Horse gram soup recipe - Kollu rasam - Ulavacharu

This Ulavacharu (Horse gram soup - Kollu rasam) is an authentic South Indian rasam recipe with horse gram. You will find detailed steps to make this horse gram soup using an Instant pot and stovetop pressure cooker in this recipe.

Ulavacharu, my most favorite rasam and it is uber delicious. This is a typical Andhra dish, quite famous all over the world.

Packaged ulavacharu is available nowadays and is often exported to other countries from Andhra Pradesh state. And making this horse gram soup at home is very easy and today I'm sharing the easiest and tasty recipe.

There are many variations to this recipe and after trying many different versions, I have settled down to this one.

Ulavalu, known as horse gram in English. We usually consume this legume at least twice a week in winter, and this horse gram rasam is a good way to do so.

Instant pot Instructions

• Soak horse gram for at least 8 hours in 3-4 cups of water. Then, drain the soaked horse gram and wash it twice to remove impurities.  
• Now add washed horse gram to the instant pot inner pot.

• Add water to this now and close the Instant pot with its lid. Seal the vent.

• Start the Instant pot in manual or pressure cook mode and cook it on high pressure for 15 minutes.

• Once the instant pot beeps, switch it off and let the pressure release naturally or wait for 10 minutes and then do a quick pressure release.
• Horse gram will be cooked nicely and yet retain their structure.

• Now strain the water from horse gram and reserve both water and cooked horse gram separately.
• Now take ¾ cup of cooked horse gram into a mixer grinder.

• To this, add red chili, chopped onion, garlic cloves, tamarind and blend it into a smooth paste using water.

• Wipe off the instant pot inner pot once and start the instant pot again in sautee mode.
• To the hot pot, add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, and hing.

• Once they splutter, add the reserved water to the instant pot inner pot.

• Add the blended horse gram paste to the instant pot along with salt, coriander powder, cumin powder, fenugreek powder, and turmeric powder.

• Mix everything well and let it boil for 8 to 10 minutes until you see a thick frothy top on the rasam.

• Switch off the Instant pot and serve the Ulavacharu with hot rice.

Ulavacharu recipe using a stovetop pressure cooker:

• Soak horse gram for at least 8 hours in 3-4 cups of water. Then, drain the soaked horse gram and wash it twice to remove impurities.  

• Add thoroughly washed horse gram and water to the pressure cooker.
• Cook it for 15 to 20 minutes on medium flame(approximately 7-8 whistles) 

• Horse gram will not turn mushy even though you cook for this long time. They retain their structure, as shown in the picture.

• Once the pressure settles down, strain the horse gram and collect the strained liquid into a vessel or pan in which you plan to make rasam. 

• Now take a mixer jar and add ¾th cup of cooked ulavalu (horse gram) to it. 

• Also, add red chili, tamarind, roughly chopped onion, garlic cloves to the mixer grinder and grind it into a smooth paste using ¾th cup water. 

• Add this paste to horse gram water and put it to boil on the stove. To this, add turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin and methi powder, salt. 

• Let the ulavacharu boil for 10 to 12 minutes on medium flame. You should see the frothy top on the rasam.

• While horse gram rasam is boiling, heat a small kadai and add oil to make tadka. 

• Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, whole red chili, and curry leaves to the hot oil and let it splutter. 

• Switch off the stove and add a pinch of hing to the tadka. It's optional but recommended for authentic taste. Please omit hing if you want this recipe as gluten-free.

• By now, ulavacharu will be boiled thoroughly, and it will not have any raw smell.  

• Add the tadka to the boiling ulavacharu and switch off the flame.  

• If you want, you can add chopped coriander leaves now. 
• Serve the ulavacharu with hot rice and a dollop of ghee. It's heaven on a plate. 😋

Recipe Notes and variations:

• Though Horse gram looks small, they are tough. Soaking them overnight or eight hours will reduce cooking time.
• There is no alternative for tamarind, and if you do not have fresh tamarind, you can use tamarind paste.
• You can use black or brown horse gram. Only the color might be slightly different, but both taste the same.
• You can double or triple the recipe. Cooking times will be the same.
• If you do not have fenugreek powder or cumin powder handy, you can grind the whole seeds while grinding the horse gram mixture.
• Usually, ulavacharu is served along with hot rice. I do like to have it as it is for a light dinner. 
• You can serve this along with cooked millet or cooked quinoa.

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Recipe