Instant Pot Ragda Recipe

Make this spicy green pea curry once in your Instant Pot and use it all week for ragda chaat and ragda pattice.

Ragda is a spicy Indian curry made with soaked green peas, tomatoes, onion and lots of spice. It's a popular base for many Indian street food dishes. 

Dried peas are soaked overnight, then pressure cooked with a tomato and onion gravy. This recipe is the Instant Pot version where everything cooks together in one step.

This is my mom's recipe, adapted for the Instant Pot. Soaking the peas is the only real wait. Once the peas are ready, the active work is quick: sauté the spices, add everything, and let the pressure cooker do the rest.

Ingredients for Making Ragda

• Dried green or white peas: I use green peas, but white peas (safed vatana) work too. Either way, the dried peas need to soak for 6 hours or overnight.
• Canola oil: For sauteeing the gravy. Substitute with your choice of cooking oil.
• Black mustard seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick: Whole spices used for tempering.
• Onion: Fresh chopped onion as flavor and texture.
• Fresh ginger: Subtle spicy notes.
• Fresh Garlic: Strong savory flavor.
• Tomato: Adds acidity to the dish. 
• Turmeric, coriander, garam masala, red chili powder, salt: Spices used for flavoring.
• Brown sugar: Balance the acidity. You can swap in jaggery. 
• Lemon juice: Adds acidity and brightness. You can swap in tamarind paste.
• Cilantro: For flavor and garnish.

How to Make Instant Pot Ragda

This ragda curry comes together very quickly in the Instant Pot if you remember to soak the peas for at least 6 hours or overnight. Soaking does more than cut the cooking time. The peas cook more evenly and the skins will stay intact. 

If you forget to soak the peas, you can still make this recipe but you will have to set your cooking time for longer.

Start by turning the Instant Pot on to saute mode and heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds, cloves and cinnamon stick and let them simmer until you hear the mustard seeds pop. Add onion, garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant and soft. Then stir in the tomatoes and spices and let it cook until soft.

Once this gravy is ready, add the peas, sugar and water. Close the lid and let it cook and naturally release before opening. Finally stir in the lemon juice and fresh cilantro.

How to Make Ragda Chaat and Ragda Pattice

Ragda Pattice is a popular street food dish that uses this curry. Serve the ragda over aloo tikki or potato patties and top it with chopped onion and tomatoes, sev, cilantro mint chutney and tamarind date chutney. Sprinkle over extra fresh coriander, chaat masala, or chopped green chilies if you like heat.
Use this ragda curry to make ragda chaat. Serve it in a wide bowl with any of your favorite chaat fixings like tomato, onion, sev, chutney, and chaat masala. You can also make samosa chaat by pouring ragda over a large samosa cut in four pieces or a few mini samosas with the same toppings.

If you enjoy Mumbai street food as much as I do, you may also want to check out my Mumbai sandwich or Instant Pot recipe for pav bhaji.