Instant Pot Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala Indian Recipe)

This instant pot chana masala or chickpea curry recipe (garbanzo beans curry) is easy and you can make delicious chickpea curry in tomato onion gravy and spices which makes a great side dish with rice or enjoy it as a delicious side with Indian breads as you like. This is an Indian style chickpea curry using popular tomato onion base for gravy and the curry is vegetarian as well as vegan chickpea curry which is totally delicious!

This instant pot chickpea curry recipe is also known as chole masala or chana masala in North Indian (known as kadala curry in South India including Kerala) where this is popularly served with bhatura or poori. You can use dried chickpeas (which requires advanced soaking as I have done in this recipe) or you can use canned chickpeas which you can directly use in making the curry without soaking.

The base of this delicious and perfect chickpea curry or chickpea masala is onion tomato mixture blended with exotic spices.

You can make chana masala or Indian chickpea curry on stove top also but the instant pot version is so much more easier. Make sure to saute the onion tomato mixture until the raw taste and smell of onions are gone and the mixture starts separating from the oil, otherwise the flavor won't be good. The sauteed onion tomato mixture blended with spiced and cooked chickpeas makes this instant pot chickpea curry so delicious and you can prepare this curry so easily using the instant pot.

related blog posts:

• How To Cook Chickpeas In Instant Pot
• easy chickpea curry instant pot
• Instant Pot Green Mung Beans Recipe
• instant pot moong dal fry

So here is how you can make this easy and delicious chickpea curry/garbanzo beans curry following this easy instant pot chickpea curry recipe.

how to make chickpea curry with Indian spices in instant pot?

To make instant pot chickpea curry, we use the following ingredients.

ingredients used to make chickpea curry

• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons marinara sauce optional
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 inch piece ginger
• 3 green chilies
• ¼ teaspoon salt adjust as needed
• 2 tablespoons oil use more if needed
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 4 red chilies dried broken
• 4 cups water
• extra water as needed for soaking the dried chickpeas

Spice Powders

• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon red chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder

For garnishing

• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves optional

step by step instructions

• Wash and soak the dry chickpeas in enough water (the chickpeas will double in size as they are soaked for hours) for about 8 hours of time or overnight for best results.
• Drain the water from the soaked chickpeas, rinse again in fresh water and keep this aside.
• Wash and peel the onions, roughly chop the onions, keep aside.
• Peel the garlic cloves and also peel the ginger, keep the peeled ginger and garlic cloves aside with the onions.
• Wash and chop the tomatoes, keep the chopped tomatoes also aside with the onions, garlic and ginger.
• Transfer the onion, garlic, ginger and tomatoes to a food process and also add the green chilies and marinara sauce (if using) to the food processor.
• Grind the onion tomato mixture to make a coarse mixture (no need to make a smooth paste), if needed you may use very little water. Keep the onion tomato mixture aside.
  Add the oil to the inner pot of instant pot and press the saute function, adjust to low setting.
• Add the cumin seeds and lightly fry.
• When the cumin seeds are lightly fried, also add the broken dried red chilies and lightly fry.
• Add the onion tomato mixture to the pot very gently and carefully (be very careful while adding the mixture to the hot oil to avoid any splatter of oil), and stir using a good spatula.
• Add the salt, mix together and saute for another 12 minutes or until the onion tomato mixture starts leaving the from the sides of the pot separating from the oil.
• While sauteing the mixture, you will need to stir in between to avoid the mixture sticking at the bottom of the pot and if needed you may add a little more oil to make the process easier.
• Once the onion tomato mixture is sauteed in the oil, add the spice powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin seeds powder and garam masala powder, mix well and saute for another 1 minute.
• Add the chickpeas and enough salt also to the pot and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add the water, mix well and press the 'keep warm/cancel' button so the saute function will stop.
• Close the pot with lid in sealing position and press manual, cook in high pressure for 12 minutes.
• The pot will take a few minutes to build up the pressure and start cooking. Once the cooking is done, the pot will beep so you will need to wait until then.
• Once the cooking is done and the pot beeps, press the 'keep warm/cancel' button and wait for a natural pressure release which will take another few minutes of time.
• Once the pressure is all naturally released, carefully open the lid of the pot by turning to venting position and stir the curry.
• If desired, you may simmer the curry for another couple of minutes to reduce the gravy a bit, by pressing the saute function and simmering in 'medium' (use the adjust button to select) for about 2 minutes.
• Garnish with cilantro leaves if using, serve hot with rice, chapathi, poori or bhatura!

more photos from the preparation of instant pot chickpea curry

Below you can get the recipe for instant pot chickpea curry in detail.

