Flavorful, Punjabi style instant pot kala chana masala made with desi chana, onion, tomato, basic Indian spices and a drizzle of lime juice at the end.

This makes a super healthy and satisfying vegetarian dinner when served with piping hot rice! If you’re lucky to have any leftovers, it will make filling lunch the next day too!

Kala chana served in a white bowl with a garnish of cilantro leaf with napkin and limes, rice on side.

❤️ You’ll Love This Instant Pot Kala Chana

This makes a delicious and protein-packed vegetarian meal. Usually served with rice or roti.
Plus, it’s vegan and gluten-free.
It requires some preplanning like soaking the black chickpeas ahead of time. But when you have soaked kala chana ready, it’s very easy to make.
This recipe requires 30 mins of pressure cooking time, plus some more time for your instant pot to come to pressure. But that is passive time. The active time required to prepare this kala chana masala is very little.

🧾 Ingredient Notes

Here is the pic of the ingredients required to make kala chana in instant pot. All of them are basic and easily available in your pantry if you’re cooking Indian food regularly.

Ingredients used in kala chana includes chana, onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, green chili, spices, oil, salt, cilantro and lime.

Kala Chana (Black chickpeas): Dry chana are super hard (tiny rock-like). This must be soaked for at least 8 hours before cooking. I usually soak them before I go to bed and make the curry the next day. It is completely OK, if the soaking time exceeds 13-15 hours (no worries at all).
- I have seen many cook kala chana in instant pot without soaking. I have tried that but honestly, I do not like (prefer), as it requires around an hour of pressure cooking time. And that is too long for onion, tomato and spices. They will lose all the flavors and the end result is so bland.
- Plus, soaking makes the beans easy to digest and enables better absorption of nutrients.
Ginger, Garlic, Geen chili: Nowadays I use my wet jar of spice grinder to crush them together quickly. Otherwise, I would use ginger garlic paste and finely chopped green chilies. Or sometimes I would just grate ginger garlic using a micro plane zester.
Lime juice: I prefer lime over lemon juice in my Indian cooking. You can use any.
Tomato puree: I have blended fresh tomatoes until it becomes a smooth puree. Personally, I do not prefer the canned tomato puree.

👩‍🍳 How To Make Kala Chana In Instant Pot? (Pics)

Pre-Plan: Wash the kala chana under running cold water or rinse them 2-3 times until the water is not cloudy anymore. Then soak in enough water for at least 8 hours or overnight. Then discard the soaking water.

1) Turn the instant pot on with saute mode. Once hot add oil and cumin seeds. Let the cumin seeds sizzle a bit and then add onion and crushed ginger, garlic, green chili. Sprinkle a pinch of salt to speed up the cooking process.

2) Mix and saute for 3-4 minutes or until onion becomes soft and there is no more raw smell of ginger garlic.

3) Add pureed tomato and mix.

4) Let it cook for 4-5 minutes or until it thickens slightly and not much watery.

Collage of 4 steps showing cooking onion, adding tomato puree and simmering.

5) Now add remaining salt and spice powders (turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder).

6) Mix really well.

7) Add soaked kala chana and fresh water. Stir well so everything is combined well. Cover the instant pot with a lid (make sure the valve is on a sealing position). Cancel the saute mode and pressure cook (manual, high pressure) for 30 minutes.

8) Let it NPR (natural pressure release) if you have time. If in rush then let it NPR for 10 minutes and then QPR (quick pressure release) by pressing the valve or changing the valve position. Once the pin drops open the lid. Add garam masala and squeeze the lime juice.

9) Finally, add chopped cilantro.

10) Mix everything well and kala chana masala is ready.

Collage of 6 steps showing adding spices, mixed, adding soaked chana, water, adding lime juice, cilantro and ready chana.

🍽 Serving Ideas For Kala Chana Masala

This can be served with steamed basmati rice with a side of kachumber salad (or sliced onions) and papad.

It can be served with roti or paratha as well with your choice of side (salad, chaas, pickle, papad, chutney) to make it a complete meal.

How to make this in a stovetop pressure cooker?

Follow the same method with the following changes.
Add ¼ cup of more water.
Pressure cook on high heat for 2 whistles, then lower heat to med-low and cook for 30 minutes.

Kala chana masala served over a bowl of rice with side of sliced onions and lime wedge.

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