Punjabi Lobia Curry

Punjabi Lobia is a North Indian Style Black Eyed Beans curry where lobia is cooked in a spicy onion tomato gravy. It can be paired best with paratha, phulka, and rice. Here is how to make it.

Making weekday meals can be a task sometimes, as you just don’t have any idea about what to cook on a daily basis that is healthy and delicious at the same time.

While there are many vegetables available in the local market depending upon the season, you tend to get bored of eating them every day.

Therefore to take a break, I always stock up on some pulses such as Chickpeas, Kidney Beans, Black Eyed Peas, Pigeon Peas and many more, so that I can cook them whenever I am in no mood for vegetables or out of vegetables during weekdays. 

So, today I will share a delicious Punjabi Lobia Curry with you guys, which is made very often at my home as my family loves it.

High in protein, it is great to include in your everyday meals to fulfill your daily intake of necessary nutrients.

Lobia cooked in a spicy onion tomato gravy, I am sure it will definitely satisfy your taste buds and you will make this curry again and again. 

Learn how to make Punjabi Lobia Curry, that can also be packed for your Lunch Box along with Rice, Jeera Rice or Matar Pulao.

Here is the recipe for Punjabi Lobia Curry.

What is Lobia?

Lobia Beans also called Black Eyed Peas or Cow Peas in English, make for a very nutritious pulse.

Each serving of 100 grams provides close to 8 grams of protein, which is a blessing if you don’t eat meat and need a protein source.

You can read more about these here.

It’s called Rongi or Chawli in Marathi, Karamani in Tamil and Perum Payaru in Malayalam.

What is Punjabi Lobia Curry?

It is a popular North Indian curry dish that is made in almost all the households.

In this dish, cooked Lobia is added to a spicy tomato onion gravy that is flavored with ingredients such as whole spices, ginger, garlic, green chillies, fresh coriander, kasuri methi, and everyday masalas. 

If you are looking for a no onion no garlic version, you can skip the ingredients and make this curry only with the tomato base with a hint of ginger.

It tastes yum too!

Ingredients

Health Benefits

• Regulates Blood Sugar Level
• Controls Cholesterol
• Protects from intestinal disorders
• Controls anxiety and stress
• Improves the health of skin, hair, and nails.

The reason I prefer cooking with lobia is that it is far easier to cook than a bigger bean such as Rajma, which requires lesser soaking time and thus can be made just as quickly as the traditional lentils we use. 

The soft, mushy texture of lobia goes well with the tang of tomatoes and crunch of sweet onions.

This Punjabi Lobia Masala recipe is perfect with rotis or with rice and a generous helping of ghee.

Be sure to keep some soaked lobia aside for this Three Bean Salad that you can pack in a lunch box the next day.

Pro Tips by Neha

To make Punjabi Lobia Masala, make sure to soak the lobia for a few hours before putting them in a pressure cooker for cooking.

This will reduce the cooking time and the lobia will be cooked very nicely.

Make sure to not overcook the lobia otherwise they will turn mushy.

To make variations, you can add some coconut milk at the end and cook for one minute after adding the milk.

You can also add khoya and regular milk to make a richer version of the curry.

Add dry fruits powder to make the curry healthier.

Serving Suggestions

I like to serve this delicious curry along with rice recipes such as Steamed Rice, Jeera Rice, Matar Pulao or any lightly spiced Pulao.

You can also serve it along with Phulka and Paratha with a side of Raita of your choice. 

Also whenever there is some leftover Lobia Curry, I used it as the base to make my veg pulao or biryani.

The lobia and the flavour from the curry adds a great taste to the dish. 

Step by Step Recipe

Wash the lobia and soak in enough water for 6-8 hours.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. When the oil is hot, add cinnamon stick, cloves and black peppercorns and fry for a few seconds.

Add cumin seeds and fry until they start to crackle. Add onion and fry until they turn translucent.

Now add ginger garlic paste and green chilli and fry until the onion turns golden brown.

Add tomato and cook for a minutes.

Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and garam masala powder and cook for 3-4 minutes until oil separates from the side.

Now add lobia along with 2 cups water and salt.

Pressure cook until lobia is cooked.

Open the lid of the cooker once the pressure release and add lemon juice and kauri methi and mix well.

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot with rice or Paratha.