Black Eyed Peas Curry or Lobhia Masala is a popular dish in North India. It is made in an onion-tomato gravy, along with lots of ginger, garlic and aromatic spices. It is perfect to enjoy with some steaming basmati rice and parathas. This is a vegan and gluten free recipe, which we will make in the Instant Pot.
Being a North Indian, I grew up eating Black Eyed Peas, also referred to as Raungi, Chawli or Lobhia in different parts of India. Interestingly they are also referred to as cowpeas, and are from the beans family, not peas. They are a comforting and nutritional meal. One cup of black eyed peas, has about 33 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein, less than 1 gram of fat. They also have a variety of vitamins and a good amount of fiber.
Black eyed peas cook much faster than other beans, which means you can get this meal ready pretty quickly. I have changed this recipe to make it in an Instant Pot, but you could very well use a normal pressure cooker. The preparation for this curry is very easy and you will love the result.
If you like black eyed peas, check out hearty and healthy Black Eyed Peas & Spinach Rice.
How to make Black Eyed Peas in the Instant Pot?
This curry needs very basic ingredients, which I always keep in my pantry. The only preparation needed is soaking the black eyed peas. They cook much faster if they have soaked well for 4 or more hours. If you forget to soak, then try soaking for 1/2-1 hour in warm water and cook for longer, about 30 mins in the pressure cooker.
I am suggesting to grind these ingredients for this curry, however you can also just dice them and use in the exact same recipe. This is a very basic recipe otherwise – Heat oil with some cumin seeds, saute the onions with ginger garlic and then the tomatoes. Add the spices and black eyed peas, and cook at high pressure.
I like to add some lemon juice at the end. It adds a great tang to the curry. Really…try adding some lemon juice to all the curries and lentils…it tastes wonderful.
Make this a Instant Pot Black Eyed Pea Vegetable Soup?
Want to make this a hearty soup. Add some veggies such as carrots and celery before pressure cooking. Then stir in some collard greens or spinach or kale once pressure cooking is completed. Enjoy with some delicious garlic bread on the side.
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Black Eyed Peas Curry or Lobia Masala is a North Indian favorite. Black eyed peas cooked with onion, tomato, ginger, garlic and aromatic spices.
- 1 cup Black eyed peas (Lobhia) soaked in water for 4 or more hours
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 Onion medium
- 1/2 tbsp Ginger minced
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic minced
- 1 Green Chili Pepper
- 2 Tomato medium
- 2 cups Water for cooking
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- Cilantro to granish
- 1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1/2 tsp Red Chili powder (Mirchi powder)
- 1 tsp Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1 tsp Garam Masala adjust to taste
- 1 tsp Salt adjust to taste
Soak the black eyed peas in abundant water for 4 or more hours so they are all submerged. When you are ready to cook, drain the water.
Grind onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli to a paste. (If you prefer, you can dice them)
Start the Pressure Cooker in sauté mode and heat it. Add oil and cumin seeds.
Once the cumin seeds start to splutter, add the onion paste from step 2. Let this cook for 3-4 mins. On the side, grind tomatoes at the same time (or dice them).
Add the tomatoes paste and spices to the instant pot and cook for another 3 mins.
Add the drained black eyed peas and water to the instant pot. Stir well. Press Cancel and close the lid with vent in sealing position.
Change the pressure cooker setting to Manual or Pressure Cook mode at high pressure for 12 minutes.
After the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally. Stir in the lemon juice.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve with roti/rice.
Recipe Video
- This recipe was created in a 6qt Instant Pot DUO60 Multi-use Pressure Cooker and has been updated to make it even better and easier.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I’m assuming this is high pressure? I did not see that indicated in the recipe.
Hey Emily – You are right, it is high pressure. I updated in the recipe instructions as well. Thank you!
Love your recipes! You are my go to for all Indian cooking. You make cooking for us moms who don’t have much time soooo easy and delicious!
Thank you, Reema. So happy to hear that you are finding the recipes helpful to enjoy delicious meals with your family 🙂
Love this recipe. So delicious and better than any restaurant! Better than mom’s!
Hey Sanjana – Thank you for the kind words. So happy that you enjoyed the curry 🙂
Hi Meeta,
I tried this recipe a couple of days ago, and it turned out well..thank you! I just had some questions:
I am assuming you used a standard American cup (8 fl. oz.) for the beans? I wasn’t sure how big/small the onion you used was, so I just used approximately 1 cup of roughly chopped onions and 2 cups of tomatoes. Is this the quantity you used in this recipe as well?
For half cup of black eyed peas, can I reduce all the ingredients by half, including the spices?
Thanks again 🙂
Hello Dhanya, Glad that the recipe turned out well. I use a medium sized onion, so you are right about 1 cup of onions and 2 cups of tomatoes. I do use the standard cup size 1 cup=8oz. You can half the ingredients for half a cup of dry black eyed peas. The cooking time will remain the same. Last time I soaked the peas for 4 hours and they cooked quickly in just 12 minutes at high pressure. Hope you enjoy them again 🙂
I don’t understand this: Soak the beans for 2 hours and drain the water. Later in the recipe you say to add the beans and water to the instant pot. But you don’t show additional water in the recipe. Are you saying to add back the drained water?
Hey Julie – Sorry for the confusion. The 2 cups water mentioned in the recipe is for cooking. I did not mention a specific amount for soaking. Just soak with lots of water so they are completely submerged. Hope you enjoy the curry 🙂
Thank you! I’ll let you know.
I just love your website, thanks for sharing all your recipes!
CJ
Thank you, CJ. Glad you are enjoying the recipes ????
Hello! Is it okay if I soak the beans overnight? Thanks!
Absolutely, you can soak overnight and make her curry in the morning ????
How long would I cook for if using tinned peas? Can’t wait to try this.
Hey Debbie – I have not tried with canned peas, but I think 5 minutes of cooking would be enough as they would be already cooked. Do let me know how they turn out ????
So good! The first recipe I made in my Instant Pot. I will be making this again. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I tried this today and it came out awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe
Hey Radha – Glad to hear you liked it. Thanks for sharing back.