Kala Channa/Black Chickpeas Pulao is a one-pot nutritious meal that you can make in 30 minutes. It is delicious, full of flavour, and a mix between a biryani and a pulao. Serve it with some raitha for a complete meal!
We try to add legumes and sprouts in our diet and make salads, curries, and even vadais out of it often! ONE of my favourites is black channa, I love it more than its more known white counterpart kabuli channa. This has a bite even when fully cooked and is more ‘earthy’ in flavour. My all-time favourite way to eat kala channa is in a kadala curry!
I am not sure and not a biriyani – but somewhere calling a dish as black channa biryani seems odd! That said, make no mistake for this is a FANTASTIC meal to have. Just like my Matar Paneer Biryani, I make this in a pressure cooker and follow a similar method.
There is JUST one extra step that takes 5 minutes – you have to soak black channa overnight.
One Pot Kala Channa Pulao
Ingredients
- ½ cup soaked and cooked black chickpeas (read notes)
- ½ cup basmati rice
- few mint leaves, chopped
- 2 tsp ghee or oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ginger and garlic paste
- ½ cup sliced onions
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp curd
Spice powders
- ½ tsp hing
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
Garnish
- few roasted cashews
- corainder leaves
Instructions
- Rinse and soak black chickpeas for 6 hours. Pressure cook for 4 whistles OR cook in Manual mode in IP for 7 minutes, adding a little salt. It should still have a bite. Save the cooking water for making the pulao.
- In a 2L pressure cooker, add oil/ghee, cumin, onions, chilli, ginger garlic paste and saute until onions turn golden brown.
- Now, add the tomatoes and curd and mix in a low flame so the curd does not curdle.
- Add the spice powders next, followed by the chickpeas, mint leaves, rice and water.
- Check for salt, let it come to a boil and cook for ONE whistle on high heat. Reduce heat ( to 400W if induction, or lowest on flame) immediately and cook for 6 minutes.
- Let pressure settle, open and garnish. I had it with some raitha, salad and a boiled egg.
Notes
- Instead of soaked and cooked chickpeas, canned beans can be used.
- An alternate method to avoid cooking chickpeas separately
- Soak chickpeas for 8 hours and drain. In the above recipe, add onions, ginger-garlic paste, chilies, tomato, spice powders, curd, and chickpeas. Now, add minimal water ( same amount as chickpeas) and cook for 4 whistles on medium heat.
- Release pressure, add soaked rice and water for it ( about 1/2 the quantity of rice) and cook again for 1 whistle. Open after pressure releases!
- This is a little tricky, but if you know your cooker – this method works beautifully
Making it vegan?
This recipe is mostly vegan! Substitute the yogurt for water in the cooking process and add 1 tsp lemon juice in the end for the tang.
Want to make in Instant Pot?
Ah, yes. I cook basmati rice for pulao/biryani for 4 minutes on Manual mode and release pressure immediately if there are no vegetables used.
This recipe was made for just two adults, so I have used 1/2 cup of rice. It can easily be doubled or tripled! Just add adequate spice, taste the water to adjust salt, and use a big vessel. It is so simple and tasty!
Want more One Pot recipes?
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help me learn more about your preferences and will help other readers.
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6 Comments
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Chitra
April 24, 2024 at 7:44 pmThis was super tasty n so easy to make. The Kala Chana in the pulav gave a great texture n flavor. My 5 yr old n I ate lunch without any yapping 😁😁 Thank u!!
Vidya
June 10, 2024 at 12:08 amI love this recipe. But every time I try the one pot method (for any rice varieties) my food stats burning in the bottom before even the first souns comes. I follow the recipe to the T, even tried adding a lil extra water but always left with a burnt taste with one pot methods. Please help!
myflavourfactory
June 25, 2024 at 2:20 pmHi Vidya – a few things can result in burnt taste. You may be sauteeing too much before adding rice and closing the cooker, this will lead to evaporation of water content from vegetables/tomatoes. So, saute on a low to medium flame for only a short while. Another thing could be you are cooking in too high a flame. Ensure the flame only covers the base of the cooker and not spread on the sides. And finally, make sure your cooker is fine – it should not have steam loss ( you can check this if there is any steam escaping on the sides). Hope these tips help.