A favorite amongst my boys, Black Eyed Peas Curry cooked in a smooth onion, tomatoes and coconut based sauce has earthy flavors from turmeric, cumin seeds and coriander seeds and is perfectly spiced with the mild Kashmiri red chili powder and aromatic garam masala.
Piping hot black eyed peas curry with rice and some warm chapati’s is a common scene in our home.
Throw in some onions, tomatoes, coconut, cumin seeds, ginger and garlic in a blender to make a smooth paste.
Once the spice paste is ready, this recipe is easy to cook in Instant Pot. With the Pot in Pot cooking, stick in the rice along with the beans and spices and you have the whole meal ready in no time!
I sauté the onion-tomato-coconut paste for few minutes and then add the remaining ingredients and then place the stainless steel bowl with rice on a tall trivet. Best Part of this recipe is you can do a natural pressure release and forget about it until you are ready to eat!
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- 1 cup dry black eyed peas 3 cups soaked
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 tablespoon shredded coconut unsweetened
- 1 medium onion roughly chopped
- 1 large ripe tomato quartered
- 1 inch ginger
- 8 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon asafetida optional
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon cumin powder
- 1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 3 teaspoon salt divided
- 1/2 tablespoon jaggery or brown sugar optional
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish
- 1 cup white rice
Soak black eyed peas in 3 cups of water overnight or 6 hours. Drain all the water and keep aside.
Rinse and drain the rice. Add 1.5 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt and keep aside.
- Blend cumin seeds, coconut, onion, tomato, ginger and garlic to make a smooth paste.
Turn the Instant Pot to Saute(more) mode and heat oil. Add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Add asafetida and turmeric. Add the onion and tomato paste and cook for a minute stirring frequently.
- Add red chili powder, cumin and coriander powder, garam masala and 2 teaspoon salt. Mix well. Put a glass lid on and cook for 3-4 mins.
- Open the glass lid and mix everything once more. Making sure no spices are stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Add jaggery, black eyed peas and 2 cups of water. Give a quick stir.
- Put a tall trivet in the pot. Put the rice container on top of the trivet.
- Close IP lid with pressure valve to sealing. Cook on Manual(Hi) for 8 minutes.
- Open after Natural Pressure Release.
Remove the rice container. Remove the trivet. Add more water if needed. Adjust salt accordingly. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Enjoy hot!
Recipe Video
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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
Oh my,
I am ready to dig in 🙂
Cheers !
Thank you!
This sounds lovely and flavoursome …I don’t have an Instant Pot ( It is) on my to buy list so it will be slow cooked but hopefully just as good:)
Yes! Slow cooker will work well too! Let me know how you like it.
looks delicious, adding jaggery seems interesting!
Thank you! Many Maharashtrain curries use jaggery. You can always skip it if you like.
Lovely post! Beautiful captures, very vibrant and sounds delicious. Nice one Archana.
Thank you Sumith!!
If I don’t soak the black eye peas, how long should I cook it for?
Hi Twinkle, 20-25 minutes for unsoaked black eyed beans. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Should I add extra water if my beans are unsoaked? Also, do I cook the beans for 20 mins and then add the rice to the IP?
Hi Sonal, I would highly recommend soaking your beans. They will be soaked well in 4 hours. If you decide to use unsoaked, you can first cook them in 2 cups of water on Manual(Hi) for 20 mins. Then follow the rest of the recipe. Hope this helps.
You have to soak beans overnight- isn’t the pot supposed to eliminate that step?
Hi Kelly! Yes you can cook dry beans in Instant Pot and that works very well. We grew up eating beans that were pre-soaked and also easier to digest. It is only a matter of preference 🙂
Hi archana,
What height is the trivet u used and where did u buy it? Thanks!
It is 2.75 inches and I bought it on amazon.
Will the tall trivet hold the rice above the surface of the beans and liquid? I’d love to try this!
Yes!!
I’m a carnivore but I moved downtown in the arts district and am having to cook vegan and vegetarian more often. I don’t have an Instant Pot so just used my regular calphalon pots and pans. Food was delicious and I garnished with roasted broccoli. Yum! My chapati was mediocre. Must not have had a decent recipe. Using regular pans probably added 5-10 minutes to my total cook time. Since I was cooking with a female friend and drinking wine, the extra time seemed like no time at all.
Thank you Gerry! I am glad you enjoyed this curry. Also since black eyed peas cook pretty quickly it is also a good option to cook them on stove-top.
Hi .. I see u have added onions n tomatoes again with the black eyed peas.
This recipe uses spice paste made with onions and tomatoes
Hi Archana,
Thank you for your recipes!
What changes work I make if I wanted to delay cook by 10 hours (before I leave for work in the morning)? I have pre-soaked beans. Thanks!
Just set the delay timer. You could have skipped the soaking step.
Hi Archana, Can I make the tomato paste 1-2 days before?
Yes absolutely!!
Is there any change required, if I don’t want to make rice?
Thanks,
Sonali
Same steps, just skip the rice part