I’m sure you’ve heard of butter chicken, right? Well this instant pot butter chickpea curry recipe has all the butter chicken flavor minus the actual chicken!
I almost don’t want to tell you that this recipe for instant pot butter chickpeas is vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free because I am sure that if you didn’t know – you wouldn’t know! You know? 😉
This dish is just as decadent as butter chicken – it’s rich, creamy, and hearty. A celebratory plant-based meal, perfect for the vegans and vegetarians in your life.
It’s also a great option for meat-eaters looking to switch things up. Make this on a meatless Monday or really any day of the week.
I mean just look at these chickpeas swimming in a spiced, creamy tomato sauce – everyone is going to love this.
DO I NEED TO SOAK DRIED CHICKPEAS OVERNIGHT?
My recipe calls for dried chickpeas, making this dish extremely economical. With an Instant Pot, this dish takes a fraction of the time it’d take to make this on the stovetop and cooking this dish in an electric pressure cooker really infuses the chickpeas with a ton of flavor.
I know there’s always a lot of disagreement over whether or not to soak legumes but I think a lot of Indian families soak beans/legumes prior to cooking. That’s what I do because that’s what my mom taught me and that’s what my grandmother taught her. I think it makes them easier to digest. You do you – but know that if you’re not using pre-soaked beans then you will likely need to cook the chickpeas for longer than the recipe calls for. My method results in perfectly soft and tender chickpeas.
WHAT IF I FORGOT TO SOAK CHICKPEAS? HOW CAN I DO A QUICK SOAK?
You either need to soak the dried chickpeas overnight OR do a quick soak. The amount of water listed in my recipe is what’s needed for soaked chickpeas. Dried chickpeas absorb a lot of water so if you don’t soak them in advance, the proportion of chickpeas to water will not be correct. Also, I believe that soaking legumes helps them to be more easily digested.
Did you forget to soak the dried chickpeas overnight? You can easily do a quick soak by covering the dried chickpeas with an inch of water and pressure cooking them for 10 minutes with a natural release. Then dump out the water, rinse the chickpeas well and follow the directions for butter chickpeas from there.
If you’ve tried my butter chicken before, then you will love this recipe. And if you haven’t tried it because you don’t eat meat, now you can enjoy this vegan version which is honestly just as good!
Instant Pot Butter Chickpeas (Vegan Butter Chicken)
Instant Pot Butter Chickpeas (Vegan Butter Chicken)
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried chickpeas soaked overnight
- 2 tablespoons oil of choice
- 1 onion diced
- 3 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
Spices
- 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 ½ cups water
Add later:
- 1 green bell pepper chopped into large pieces
- ½ cup unsweetened cream from the top of a can of full-fat coconut milk
- Pinch of dried fenugreek leaves kasoori methi
- Cilantro garnish
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight. Drain, rinse and set aside.
- Press the sauté button. Add the oil and allow it to heat it up for a minute. Add the onion and stir-fry for 6-7 minutes, or until the onion begins to brown.
- Add the garlic, ginger and spices stir, then add the chickpeas, tomato sauce and water.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 35 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure.
- Add the bell pepper, cream and fenugreek leaves to the pot and mix well.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve.
Video
Notes
- If you are not vegan, then feel free to use ghee instead of oil and heavy cream instead of coconut milk!
- Did you forget to soak the dried chickpeas overnight? You can easily do a quick soak by covering the dried chickpeas with an inch of water and pressure cooking them for 10 minutes with a natural release. Then dump out the water, rinse the chickpeas well and follow the directions for butter chickpeas from there.
Nutrition
Like this recipe? You can find all of my Indian Instant Pot Recipes right here on the blog!
Keith Harvey says
Delish! One for the weekly rota. I always pre-soak chickpeas overnight, with a little ‘bicarb’—a tiny effort, and the alternative means longer cooking times and more power consumed (wasted), so is hard both on the purse and on the planet. I agree about digestibility, too, an issue possibly linked to the difficulty in getting totally soft centres in cooked chickpeas that weren’t pre-soaked.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Keith, so glad you like this recipe! Happy to hear that 🙂
Kelsey says
Lovely dish! I used the method for unsoaked chickpeas and that plus the regular cook time turned out perfectly. Using ghee gave a nice flavour. Also i used yellow bell pepper, and yogurt instead of cream. Yum yum. Hoping the leftovers freeze well.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Kelsey! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Bridget Young says
Hello, can I use canned chickpeas for this recipe and if so, what amount?
Much thanks for your help. This recipe looks so delicious!!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Bridget! Yes, you can use canned chickpeas – since the chickpeas are already cooked you can reduce the cook time. I’d go with 10 minutes. Let me know how it goes!
Kamila says
Thank you for another delicious recipe! I did a water sauté instead of oil and used a 5.4 oz. can of unsweetened coconut cream, but otherwise followed your instructions exactly and it came out perfect. I soaked my beans on Saturday night, for Sunday afternoon meal prep and 35 minutes in my Instant Pot was spot on. This will definitely be going in our regular rotation. Yum!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Kamila, that’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how much you liked this dish 🙂