Black Eyed Peas Curry is cooked in a flavorful onion, tomatoes, and coconut-based sauce with earthy flavors from turmeric, cumin, and coriander. Spiced with red chili powder and aromatic garam masala, this tasty curry served with rice or warm roti this meal is on repeat in my home.
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Also known as lobia or chawli, dried black-eyed peas are a must-have in my pantry. They are inexpensive, have a long shelf life, and are available in most grocery stores. They also cook fairly fast compared to other dried beans.
In India, I grew up seeing my mom always soaking dry beans the night before. In my "The Essential Indian Instant Pot Cookbook" I have an easier variation of this recipe, which uses dry beans and a longer cook time for the same creamy gravy sauce. Looking for more plant-based protein dishes? Do try the delicious Rajma Masala Recipe and also the Maharashtrian Misal Recipe.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients for my mom's recipe that I grew up eating. My version uses Instant Pot so I can also cook white rice at the same time using the Pot in Pot cooking. Best way to have the whole meal ready in no time!
- Black Eyed Peas - Also known as Chawli or Lobia. Soaked in water overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- Spices - mustard seeds, turmeric, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, and garam masala.
- Masala Paste - Blend onion, tomatoes, coconut, cumin seeds, ginger, and garlic to make a smooth paste which is the base masala for this recipe
How to Make Blck Eyed Peas Curry
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and heat oil. To the hot oil, add mustard seeds and allow them to pop, this may take 2 to 3 mins. Add asafetida and turmeric.
- Stir in the onion and tomato masala paste and cook for a minute stirring frequently. Add red chili powder, cumin and coriander powder, garam masala, and salt. Mix well. Put a glass lid on and cook for 3-4 mins photos.
- Open the glass lid and mix everything, ensuring no spices are stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Add jaggery, black-eyed peas, and water. Stir as you remove any stuck masala from the bottom of the pot.
- Place the tall trivet inside the pot.
- Put the rice bowl on top of the trivet. Close the Instant Pot lid with the pressure valve to sealing. Cook on Pressure Cook/ Manual(Hi) for 8 minutes photos.
- Allow 10 mins or full Natural Pressure Release. Carefully remove the rice container and the trivet using heat-resistant mitts.
- Stir the curry and garnish with chopped cilantro photos
Serving
On busy weeknights, we enjoy the black-eyed peas curry with steamed rice. Here are a few other ideas to serve this delicious Indian curry. You can either make thin roti or parathas to scoop the curried black-eyed peas. You can also switch up steamed white rice with jeera rice or steamed brown rice. Add a side of beet raita to round up this meal perfectly.
Storing
Store any leftover curry refrigerated in an air-tight container for 3 to 5 days.
You can also freeze it for up to 2 months. I would recommend freezing in smaller 1 to 2 serving portions in freezer-proof containers. To reheat simply thaw the curry overnight in the refrigerator and then heat up in the microwave or stove top pan.
Tips
- Forgot to soak the black eyed peas? No worries. Simply increase the pressure cook time to 20 minutes and allow full natural pressure release. Instead of white rice, you can make brown rice with the increased cooking time.
- Don't have frozen fresh coconut? You can use unsweetened shredded dry coconut instead. Or add coconut milk instead of water for cooking the curry.
- ¾ cup of tomato puree can be used in place of fresh tomato.
More Indian Vegetarian Curries You'll Love
Did you enjoy this homestyle Indian curry? Here are some more vegetarian curries for you to try:
- Maharashtrian Misal - A spicy curry with sprouted beans
- Bharwa Baingan - Curried stuffed eggplant with an easy Instant Pot recipe
- Mushroom Masala - Mushrooms cooked in a creamy tomato-based sauce
- Chana Masala - Curried chickpeas in a heartwarming sauce
- Punjabi Dal Makhani - Creamy restaurant-style lentils with an EASY Instant Pot recipe
Check out this collection of 20 Indian Lentil and Bean recipes using Instant Pot.
Recipe
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas Curry with Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry black eyed peas 3 cups soaked
- ½ 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
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon asafetida optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt divided
- ½ tablespoon jaggery or brown sugar optional
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro for garnish
Pot in pot Rice (optional)
- 1 cup white rice
- 1½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Soak black eyed peas in 3 cups of water overnight or 6 hours. Drain all the water and keep it aside.
