Kala Chana is a mildly spiced black chickpeas curry made in instant pot. This is a simple everyday Punjabi curry, made in a onion-tomato gravy with ginger and garlic.
Course Main Course
Cuisine North Indian
Keyword instant pot chickpeas
Diet Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Nut-free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Method Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 250kcal
Author Meeta Arora
Ingredients
1 cup Black Chickpeas (Kala Chana) 250 ml
3 cup Water for soaking
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)
1 Onion medium diced (about 1 cup)
2 Tomato medium chopped (about 1 cup)
1 Green Chili Pepper minced (optional)
1″ Ginger minced (or 1 tbsp Ginger paste)
5 cloves Garlic minced (or 1 tbsp Garlic paste)
2 cups Water for cooking
1 tsp Dry Mango powder (Amchur) (can be replaced with lemon juice)
Cilantro to garnish
Spices
2 tsp Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp Cayenne or Red chili powder
1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
1 tsp Salt
US Customary – Metric
Instructions
Wash chickpeas and soak for 4 hours or overnight in 3 cups of water. The chickpeas will increase in size when they are soaked.
Instant Pot Method
Start the instant pot in sauté mode and let it heat. Add oil, cumin seeds to it.
When the cumin seeds start to splutter, add chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chili pepper. Sauté for 3 minutes.
Add chopped tomatoes and spices. Stir and sauté for another 2 minutes.
Drain the soaking water from kala chana. Add kala chana and 2 cups of fresh water to the instant pot.
Change the instant pot setting to bean/chili mode. This will automatically set the timer to 30 minutes.
When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally (NPR). If the pin has not dropped after 20 minutes, release the pressure manually.
Open the instant pot and add amchur (dry mango powder) to it. Stir well for a minute.
Garnish with cilantro. Kala Chana curry is ready to be served with rice or roti.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
Heat oil in the pressure cooker on medium-high flame.
Add cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to splutter, add chopped onion, ginger, garlic and chili pepper. Sauté for 3 minutes.
Add chopped tomatoes and spices. Stir and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
Drain the soaking water from kala chana. Add kala chana and 2 cups of fresh water to the pressure cooker.
Cover the lid, turn the heat on high flame and pressure cook it until your hear two whistles. Now reduce the flame to medium and pressure cook it for another 12 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally.
Open the lid, add amchur (dry mango powder) and stir well for a minute.
Garnish with cilantro. Kala Chana curry is ready to be served with rice or roti.
Notes
Add 2 cups of chopped spinach or kale after the kala chana preparation in this recipe. Let it boil for a minute and enjoy it as a soup.
Traditional punjabi style, Kala Chana Curry is soupy and a has extra liquid, as it is mostly enjoyed with rice. If you like it to be less soupy, you can reduce the amount of water for cooking to 1.5 cups.
Green Chili Pepper: I typically use Thai, Birdeye or Serrano Chili Pepper in my recipes. Don’t forget to adjust to your taste.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.