Warm, richly spiced, and built for a satisfying meal, Instant Pot Chickpea Curry with Spinach (Chana Saag) is a vegetarian Indian main course made with dry chickpeas (chole/garbanzo beans), water, and oil in about 50 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry chickpeas (chole/garbanzo beans) (soaked overnight)
  • 3 cups water (for soaking)
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon ginger and garlic (minced)
  • 1 cup onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 cup tomato puree
  • 1.5 cups water
  • salt (to taste)
  • 4 cups spinach (palak)
  • 1 teaspoon amchur ((or lime juice))

Dry Spices

  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala

Method

  1. Soak chole (chickpeas) for at least 4+ hours or overnight. Drain water and keep aside.

Instant Pot Method:

  1. Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add oil, once it's hot add cumin seeds, bay leaf and let the cumin splutter.
  2. Then add onions, minced ginger and garlic and saute until onions for 3-4 minutes or till they turn light brown.
  3. Next add tomato puree and the spices like red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala and cook for 2 minutes.
  4. Lastly add soaked chickpeas, water and salt. Stir well.
  5. Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 35 minutes. Once the pot beeps, let it release the pressure naturally (NPR) for 10 minutes.
  6. Remove lid away from you, add spinach, amchur powder, and give a quick stir. Turn on the Saute again and boil for 2 minutes till the spinach wilts.
  7. Chana Saag is ready, serve with hot rice, chapatis, roti & parathas.

Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method

  1. Follow the steps from the instant pot instructions. Give 6-7 whistles on medium flame and let the pressure release naturally. All the other steps remain the same.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.