- Rinse and drain the rice. Add water and 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 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 water. Give a quick stir.
- Put a tall trivet in the pot. Put the rice container on top of the trivet.
- Close the Instant Pot lid with pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook for 8 minutes. Open after 10 mins or allow full natural pressure release.
- Remove the rice container. Remove the trivet. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Enjoy hot!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Hans Susser says
Oh my,
I am ready to dig in 🙂
Cheers !
Archana says
Thank you!
blondieaka says
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:)
Archana says
Yes! Slow cooker will work well too! Let me know how you like it.
InspiresN says
looks delicious, adding jaggery seems interesting!
Archana says
Thank you! Many Maharashtrain curries use jaggery. You can always skip it if you like.
Sumith says
Lovely post! Beautiful captures, very vibrant and sounds delicious. Nice one Archana.
Archana says
Thank you Sumith!!
Twinkle says
If I don't soak the black eye peas, how long should I cook it for?
Archana says
Hi Twinkle, 20-25 minutes for unsoaked black eyed beans. Let me know if you have any other questions.
sonal says
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?
Archana says
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.
Kelly says
You have to soak beans overnight- isn't the pot supposed to eliminate that step?
Archana says
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 🙂
Nilu says
Hi archana,
What height is the trivet u used and where did u buy it? Thanks!
Archana says
It is 2.75 inches and I bought it on amazon.
Cassandra|Delectatus says
Will the tall trivet hold the rice above the surface of the beans and liquid? I'd love to try this!
Archana says
Yes!!
Gerry Smith says
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.
Archana says
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.
Shwetha says
Hi .. I see u have added onions n tomatoes again with the black eyed peas.
Archana says
This recipe uses spice paste made with onions and tomatoes
Uma says
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!
Archana says
Just set the delay timer. You could have skipped the soaking step.
Deepa says
Hi Archana, Can I make the tomato paste 1-2 days before?
Archana says
Yes absolutely!!
Sonali says
Is there any change required, if I don't want to make rice?
Thanks,
Sonali
Archana says
Same steps, just skip the rice part
Palvi K. says
Great recipe! I made it today (just the black eyed peas, not the rice). It was EXCELLENT! Thank you for sharing it!
I used my 6 quart Ultra Instant Pot to make it. But in future, can I use my 4 quart instant pot? And if I have company, can I double up the recipe?
Thanks!
Archana says
yes you can use your 4-QT and def can double in qt. Enjoy!
mary says
This was so so good!!
Dawn says
Hello! If you double the recipe, would you also double the water? 4 cups of water seems like a lot of water to use. Thank you!
Archana says
You can start with 2 to 3 cups of water and add more after pressure cooking if needed.
Arvind Thakkar says
Excellent! Delicious, black-eyed peas! It needed just a squeeze of lemon. Is this what you would call an Usal? Would the same recipe work with other kinds of pulses like Matki, Mung and White beans?
Archana says
Yes it can work for other pulses. But for Matki I have an awesome recipe from my mom - https://ministryofcurry.com/spicy-misal-pav/
Emily says
I am interested in trying this recipe! I have frozen fresh black eyed peas. Could I add the peas (still frozen) and cook for the same amount of time, or should I thaw them first?
Archana says
Yes I think same amount of time from frozen will work.
Gopal Miglani says
I love the recipes and hopefully you'll view this feedback as constructive.
The measure of Ginger could be changed to weight. Using 1 inch of ginger resulted in an awful lot in my case due to the girth of the ginger. I'm a novice cook, of course.
A couple mistakes in the recipe: When you scale the recipe to change the amount two things do not change under "Instruction". On line 5 the "2 teaspoons of salt" stays constant and on line 7 the "2 cups of water" stays constant. Its just a software error on the website but caused poor results.
Finally, on all your recipes, it would be nice to know what is the maximum amount one can cook in a 6 quart and an 8 quart instant pot.
Archana says
Thank you for the feedback!! I will make the changes.
Puj812 says
I CANT WAIT TO TRY THIS. Looks amazing!