A Hot spicy soup during winter is the most ideal appetizer. Nothing can beat the wonderful aroma and the delicious flavor of a hot piping bowl of soup 🙂 My favorite one has always been the simple tomato soup.

Today’s recipe is an inspiration from the basic tomato soup but with a slight variation. The Toor Dal compliments the tomato soup giving it the right amount of flavor and texture.

This is also a one-pot recipe – thanks to my INSTANT POT 🙂

RECIPE:

Video link: Tomato Lentil Soup – Instant Pot recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes + 15 minutes (if doing an NPR)

Serves: 4 to 5

INGREDIENTS:

Butter – 1/2 cup

Tomatoes – 3 large

Onions – 1

Garlic – 2 cloves

Toor dal – 1/2 cup

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Salt – as per taste

For Soup powder:

Cloves – 8 to 10

Cinnamon – about an inch stick

Dry red chillies – 4 to 5

Oil – 1 tsp

 

METHOD:

To make soup powder:

In a pan, heat 1 tsp oil. Roast the cloves, cinnamon and dry red chillies. Keep it aside to cool down.

Once cool, grind into a coarse powder.

Now, turn the instant pot in sauté (Normal) mode. Add 1/2 cup butter and allow to melt.

Now add the coarsely chopped onions and garlic. Sauté till translucent.

Next, add the tomatoes. Mix well.

Now add the washed toor dal. Mix well before adding a tbsp of soup powder and red chilli powder.

Next, add the sugar and required amount of salt. Mix well.

Add 1/2 liter of water. Mix well.

Turn off the Instant pot. Close the lid and start the cooking process by selecting the ‘Soup’ mode (30 mins cook time).

SOUP MODE – 30 mins – Natural Pressure Release (NPR).

Once done, Pureé the contents using an immersion blender to get soup consistency.

Now for the final step before serving, add 1 cup of water and boil for 5 minutes.

Serve hot with a dollop of butter on top 🙂