Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas Curry

5 from 11 votes

Black-eyed peas curry made with tomato onion base and spices. This is also known as lobia masala.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Vegan

Allergen: Dairy free

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: People

Calories: 89kcal

Soak the black-eyed peas for 30 minutes in warm water. And be ready with your vegetables.
1.5 cup black-eyed peas
Press ‘SAUTE’ mode on Instant Pot and add a couple of teaspoons of oil.
2 teaspoon oil
As the oil heats up, add cumin seeds. When it starts to crackle, add minced garlic cloves, and chopped ginger.
2 garlic, 1 teaspoon cumin seed, ¼ inch ginger
Now add chopped onion. Saute for 40 seconds and continue to stir.
1 onion
Add chopped tomatoes. Saute for 2 minutes.
2 tomatoes
Add all the spices( coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, garam masala, and red chili powder) and again continue to stir well. (20 seconds)
½ teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ¼ teaspoon garam masala
Add rinsed black-eyed peas, salt, and water. Stir well.
2 cups water
Press CANCEL button on Instant Pot.
Close the lid on the pot, and turn the valve from VENTING to SEALING position.
Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 12 minutes.
Wait for NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE(NPR) which is when the silver button on the lid drops.
Add the cilantro and mix well.
1 tablespoon Cilantro
Black Eyed Peas Curry is ready. Serve hot paired with Naan, roti or rice.

Be sure to add red chili powder to suit your taste preference. I noticed that the video clip does not show that step, but you will need that for sure!
To thicken the curry you can mash a little bit of black-eyed peas once it is cooked.
Lobia or black-eyed peas do not require to be soaked before pressure cooking. You can soak it for 1-2 hours to speed up the cooking process. But for this recipe, I soaked for just 30 min in warm water as I was preparing other vegetables.
Using any kind of onion is ok for this recipe. I used yellow onions. And it tastes just as authentic as the red onion version.
You can choose canned tomatoes instead of freshly chopped ones.
Using fresh ground spices will enhance the taste, however, if you do not have ready access to whole spices, the store-bought version will work just fine. To grind the spices, I used a coffee bean grinder.
If you like to skip the soaking part, then cook the black-eyed peas for 25 minutes under high pressure.