Buttery black eyed peas in minutes! This black eyed peas curry, or lobia masala, is so easy to make in an instant pot.
Punjabi Black Eyed Peas
I grew up eating Punjabi black eyed pea curry. This North Indian dish is warm and comforting and the beans are so rich and buttery!
Black eyed peas are also called “lobia” in northern India. So, this recipe is also known as “Punjabi Lobia Masala.”
This is my mom’s recipe – although technically, hers is slightly different every time she makes it because she doesn’t use “measurements” when she cooks (real deal Indian mamas don’t do the whole “measuring” thing). I’ve also adapted this recipe so that you can make it in an electronic pressure cooker, like an Instant Pot. I’m sure you can also easily adapt this to make it on the stovetop too if you’d like.
The great thing about black eyed peas is that they don’t take as long as other legumes to cook. You don’t need to soak the beans at all – but I always soak legumes to help reduce phytic acid (more info on that here).
This recipe not only tastes great, but it makes me feel good too. It’s hearty, rich in fiber, high in protein, and known to be a good source of dairy-free calcium.
“It’s an incredibly easy recipe especially when I used your Onion Masala. I used 1/2-cup onion masala for 1 cup of black-eyed peas. My mother-in-law couldn’t figure out how I got the gravy to be creamy without whipping cream or butter 😀”
Amit
My mom would make black eyed peas fairly often while I was growing up, especially on New Years Day. That’s because these beans are thought to bring good luck. I always thought this was an Indian superstition, but it turns out that black eyed peas are considered good luck in many other cultures too – even here in the US (mainly in southern states). Whether or not you believe, it’s delicious and I suppose it can’t hurt, right?
My hubby, who isn’t a huge fan of legumes, loves and requests this curry often. He also likes my dal makhani so try that too if you get a chance.
Serve this black eyed pea curry over plain basmati rice, jeera rice, cauli-rice, paleo naan or eat a bowl of it on its own.
Instant Pot Indian Black Eyed Pea Curry
Instant Pot Indian Black Eyed Pea Curry
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried black eyed peas soaked for 1-2 hours
- 2 tablespoons oil of choice
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 onion diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
Spices
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ – ¼ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
- 1 tomato diced
- 2 cups water
- Cilantro leaves garnish
Instructions
- Soak the dried black eyed peas in cold water for 1-2 hours. Drain, rinse and set aside.
- Press the sauté button, and add the oil and allow it to heat up for a minute. Add the cumin seeds and once they begin to turn brown, add the onion and bay leaf. Stir-fry for 6-7 minutes, or until the onions begin to turn brown.
- Add the garlic, ginger and spices, stir, then add the diced tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the tomatoes break down.
- Add the drained black eyed peas to the pot along with the 2 cups of water and mix well.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 20 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure.
- Garnish with cilantro if desired.
Notes
- You can use ½ to ¾ cup of onion masala in place of the onion, tomato, ginger, garlic in this recipe. Start with ½ and if you prefer more masala, you can add an extra ¼ at the end if you’d like. I think ½ works fine, my dad prefers 3/4. 🙂
Sarah W says
I make this at least every other week and make at least one of your recipes every other day. This is one of my staples (teenager is vegan, I’m allergic to dairy) and it’s well received by everyone who tries it. I usually use 3 cans of beans (I mix it up and sometimes use canelli or great northern beans or a mixture of whatever cans of beans I have in the cupboard) and triple the recipe. I pressure cook on high for 5 mins and let it release naturally for about 10 mins. It’s so good! I made your saag recipe last night and we’re having both tonight!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Sarah, I love that you make this so often! Glad to hear that you like it so much! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Ravi B says
I made black eye beans today and The whole family enjoyed it. Thanks Ashley!!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
That’s great to hear!! 🙂
Poo says
Love your recipes. If we double the quantity of black eye peas then do we double all spices, onions, water and cooking time?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thank you! I would double all of the ingredients but keep the cook time the same – the pot adjusts and takes longer to reach pressure but the time you enter should be the same.
Deb says
I do not have an instant pot. Would this work in a crockpot? Maybe on low for four hours? It sounds wonderful.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Deb, I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker – hopefully another reader will be able to chime in.
Amit Mukerjee says
It’s an incredibly easy recipe especially when I used your Onion Masala. I used 1/2-cup onion masala for 1 cup of black-eyed peas. My mother-in-law couldn’t figure out how I got the gravy to be creamy without whipping cream or butter 😀
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Amit, that’s awesome! Thanks for letting me know how much you and your MIL liked it 🙂
Caroline says
Would you mind sharing how the onion masala can be used in the recipe? What do you skip from the ingredient list to sub the onion tomato masala?
Anagha says
Easy and nummy recipe 😊
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Anagha! Happy to hear that you liked it 🙂
Anand R says
My fiancé liked it. But after watching your video, I forgot about my fiancé.
You are the one who I think about. Live in MA
Shilpa Sharma says
Yikes this is an incredibly creepy and inappropriate comment.
Ashley, love your recipes…thanks for sharing them! Ignore this weirdo.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Shilpa! 🙂
Aarthi says
Hmm you’re a creep. Feel so sorry for your fiancé who doesn’t know who she’s marrying. Stop posting comments and family friendly websites. Hope Ashley blacklists you
Sharon says
I ended up soaking overnight. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly. I also found there was far too much liquid when It finished. I drained some off and left it on warm for a few hours but it did not thicken much. And my pease are not as soft as I’d like even after the extra soaking and cooking. After reading all the reviews it seems strange that there are so many differences in the results. Flavour was good though. I just don’t like crunchy beans!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Sharon, hmm they definitely should have cooked in this amount of time. Are your beans old by chance? This is common with older beans – they either take longer to cook or sometimes don’t soften at all.
Colleen says
Wonderful warm and spicy. My kids even liked it and I have a hard time getting them to eat beans of any kind.
My Heart Beets says
Colleen, happy to hear that your kids liked it! That’s awesome! Thanks for letting me know how this turned out for you 🙂
Barbara says
I have a lot of cooked black eyed peas in my freezer. How could I use those in this recipe? What changes would I need to make?