Instant Pot Kala Chana - Indian Brown Chickpea Curry

This recipe is very easy to make. It is delicious and was my favorite food while I was growing up.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 20

Total Time 1 30

Servings: 6

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian, North Indian

1 cup dried brown chickpeas (kaala chana

soaked overnight in 2.5 cups water)
4 tbsp oil of choice
1 dried bay leaf (tej patta)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp asafoetida (heeng)
1/2 onion (large) (1 and 1/4 cups chopped finely)
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (either freshly mined in equal quantities or store bought)
1 tsp kashmiri chili powder
1.5 cups water (divided)
1/4 tsp ground turmeric (haldi powder)
1 tbsp ground coriander (dhaniya powder)
1 tsp ground cumin (jeera powder)
1 and 1/2 tomato (pureed)
1 and 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 Serrano pepper (small) hari mirch
1/2 tbsp mango powder (amchur/amchoor powder)
1/4 cup cilantro (rinsed and finely chopped)

Prep

Rinse and chop the onions and cilantro finely. Slit the Serrano pepper, and puree the tomatoes.
Discard the water that was used to soak the chickpea overnight.

Cook

When ready to cook, Select sauté on the instant pot and adjust to normal. Add oil to the pot. When the oil is hot, add bay leaf and cumin seeds.
When the cumin seeds begin to splutter in about 30 seconds add asafoetida.
Add onions. Keep stirring. Then add the ginger garlic paste.
When the onions turn golden in about 2 to 4 minutes add kashmiri chili powder and 1/4 cup water. Stir.
Then add ground turmeric, ground coriander, and ground cumin. Stir.
Add tomato puree, and salt. Give it a good stir. Let the tomatoes saute for about 2 minutes. Keep stirring. Then add 1 and 1/4 cup water and stir.
Add the brown chickpea, and garam masala. Give it a good stir. You can add the slit Serrano pepper (optional) at this point.
Press cancel. Secure the lid on the pot. Select manual and cook at high pressure for 60 minutes. When cooking is complete, use natural pressure release to depressurize. Discard the bay leaf. Add in the mango powder. Saute for a few minutes until desired consistency is reached. Press cancel. Garnish with cilantro.
Serve over steamed rice.

On a scale of 1 to 5, in terms of spice levels, I would place this dish at a 4 with the Serrano pepper. You can eliminate the Serrano peppers if you cant tolerate heat.
Without the Serrano peppers I would place this recipe at a level 2. Kashmiri chili powder imparts red color to the dish and is not very spicy.
Kala chana tends to be hard even when pressure cooked as compared to garbanzo beans, or other lentils.
Tip: Add a pinch of baking soda to soften the chana while pressure cooking. Sometimes if the chana is old it takes a long time to cook and baking soda helps soften it.