I’m bringing to you a popular Mangalorean recipe known locally as ‘kollu rasam’. It’s a Horse Gram Soup that’s truly goodness in a bowl – it’s warming, incredibly nutritious and high in protein.
Have you heard of horse gram before? It’s a superfood that’s known as the ‘miracle pulse’ because that’s how good it is for you! It’s the most protein-rich lentil out there and is loaded with antioxidant properties. We love to add this Horse Gram Soup to our weekly rotation during soup season for the heartiest meal there is! ❤️
jump to section: Horse Gram Soup
Ingredients Overview
The best part about making this kollu rasam recipe is that other than the horse gram, all the ingredients used are pantry staples – what you’d use to make a traditional dal. We temper some onions, garlic, dried red chillies and curry leaves and add in our pressure-cooked and blended horse gram soup (that includes tomatoes, aromatics and fresh herbs too). Married together, the flavours are incredible!
Horse gram generally takes very long to cook, but by soaking and pressure cooking like we do in this recipe, this soup comes together very quickly with just a little prep.
Horse Gram Soup Benefits
- This Horse Gram Soup is really nutrient-dense! It is high in protein and fibre-rich making it a wholesome meal, especially when served along with some bread!
- It contains essential vitamins and minerals such as iron, phosphorus, and vitamin C.
- It is an antioxidant powerhouse and will help your body fight off free radicals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course! Carrots, broccoli, peas, and beans would make great additions to this soup! Add them in whole as the soup stews or you can alternatively blend them in too (but note that this will change the flavour of the soup).
This soup actually tastes delicious the day after you make it too! The flavours marry together really well and it’s just so good. You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Horse gram is quite tough and needs to be soaked in hot water overnight before cooking otherwise it will take a much longer cooking time.
Garnish this horse gram soup with some birista and have on its own, with some ghee rice, or bread dunked right into it. It’s a bit of an acquired taste initially (especially for the little ones) but you’ll be able to feel just how wholesome this recipe really is. And if you make it once, I promise you’ll be making it again and again. So it’s totally worth it to go get yourself a packet of horse gram and give this a try! ❤️
If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out my Coast to Coast series which features more Mangalorean recipes like this Mangalorean Fish Fry and Mangalorean Crab Curry.
As always, send me your recreations over on my IG @my_foodstory because I love to see them!
Watch How To Make Horse Gram Soup
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Soak the horse gram for 8-10 hours or overnight in water.
½ cup horsegram
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After the soaking hours, add drained horse gram, sambar onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, pepper, jeera, coriander leaves, salt and water to a pressure cooker.
6 sambar onions, 1 tomato, 3 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon jeera, ¼ cup fresh coriander leaves, ¾ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ cups water + extra
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Pressure cook on high and after the first whistle, cook for 20 more minutes on low heat.
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Let the pressure release naturally. Horse gram has to be cooked so well that it can be easily mashable. Cool the mixture and blend till smooth.
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To make tadka, heat ghee in a pot large enough to hold the soup. Add sambar onions, curry leaves, garlic and whole red chillies. Saute for a minute or two till the onions start to brown. Pour the soup over this. Check for seasoning and serve topped with coriander leaves and drops of olive oil.
2 teaspoons ghee, 2-3 sambar onions, 1 sprig curry leaves, 4 unpeeled garlic cloves, 2 whole red chillies, 1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaves, 1 teaspoon olive oil
- It’s important to soak the horsegram to make it easily digestible and easier to cook
- Cooking in the pressure cooker reduces the time taken to cook horsegram
- Using red chillies lends a smokiness to the soup
- Sambar onions may be replaced with onions
Calories: 220kcal, Carbohydrates: 40g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 6mg, Sodium: 455mg, Potassium: 511mg, Fiber: 10g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 568IU, Vitamin C: 60mg, Calcium: 118mg, Iron: 2mg
This article was written and researched by Navya Khetarpal.
