Pinto bean curry

Pinto bean curry is a hearty and flavorful dish made by cooking pinto beans in a delicious onion-tomato curry sauce seasoned with Indian spices. This instant pot recipe can also be prepared in a regular pressure cooker or cooking pot. It's a vegan and gluten-free dish.

What goes in pinto bean curry?

To make Pinto bean curry, you will need the ingredients shown below:

Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions

• Dried pinto beans: In Indian recipes, dried beans are cooked from scratch i.e. they are first soaked overnight and then cooked. Canned beans are not used in traditional Indian cooking. However, for convenience, you can use canned beans too. You don't need an instant pot to make this recipe with canned beans.
• Tomatoes: Use a juicy red variety of fresh tomatoes to make Indian onion-tomato sauce. Though not a popular ingredient for Indian recipes, canned crushed tomatoes can also be used.
• Onion: Use red onion to make Indian dishes. If you don't have that, use yellow onion or white onion but they won't give the same flavor.
• Green chilies: Adding green chilies is optional, skip if you don't want to make your curry spicy or remove some seeds to make the curry less spicy.
• Cinantro (fresh coriander leaves): If you don't like cilantro, skip it but don't replace it with any other ingredient.
• Fenugreek leaves: Use dried fenugreek leaves also known as kasoori methi. This ingredient adds a unique smoky flavor to the dish.
• Whole spices: I have used only two whole spices to flavor this curry- bay leaf and cumin seeds. You can also add other whole spices like black peppercorns, cloves, black cardamom, and cinnamon stick to the curry. Remove them before serving, if you want. 
• Powdered spices: The powdered spices that I have used in this recipe are cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric powder, and ground black powder. I prefer using Kashmiri red chili powder as it adds color to the dish and is not very spicy. You can also use cayenne pepper. Instead of garam masala, curry powder can be used too. However, please note that Indians don't use curry powder. All the spices used in this recipe are easily available in Indian grocery stores or any grocery store that sells spices.
• Cooking oil: I prefer using mustard oil to make most North Indian dishes. You can use any cooking oil of choice like olive oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil. Non-vegans may also use butter or ghee.

Other ingredient details and nutritional information are shared in the recipe card.

How to make (step-by-step instructions)?

Making this Indian pinto bean dish is very easy, just follow the easy step by step instructions shared below:

Step 1: Rinse pinto beans and soak in water for 8 hours or overnight.

Step 2: Switch on the instant pot and select saute mode for 15 minutes. Add cooking oil and heat it for 1-2 minutes. Add cumin seeds and bay leaf. Saute for a few seconds i.e. until the spices become fragrant.

Step 3: Add finely chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook until the onion starts turning brown.

Step 4: Add chopped tomatoes, green chilies, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, ground black pepper, and salt. Mix everything and cook until the tomatoes are cooked well and turn mushy.

Step 5: Drain the soaked beans and add to the instant pot. Saute beans for 1-2 minutes.

Step 6: Add 3 cups of hot water and mix.

Step 7: Seal the lid of the instant pot. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.

Step 8: Allow the pressure to get released naturally then open the lid. Stir the bean curry. Add garam masala, crushed kasoori methi, and chopped cilantro. Mix.

Your delicious Indian pinto bean curry is ready to be served.

Serving bean curry

Serve bean curry hot.

My favorite way to enjoy bean curry is with plain basmati rice or jeera rice. You can also serve it any Indian flatbread of choice like roti, naan, or paratha.

A bowl of this curry can also be enjoyed as a hearty bean soup.

Storing, freezing, and reheating the leftovers

Store the leftover pinto bean curry in an airtight container and refrigerate. It will be fine for 3-4 days in the fridge.

It also freezes well. To freeze, transfer the curry to a freezer-safe air tight container and freeze for up to 3 months.

To reheat, if the curry is frozen, thaw it first. Then reheat either in the microwave or on the stovetop. If the curry has thickened, add some hot water while reheating.

Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions

• Feel free to use different varieties of beans like red kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, white beans, etc, and follow this recipe to make a bean curry of your choice. Different beans can be mixed too to make mixed bean curry.
• To shorten the time of soaking beans, soak them in hot water.
• Don't skip the step of soaking beans. Though the unsoaked beans also get cooked, they will take a longer time to get cooked and won't get digested easily.
• If after opening the lid, you feel that there is too much liquid left in the curry, turn on the saute mode again and cook until the curry thickens.
• Kashmiri red chili powder is the best for this dish as it's not very spicy but adds a bright red color to the curry. If you don't have it, use any other red chili powder that you have.
• To get the right consistency of the curry sauce, chop the onions into very fine pieces. You can also make a paste of onion and use that in the dish.
• Don't use chopped tomatoes in the sauce. Either make a tomato paste or grate the tomatoes before using. We don't want tomato chunks in this curry.

More bean curry recipes

If you enjoyed this pinto bean curry and want to try more Indian bean curry recipes then the following links are worth checking out:

1. Rajma masala
2. Black-eyed pea curry with spinach
3. Chickpea potato curry
4. Chickpea spinach curry
5. Black chickpea curry
6. Mung bean curry
7. White bean curry
8. Black bean curry
9. Mixed bean curry

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