This Indian bean curry is a delicious mixed beans curry made by cooking five types of beans in an onion-tomato gravy flavored with Indian spices. It's a vegan and gluten-free recipe.

Any Indian bean curry with rice is one of my favorite things to eat. It’s so comforting, filling, and nutritious that I make it regularly in my kitchen, especially on weekends. That’s the reason you will find so many bean curry recipes on my blog.
It’s really interesting to see how most of the beans used in the Indian bean curries traveled to India from other countries, many years back like Kidney beans (rajma) from Mexico, Chickpeas (chole) from the Middle East, and Black-eyed peas (Lobia) from Africa. But now they have become an integral part of Indian cuisine and one can't imagine any Indian kitchen without them.
Of all the bean curries, mixed beans curry is my favorite as I get to enjoy all the beans in one dish. I love it so much that my mother always makes sure to make it for me at least once whenever I visit her.
What's needed to make Indian mixed beans curry?
To make this bean curry, you will need the ingredients shown below:
Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions
- Mixed beans: I have used black chickpeas (whole Bengal gram), kidney beans, white chickpeas, black-eyed peas, and black lentils. You can use any combination of different beans depending on what's available to you. Though it tastes the best if you add all these five beans, you can make this bean curry with just three or four types of beans also. Try to use as many different types as you can. If you have more than five beans, you can use more too.
- Onion: Red onion is the best choice for Indian curries. White and brown onions don't give the same color and flavor to the curries.
- Tomato: Use a juicy red tomato.
- Whole spices: The most commonly used spices in this curry are cumin seeds, black cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, black peppercorns, and cloves. You may skip 1 or 2 of these spices if you don't have them all. However, don't skip cumin seeds and bay leaves.
- Kasoori methi: Kasoori methi is dried fenugreek leaves. You can buy it from the spice section of any Indian grocery store. It completely transforms the flavor of the dish it's added to. However, add it in moderation because if added in excess, the dish may turn bitter.
- Garam masala: It's a very flavorful blend of different powdered Indian spices. It has a very strong flavor so add it in moderation too otherwise, you won't taste any other ingredient in the recipe.
- Red chili powder: Use Kashmiri red chili powder. It will give a nice color to the curry and won't be very spicy too.
- Cooking oil: I prefer making this curry in mustard oil. You can also use canola or olive oil. Non-vegans may use ghee too.
How to make (step-by-step instructions)?
Step 1: Mix all the beans that you are using and wash well.
Step 2: Soak in water for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Step 3: Put the soaked beans, water, and some salt into a pressure cooker.
Step 4: Put on the lid of the pressure cooker and cook on a medium flame for 7-8 whistles of the pressure cooker or until the beans are nicely cooked.
Step 5: Allow the pressure of the pressure cooker to get released naturally and then open the lid.
Step 6: Mash some beans with the back side of the ladle. You may also take out a ladle full of cooked beans and make their paste in a grinder or food processor.
Step 7: Put roughly chopped onion, garlic, and ginger into a grinding jar and make a paste. Transfer the paste to a bowl and keep it aside.
Step 8: In the same grinding jar, put roughly chopped tomatoes and green chilies to make a separate paste. Keep it aside too.
Step 9: Heat oil in a cooking pot. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, cloves, black cardamom, and cumin seeds. Saute for a few seconds i.e. until the spices become fragrant.
Step 10: Add onion garlic paste.
Step 11: Cook until the onion paste turns golden brown. Add a few tablespoons of water to the pot whenever the onion paste starts sticking to the pot and cook further.
Step 12: Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, and roughly crushed kasoori methi. Saute for a few seconds.
Step 13: Add tomato paste and the remaining salt.
Step 14: Cook for 10-12 minutes or until the tomatoes are nicely cooked.
Step 15: Add cooked beans and cook on a medium flame for 5-6 minutes.
Step 16: Add garam masala, chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Mix.
Your delicious Indian-style mixed beans curry is ready to be enjoyed!
How to serve?
This bean curry can be served with rice as well as roti or any other Indian flatbread like naan or paratha.
To make a complete Indian meal using this curry, serve it with rice or roti, a vegetable dish like aloo gobhi, bhindi masala, or aloo baingan, an Indian salad like Kachumber salad or lachha pyaz, and a chutney like mint chutney or tomato chutney on the side.
Non-vegans may also include a raita like onion raita, beetroot raita, or cucumber raita to this meal.
You can also enjoy it as a hearty Indian mixed beans soup.
The leftover bean curry can be kneaded with some whole wheat flour, and fresh herbs to make a dough. Use this dough to make paratha (Indian flatbread).
Storing, freezing, and reheating tips
To be honest, in India, freezing food for later consumption is generally not practiced and is also considered bad for health.
However, in this fast world, the lifestyle of people has changed a lot. Many of my readers do batch cooking and then freeze their food. They keep on asking me questions about freezing recipes.
So, if you also freeze food then yes, you can freeze this beans curry too. To do that, let the curry reach room temperature and then put it in an airtight container before keeping it in the freezer.
