Chana Gravy in Instant Pot is a healthy, Protein-rich & easy One Pot recipe. Chana Gravy is one of the most favourite and famous dishes in Indian Cuisine. Today, I am sharing a recipe of this Vegan & Gluten-free recipe using simple spices, resulting in a home-style gravy.
About the Recipe
Growing up, Chana Gravy is one dish that was a part of our regular menu. This is a home-style chana masala made in a simple South Indian kitchen. In most restaurants, you can find the chana masala to be too oily and greasy. In this recipe, we are using very little oil to make a delicious Chana Gravy.
With no ready-made spice powders, this Chana Masala tastes so good and light. If you have attended South Indian weddings, you would have definitely eaten a Chana Gravy along with Pooris or Rotis. It tastes simple yet flavourful. The texture somewhat resembles a Kurma. I am a big fan of making Chana Gravy this way.
Back when I was in school and college, Chana Samosa is one dish that I was crazy about. Even now, I never miss buying it whenever we visit a Bakery. The South Indian Bakeries have their own way of making Chana Masala. The aroma itself is too inviting. This Chana Masala tastes very similar to that. I personally love making a big batch and having it with Rotis, Pulao and Samosa.
Why I love this Chana Gravy
Packed with nutrients and Protein Rich
Perfect for a weeknight meal
Vegan & Gluten Free
Mild spices & kid friendly
Pairs well with any Indian Bread or Rice Variety
The specialty of this Chana Gravy
In this recipe, we are not using any readymade masala like chana masala, garam masala, coriander powder etc. Fresh spices are used in this recipe to make it more flavourful. If you have tried my Kerala Kadala Curry , you can understand how delicious gravy can be when freshly ground paste is added. In this Chana Gravy, we are adding an almost similar combination of spices but the taste will be a lot different.
I have found that most gravies taste very similar to each other because we add the same set of spice powders for every single recipe. This is why I try making a combination of freshly ground paste or powder for many of my recipes to give it a variation. To date, my mom doesn’t store a bunch of masala powders in her pantry. I am trying to follow her practice to the maximum extent possible.
Why use Instant Pot to make this Chana Gravy
The biggest advantage of cooking this gravy in Instant Pot is the ease of walking away after dumping the ingredients in the Pot. Comparatively, it takes the same time to cook on a Stovetop Pressure Cooker as well. But we continuously need to monitor the whistles and keep a watch on them. This is not needed when it comes to Instant Pot.
The next thing is how beautifully the chickpeas get cooked. I like my chickpeas to be cooked well so that I can partially mash them to have a thicker and nice gravy. In Instant Pot, every single time, the chickpeas are cooked to perfection. The texture turns out just beautiful which makes the gravy more delicious and flavourful.
How to make Chana Gravy in Instant Pot
Soak Chana / Chickpeas for at least 6 hours or overnight. Drain water and keep it aside.
Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add oil to the pot. Once the oil is hot, add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorn, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies, coriander seeds, ginger & garlic. SAUTE for two minutes till a nice aroma comes.
Add in the tomatoes and cook till it is completely mashed. Finally, add grated coconut and saute for less than a minute. Remove this mixture from the pan, let it cool to room temperature and make a fine paste.
In the same pot, add oil. Once hot, add the sliced onions. Saute till they turn light brown. Add the ground paste. Saute for 30 seconds. Add turmeric powder, and salt and give a mix. Add the soaked and drained chickpeas. Mix it thoroughly with the masala paste. Add water.
Close the lid on the pot, and turn the pressure valve to the SEALING position.
Set the pot to Pressure Cook (High Pressure) and set the timer to 40 minutes.
Once the cooking is done, do a Natural Pressure Release for 15 minutes and release the pressure manually once 15 minutes is done.
Squeeze in some lime juice, and mix well. Garnish Chana Gravy with coriander leaves & serve hot.
Serving Suggestions
Chana Gravy tastes great with Rotis, Parathas, Poori, and Jeera Rice. I also like serving it with a mild pulao. Today, I paired it with Coconut Milk Pulao and the combination was so good.
This Chana masala can also be used to serve with samosas. It definitely tastes very similar to the ones we get in home-style bakeries back home.
Tips to note
Soak chickpeas in enough water for a minimum of 6 hours to overnight. Pre-soaking chickpeas help in easy digestion. Drain the soaked water and use fresh water for making the gravy.
Squeezing a few drops of lemon juice towards the end enhances the taste and flavour of the gravy.
Make sure you roast the spices until it turns golden brown and leaves a nice aroma. Ensure you don’t burn the spices.
You can make the same in a stovetop pressure cooker by cooking it for 6-7 whistles. Follow the same cooking procedure as above.
Adjust spice to your taste. My chillis are not the spicy variety and hence I used 6 chillies.
If using canned chickpeas, drain the water from the can. Reduce cooking time in Instant Pot to 10 minutes and add just 1 cup of water for cooking.
This gravy is fairly thick. If you want a runny gravy, add more water.
Other Recipes that you may love to try
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Recipe Card
Chana Gravy in Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup Dry Chickpeas Soak overnight in enough water
- 2 cups Water
To make the Spice Paste
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 2 Cardamom
- 2 Cloves
- 1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Peppercorn
- 5 or 6 Red Chillies
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
- 1 inch Ginger
- 6 cloves Garlic
- 2 medium Tomatoes
- ½ cup Grated Coconut
To make the Chana Masala
- 2 teaspoon Oil
- 1 medium Onion
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- Salt as needed
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 2 tablespoon Coriander Leaves
Instructions
- Soak 1 cup of dried chickpeas in enough water overnight or for 6 hours. Before cooking, drain the water and keep the chickpeas aside.
- Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Add oil to the Pot. Once the oil turns hot, add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies, coriander seeds, peppercorn, ginger & garlic.
- Saute for a minute or 2 until they turn golden brown and a nice aroma comes. Now, add the chopped tomatoes and cook until tomatoes turn mushy.
- Add grated coconut, mix everything together and switch off.
- Remove this mixture from the pot, let it cool to room temperature and make a fine paste
- In the same pot, add oil. Once hot, add the sliced onions. Saute till they turn light brown. Add the ground paste. Saute for 30 seconds.
- Add turmeric powder, and give a mix. Add the soaked and drained chickpeas. Mix it thoroughly with the masala paste. Add water. Close the lid on the pot, and turn the pressure valve to Sealing Position.
- Set the pot to PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 40 minutes.
- Once the cooking is done, do a NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE for 15 minutes and release the remaining pressure manually once 15 minutes is done. Squeeze in some lemon juice, and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves & serve hot.
Notes
Squeezing a few drops of lemon juice towards the end enhances the taste and flavour of the gravy.
Make sure you roast the spices until it turns golden brown and leaves a nice aroma. Ensure you don’t burn the spices. You can make the same in a stovetop pressure cooker by cooking it for 6-7 whistles. Follow the same cooking procedure as above.
Tried this in stovetop pressure cooker and it came out really well! 🙂
Thank you for trying 🙂
Taste was amazing. Thank you 😊
So glad you liked it. Thanks for the feedback 🙂