Yellow peas curry (Matar chaat in Instant pot)

Matar chaat (yellow peas chaat) is my favorite and delicious Indian street food recipe. This yellow peas and potato stew-like curry will be great for any meal.

This yellow peas curry is my mom's version of the famous Indian street food matar chaat, also called matra chaat.

Unlike traditional matar chaat, this recipe does not use Indian sauces like tamarind chutney or cilantro chutney. So you can make this recipe easily at home without any prep work except for soaking yellow peas.

Instant pot makes it easier, and you can make this chaat in large quantity with less effort. So ideal for large gatherings and potlucks.

Yellow peas, called vatana or matar, takes more time to cook. So it would help if you were soaking them for at least 8 hours or overnight.

And the curry tastes delicious if you cook peas till they turn very soft and melt in the mouth. So for that, I am making this recipe in 2 steps.

Firstly, we will cook soaked yellow peas in an Instant pot for about 5 minutes. And then make the curry using these cooked yellow peas. In this way, we will not overcook potatoes, and yellow peas will cook perfectly.

How to make Matar chaat in an Instant pot:

Step 1: Cooking yellow peas in an Instant pot

• Soak yellow peas for at least 8 hours or overnight. 
• Wash them a couple of times and drain water from the peas completely. Add these drained peas to the Instant pot inner pot.

• Now add water to the inner pot and close it with its lid.

• Seal the vent and start the Instant pot in manual or pressure cooker mode and cook it for 5 minutes on HIGH pressure.

• Once the Instant pot finishes, wait for 10 minutes and manually release the pressure.
• Transfer the cooked peas into a bowl and rinse the inner pot once.

Step 2: Making ragada chaat

• While the Instant pot is cooking the peas, finely chop the onions and tomatoes. Next, chop the potatoes into big cubes and prep the mint leaves.

•  Now start the instant pot in saute mode.

• Add chopped onions and let them cook for a couple of minutes.

• Now add chopped tomatoes and let it cook for 4 to 5 minutes.

• Meanwhile, gather all spice powders - red chili powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, black salt, salt, jaggery powder, cumin powder and add them to the onion-tomato mixture.

• Mix it well and let this mixture cook for a couple of minutes.

• Add the potato cubes and mix them once.

• If you use fresh tamarind, extract the juice using a half cup of water and add it to the potato mixture. If you are using tamarind paste, then add it directly and mix it well.
• Now add the cooked yellow peas along with the water to the instant pot inner pot.

• Mix it once and deglaze the pot if required.

• Cancel the saute mode and close the instant pot with its lid. Seal the vent and start the Instant pot again in manual or pressure cook mode, and cook it for 5 minutes on HIGH pressure.
• Once the instant pot finishes cooking, turn it off. Wait for 10 minutes and manually release the pressure.
• Open the instant pot and mash the potatoes using the back of the spoon or potato masher carefully. Here we only want to mash the potatoes. By this time, peas will be cooked thoroughly, and they melt in the mouth.

• Add the mint leaves, mix it well and close the Instant pot for another 5 to 10 minutes.

• And Instant pot yellow peas is ready to serve!

Recipe Notes and variations:

• Usually, we use yellow peas to make the chaat recipes. But you can use dried green peas also.
• Hate potatoes? You could use sweet potatoes. If using sweet potatoes, after adding them, pressure cook it for about 3 minutes instead of 5 minutes in step 2.
• You can make this chaat without potatoes or sweet potatoes. If you are skipping them, skip step 1( cooking yellow peas) and directly start with step 2 and pressure cook the yellow peas and tomatoes mixture for 15 minutes on HIGH pressure.
• If you do not want to make this recipe in 2 steps, as mentioned above, follow all the instructions from step 2 and pressure cook the yellow peas curry for 15 minutes on HIGH pressure. But this may overcook potatoes.
• If your dried peas are old, try to cook them for 10 minutes in step 1 as they take longer to cook.

How to serve this yellow peas curry:

Usually, in North India, this matar chaat is served along with Indian flatbread kulcha. We typically like to serve as it is with some chopped onions and tomatoes.
If you are serving it as a curry, you could have it with flatbread, rice, quinoa, or millet. Or serve it as a stew with a piece of toasted bread.

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