
LOVE those white bowls! Especially the square one
:-) :-) It’s from a local store here. Thanks
homemade recipes are always best…
:-) Thanks