Kale Chickpea Curry In Instant Pot

Kale chickpea curry using fresh baby kale leaves and dried chickpeas, which is soaked and slowly cooked in the instant pot pressure cooker to make soft, delicious curried chickpeas with kale!

This kale chickpea curry or garbanzo beans curry is perfect to be used as a side dish with rice or Indian breads like chapathi and poori.

It is made without sauteeing any onions or tomatoes, but I used spices like onion powder and garlic powder which adds enough flavor while we can also keep the process simple & more easier.

You may also use fresh garlic instead of garlic powder and also add some ginger if you like.

Instant pot pressure cooker is often used to cook food faster, and sure you can cook even dried chickpeas directly in the instant pot without soaking them in the water in advance.

However, in this kale chickpea curry we soak the dried chickpeas and also cook them in the instant pot for a very soft texture for the chickpeas which just blends in and add more texture and flavor to the curry!

Cooking dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) in instant pot

Cooking dried chickpeas directly is easy in instant pot. As I mentioned, we can cook dried chickpeas directly in the instant pot without soaking in the water in advance.

In this recipe, we use a different method so we soak the dried chickpeas in water for several hours prior to cooking.

Once soaked, the water used for soaking is discarded and we cook the chickpeas in the instant pot pressure cooker for about an hour (and few more minutes in this recipe) to make delicious, soft, melt in your mouth texture chickpeas!

More instant pot chickpea recipes in this blog includes instant pot chickpeas no soak method, instant pot canned chickpea curry etc!

Adding kale leaves to instant pot chickpea curry

Greens like kale and spinach are perfect to be paired with chickpeas, especially in dishes like curry and salads.

Kale leaves are very healthy and high in nutrition and has many health benefits.

Indian style yellow dal curry with kale leaves is another easy kale leaf curry which you can easily make, which is healthy, nutritious and delicious!

In some recipes, we add the greens early to the curry so the greens will be well cooked and blend into the curry for more flavor.

In some recipes, we add the greens almost at the end of preparations, so the leaves are just cooked enough, retaining the texture of the leaves in the curry.

In this kale chickpea curry, we only add kale leaves towards the end of preparation, and we simmer the curry with the kale leaves for couple of minutes, which helps to retain the texture of kale leaves and so you can feel the leaves in the curry.

So here is how you can make this easy, delicious kale chickpea curry in instant pot.

How to make kale chickpea curry in instant pot?

We use the following ingredients to make easy, delicious and creamy kale chickpea curry in the instant pot pressure cooker.

ingredients to make creamy kale chickpea curry

dry chickpeas 2 cups

fresh baby kale leaves 2 cups

salt adjust to taste

water 4 cups (plus more water for soaking the chickpeas)

butter 2 tablespoons

heavy cream ½ cup

Spices used:

onion powder 1 teaspoon

garlic powder 2 teaspoons

turmeric powder ½ teaspoon

red chili powder ½ teaspoon

coriander powder 1 tablespoon

garam masala powder 1 tablespoon

black pepper powder ½ teaspoon

Step by step instructions

Wash the chickpeas and soak in enough water for about 6 to 8 hours or overnight for best results.

Once the soaking is done, discard the water used for soaking and rinse the chickpeas again in fresh water.

Add the soaked chickpeas to instant pot.

Add 4 cups of water and close the instant pot with lid in sealing position.

For a very soft, melt in mouth texture, cook the chickpeas in high pressure for one hour and 15 minutes. I know this sounds too long, since the soaked chickpeas can cook much faster in the instant pot.

But, for the creamy, soft and melt in mouth texture, I recommend cooking the chickpeas for this much time, which tastes great in this creamy kale chickpea curry.

Once the chickpeas is cooked, wait for a natural pressure release.

Once the pressure is all released, open the instant pot carefully and stir the cooked chickpeas very well.

Add salt and all the spice powders, mix well with the chickpeas.

Also add the butter and cream, mix in to combine with the curry.

The butter will melt soon, since the curry is really hot at this point.

Wash the kale leaves and add them also to the chickpea curry.

Mix the kale leaves with the curry.

Press saute and let it cook for a couple of minutes, while you stir in between.

The delicious kale chickpea curry is ready, serve with rice or Indian breads like chapthi, poori etc for a delicious lunch or dinner!

Below you can get the detailed recipe for kale chickpea curry in instant pot pressure cooker.