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Instant Pot Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala Indian Recipe)

Easy and delicious vegetarian chickpea curry recipe made in instant pot with spices in onion tomato mixture for gravy.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Soaking time for dry chickpeas8 hours hrs

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: instant pot chana masala, instant pot chickpea curry, instant pot chole masala, instant pot garbanzo beans curry

Servings: 6

Calories: 198kcal

Author: PA

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried chickpeas
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons marinara sauce optional
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 inch piece ginger
• 3 green chilies
• ¼ teaspoon salt adjust as needed
• 2 tablespoons oil use more if needed
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 4 red chilies dried broken
• 4 cups water
• extra water as needed for soaking the dried chickpeas

Spice Powders

• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon red chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder

For garnishing

• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves  optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Wash and soak the dry chickpeas in enough water (the chickpeas will double in size as they are soaked for hours) for about 8 hours of time or overnight for best results.
• Drain the water from the soaked chickpeas, rinse again in fresh water and keep this aside.
• Wash and peel the onions, roughly chop the onions, keep aside.
• Peel the garlic cloves and also peel the ginger, keep the peeled ginger and garlic cloves aside with the onions.
• Wash and chop the tomatoes, keep the chopped tomatoes also aside with the onions, garlic and ginger.
• Transfer the onion, garlic, ginger and tomatoes to a food process and also add the green chilies and marinara sauce (if using) to the food processor.
• Grind the onion tomato mixture to make a coarse mixture (no need to make a smooth paste), if needed you may use very little water. Keep the onion tomato mixture aside.
• Add the oil to the inner pot of instant pot and press the saute function, adjust to low setting.
• Add the cumin seeds and lightly fry.
• When the cumin seeds are lightly fried, also add the broken dried red chilies and lightly fry.
• Add the onion tomato mixture to the pot very gently and carefully (be very careful while adding the mixture to the hot oil to avoid any splatter of oil), and stir using a good spatula.
• Add the salt, mix together and saute for another 12 minutes or until the onion tomato mixture starts leaving the from the sides of the pot separating from the oil. While sauteing the mixture, you will need to stir in between to avoid the mixture sticking at the bottom of the pot and if needed you may add a little more oil to make the process easier.
• Once the onion tomato mixture is sauteed in the oil, add the spice powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin seeds powder and garam masala powder, mix well and saute for another 1 minute.
• Add the chickpeas and enough salt also to the pot and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add the water, mix well and press the 'keep warm/cancel' button so the saute function will stop.
• Close the pot with lid in sealing position and press manual, cook in high pressure for 12 minutes. The pot will take a few minutes to build up the pressure and start cooking. Once the cooking is done, the pot will beep so you will need to wait until then.
• Once the cooking is done and the pot beeps, press the 'keep warm/cancel' button and wait for a natural pressure release which will take another few minutes of time.
• Once the pressure is all naturally released, carefully open the lid of the pot by turning to venting position and stir the curry. If desired, you may simmer the curry for another couple of minutes to reduce the gravy a bit, by pressing the saute function and simmering in 'medium' (use the adjust button to select) for about 2 minutes.
• Garnish with cilantro leaves if using, serve hot with rice, chapathi, poori or bhatura!

Notes

You may slightly reduce the amount of water or simmer for little more time if you prefer less gravy. Instead of dried chickpeas, you may also try the recipe using canned chickpeas. If you are using canned chickpeas, you do not need to soak the chickpeas in advance, but you can directly use it in the recipe, but the cooking time will probably reduce.

Nutrition

Calories: 198kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 7g | Sodium: 222mg | Potassium: 453mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 390IU | Vitamin C: 49.8mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 2.9mg