Lobia Recipe | Lobia Masala (Curried Black Eyed Beans)

This Lobia recipe is a spiced, tangy, and delicious Punjabi style curry made with black eyed beans, aromatics and tomatoes. This simple yet flavorful vegan and gluten-free Lobia Masala is again from my awesome collection of family recipes which I love to share with you all.

About Lobia Recipe

In Hindi and Punjabi language, black eyed beans are called “lobia” and “rongi”. In Marathi language these beans are called “chawli”.

My mom would make plenty of dishes with this healthy legume. Being a store house of protein these beans are faster to cook than your chickpeas or kidney beans.

They have a nice nutty flavor too that melds so well in a tangy onion-tomato-spices base of this curry. The beany flavor of black eyed beans balances the spiced tangy flavors very well in this gravy.

Lobia or rongi is favorite in my family. I learnt this Punjabi lobia recipe from my mother-in-law. This is one of the curries I tend to make often as it comes together quickly. I also make our family favorites Rajma Recipe and Kala Chana Recipe often.

How to make Lobia Recipe

Prep and Make Masala

1. Soak 1 cup of lobia or black eyed beans for 30 minutes in enough water. Drain and rinse the beans with water. Again drain very well and set aside.

Note that if you are short of time, you can skip the soaking and move to step 2. Keep in mind that you will need to cook the black eyed beans for some more time.

2. In a 3 litre pressure cooker or pressure pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add the cumin seeds and let them crackle and sizzle on a medium-low heat. Use any neutral tasting oil.

3. Then add ⅓ cup chopped onions.

4. Stir and sauté stirring often on a medium-low to medium heat until the onions become translucent and have softened.

5. Add the ½ teaspoon finely chopped ginger, ½ teaspoon finely chopped garlic and ½ teaspoon chopped green chilies or serrano pepper.

Sauté stirring often for some seconds until the raw aroma of the ginger and garlic goes away.

TIP: 1 teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste can be swapped with the chopped ginger and garlic.

6. Add ½ cup chopped finely tomatoes. Combine and mix chopped tomatoes with the rest of the sautéed ingredients in the pressure cooker.

7. Add the all the ground spices – ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chili powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder and ½ teaspoon garam masala powder.

8. Stir and saute the masala on a low heat, till the tomatoes become soft and the entire tomato-onion mixture starts to leave the sides of the cooker.

The masala mixture will become lumpy and leave the sides of the pan. You will see oil leaving from the sides of the masala.

This cooking technique is called as “Bhunao” in Punjabi language and takes some time. So do not rush the process.

9. Now add the lobia or black eyed beans to the sautéed masala paste .

10. Combine and mix well.

11. Pour 3 cups water.

12. Add salt according to taste and stir.

Make Lobia Masala

13. Pressure cook for 9 to 10 minutes or 8 to 9 whistles on a medium heat until the beans are tender, softened and cooked well. When the pressure falls naturally in the cooker, then only open the lid.

I cooked these black eyed beans for 8 to 9 whistles as I had soaked them for half an hour. If you have soaked the beans overnight or for 2 to 3 hours, it will take less time to cook.

If you have not soaked them at all, they will take a bit more time to cook. So keep these points in mind.

The lobia should be soft enough and when pressed with your fingers, it should get mashed easily.

Check the beans once they are cooked by pressing them with a spoon or with your fingers. If the beans have a dense or hard center, they are not cooked. So pressure cook for some more whistles.

14. Once the lobia beans are cooked, simmer the gravy without the lid so that the gravy gets thickened.

15. You could also mash a few cooked lobia beans to thicken the gravy.

16. The consistency of the lobia masala curry is neither thin nor thick.

17. Lastly add 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves and give a final stir. You could also garnish lobia curry with chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy Punjabi lobia masala with roti, paratha, naan, puri, steamed rice or jeera rice. It taste best with steamed basmati rice or soft roti.

It is best to eat this black eyed beans curry as soon as it is made. I would not recommend to store the curry in the fridge or freeze it as the taste and flavors of the beans completely changes.

Expert Tips

• Black Eyed Beans: Whenever you make any recipe with dried beans, ensure that they are fresh and in their shelf period. Older beans take more time to cook. Black eyed beans come in a few sizes. To get the best taste and flavor, I recommend to use the beans which have a medium to large size. Avoid the beans which are tiny and small.
• Canned Beans: In a pinch, easily swap 2 to 3 cups of canned beans with dried beans. Drain all the liquid from the cans and rinse the beans before adding to the sautéed onion-tomato masala. Add water as needed to make a medium consistency gravy and simmer for some minutes.
• Soaking: If you decide to soak the beans for a few hours or overnight, then reduce the cooking time.
• Spicing: This lobia recipe is not spicy. If you like spicy food, increase the amount of red chilli powder and green chilies.
• Consistency: Make a slightly thick or medium consistency curry if eating with roti or bread. When serving with steamed rice, make the curry with medium consistency or slightly thin, but do not add too much of water as this will dilute the flavors.

This Lobia recipe from the blog archives first published in May 2010 has been republished and updated on November 2022.