You can reheat it on the stovetop as well as in a microwave. While reheating, add more hot water to the curry to get the desired consistency.
Recipe tips and tricks
- Feel free to use a combination of beans that are available to you.
- If you don't have a pressure cooker or instant pot then you can also use a regular heavy-bottomed pot to make this dish. However, in a regular pot, the beans will take around 1:30 to 2 hours to get cooked.
- Powdered spices may get burned very easily. To avoid that you can mix them with 1-2 tablespoons of water and then add to the pot.
- You can remove the whole spices like bay leaf, black cardamom, and cinnamon stick before serving if you want.
- The number of whistles required to cook the beans in a pressure cooker may vary depending on various factors like the capacity of the pressure cooker, the quality of beans that you are using, and even the altitude of the place where you are cooking. You may start with 6 whistles and if the beans are not cooked properly then cook for a few more whistles.
Frequently asked questions
If you like cooking beans from scratch, it’s convenient to have a pressure cooker in your kitchen. Even an instant pot (electric pressure cooker) is very useful.
However, if you don’t have either of these two appliances, use a regular heavy-bottomed pot to cook the beans. It will take around 2 hours on a medium flame to cook soaked beans in it.
The complete texture and flavor of beans change when you cook them together from scratch. They taste a lot better than canned beans.
However, if you are looking for a shortcut, use canned beans.
More easy vegan and vegetarian bean curries
As mentioned above, I love beans and make curries with them at least once a week. If you also want to try them then don't miss to check the following recipes:
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Recipe
Indian mixed beans curry
Equipment
- 1 Pressure cooker/ instant pot
- 1 Cooking pot
- Grinding jar or food processor
Ingredients
- ¾ cup dried whole black lentils sabut urad dal
- ¼ cup dried kidney beans rajma
- ¼ cup dried chickpeas chole
- ¼ cup dried whole Bengal gram Kale chane
- ¼ cup dried black-eyed peas lobia
- 1 large red onion
- 1 large tomato
- 5-6 cloves of garlic
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- 1-2 green chilies
- A handful of fresh cilantro finely chopped
- Juice of ½ a lime adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3-4 black peppercorns
- 1-2 cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small stick of cinnamon
- 1-2 black cardamoms
- ½ tablespoon coriander powder
- ½ tablepsoon kasoori methi
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder adjust to taste
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon any neutral flavored cooking oil of choice Non-vegans may also use ghee
- 5 cups water
Instructions
- Mix all the beans, wash, and soak them in water for at least 7 hours or overnight.
- Put all the soaked beans in a pressure cooker with water and some salt. Cook on a medium flame for 7-8 whistles or until the beans get cooked without losing their shape.
- Allow the pressure of the pressure cooker to get released naturally and then open the lid. Mash some beans by pressing them with the ladle. Keep the cooked beans aside.
- Roughly chop onion, garlic, and ginger. Put them in a grinding jar and make a paste. Transfer the onion paste to a bowl and keep it aside. In the same grinding jar put roughly chopped tomato and green chilies, make a paste, and keep it in a separate bowl.
- Heat oil in a cooking pot. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, cloves, black cardamom, and cumin seeds. Saute for a few seconds or until the spices become fragrant.
- Add the onion paste and cook until it becomes golden brown. Keep stirring in between. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water every time the paste starts sticking to the bottom of the pot and cook further.
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, and roughly crushed kasoori methi. Saute for a few seconds.
- Add tomato paste and the remaining salt. Cook for around 10-12 minutes i.e. until the tomatoes get nicely cooked and change their color to a brighter red.
- Finally, add the cooked beans along with the water in which they were cooked. Cook on a medium flame for another 5-6 minutes.
- Add garam masala, chopped cilantro, and fresh lime juice. Mix everything.
- Serve hot with roti or rice.
Video
Notes
- Feel free to use a combination of beans that are available to you.
- If you don't have a pressure cooker or instant pot then you can also use a regular heavy-bottomed pot. However, in it, the beans will take around 1:30 to 2 hours to get nicely cooked.
- Powdered spices may get burned very easily. To avoid that you can mix them with 1-2 tablespoons of water and then add to the pot.
- You can remove the whole spices like bay leaf, black cardamom, and cinnamon stick before serving.
- The number of whistles required to cook the beans in a pressure cooker may vary depending on various factors like the capacity of the pressure cooker, the quality of beans that you are using, and even the altitude of the place where you are cooking. You may start with 6 whistles and if the beans are not cooked then cook for a few more whistles.
- More recipe tips and tricks are shared in the post above, please refer them to make this recipe.
So Yummy. I added Peanut butter and apple cider vinegar to the finished pot to tone down the heat a little! I love this-even using American grocery store powdered spices! Can’t wait to go to International Store for the better spices.
Hi Liz. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I am really happy to know that you enjoyed this curry.
How could I tweak this recipe for a slow cooker?
Hi Kevin, I am so sorry but I don't have a slow cooker and never used it too so won't be able to help here.