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Indian tomato Soup featured Image.

Indian Tomato Soup (No Heavy Cream + Secret Ingredient)

Tanvi Srivastava
This indian tomato soup recipe uses fresh tomatoes and a secret ingredient to enhance its taste & texture. Lightly spiced and no heavy cream!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine Indian
Servings 5 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoon yellow mung lentils
  • 2 tablespoon oil I use avocado oil, use any neutral oil
  • 3 (~12g) garlic chopped
  • ¼ inch (~4g) ginger chopped
  • 2-3 green chilies (hot), adjust to taste
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro stems chopped
  • 90 g onion chopped, I use red onion
  • 300 g fresh tomatoes I use roma tomatoes
  • 25 g beetroot chopped
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri chili powder
  • 1.25 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar or as per taste
  • ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper adjust to taste
  • 1 tablespoon butter or as per taste

Whole Spices

  • 1 medium size bay leaf
  • 1 green cardamom

Instructions
 

  • Begin by washing and soaking the yellow mung lentils in excess water. While the lentils soak, you can prepare the ingredients- chop the different vegetables, measure the spices etc.
  • In a cooking pot (3 qt), heat up oil on medium heat. Add the bayleaf and green cardamom to the hot oil.
  • Next, add the chopped ginger, garlic, cilantro stems and green chilies to the oil. Fry for a minute or so untill you smell a nice aroma.
  • Next, add the onions into the pot. Lightly brown for 3-4 minutes until they appear soft and translucent.
  • Add the chopped tomatoes, beetroot pieces and soaked & drained lentils next to the pot. Sprinkle red chili powder and salt.
  • Saute the tomatoes for good 3-4 minutes on low medium heat with the aromatics till they begin to soften.
  • Pour hot water over the tomatoes and on low medium flame, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let cook for 18-22 minutes or until the tomatoes, vegetables and lentils are soft.
  • Open the lid, pick and discard the bay leaf and green cardamom. Let the tomato mixture cool slightly.
  • Add the tomato mixture to a blender jar and blend to smooth puree. You could also puree it with immersion blender.
  • Pour the blended tomato soup back to the cooking pot placed on low medium flame. At this point, add more water if you wish to thin out the soup further.
  • Mix in the butter, black pepper powder, sugar and lemon juice(if using). 
  • Bring the soup to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
  • Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with more black pepper and butter if desired. You can also add some chaat masala for a salty kick. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve warm.

Using Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker

  • Set your instant pot to "SAUTE" and do all the steps of sauteeing the aromatics, onion and tomatoes as written above. Stick the timings I mentioned.
    Cancel the saute function and add the hot water or broth.Set the instant pot to "PRESSURE COOK" for 8-10 minutes with vent is seal position. For pressure cooker, cook on medium heat for 3-4 whistles.
    Once the cooking time is up, allow natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then lift off the instant pot vent manually to release all the steam.
    Blend and simmer the soup for 3-5 minutes on "SAUTE" mode to warm up.

Notes

  • Make sure that the tomatoes you are using arent too sour.
  • You can mix in ⅓ cup heavy cream at the very end and hold off on the butter if you want to make creamy tomato soup.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!