Masala Puri {Instant Pot}

Masala puri or masal puri is a Bangalorean chaat/street food, which is known for its fiery hot flavor. This famous Karnataka street food is spicy, greenish in color, and uses loads of herbs. This is one of my favorite Indian chaats just like pani puri. Here is my Bengaluru-style masala puri made in the instant pot.

What is Masala Puri?

Masala puri is a chaat made from boiled green or yellow dried peas, a spicy cooked masala or thin gravy, crushed chaat puris, chopped onions and tomatoes, and some crispy Indian mixture.

The masala gravy is usually cooked separately and added to the boiled peas right before making the chaat. Some of the favorite toppings of this chaat are: grated carrots, chopped onions and tomatoes, and crispy sev/mixtures. The puris are crushed and used in this chaat unlike other street food chaats like pani puri and dahi puri.

What is The Green Masala?

The green masala is the thin, spicy gravy used in this chaat recipe. The green color comes from the herbs used in the paste.

Cilantro, mint, and green chilies are used with roasted dalia/channa daal, ginger, garlic, cooked peas and whole spices to make the spice paste. The paste is then cooked in little oil and thinned out to make a spicy gravy used as the base in the masala puri chaat. 

What does Masala Puri Chaat Consist of?

The masala puri chaat has three major ingredient groups. Some of them are:

Cooked, dried peas: 

This chaat used cooked, dried yellow or green peas in the recipe. The dried peas must be soaked for at least four hours before boiled till soft.

You can either use an instant pot or pressure cooker to make soft, cooked boiled peas for this recipe. Remember to add salt and turmeric while making this recipe. 

Spices:

This recipe uses whole spices such as cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorn, and dried red chilies. In addition, chaat masala is also used while serving this dish.

Veggies and herbs:

In this traditional recipe, carrots and potatoes are cooked with dried, soaked peas. However, I haven’t used any potatoes while making the peas base. You can always add carrots and cauliflower for a healthier veggie-filled peas. 

Herbs that are used in the recipe are cilantro, garlic and ginger, and mint leaves. Green chilies are also used to spice up the masala paste. 

Puris and sev/mixture:

I have used my air-fried puris in this recipe. Feel free to use any variety of puris you have in handy. You can alternatively use papdis as well to make this chaat. However, you need to crush all the puris/papdis before making the chaat.

A sev-based mixture is perfect as a topping in this recipe. You can add this crisp, baked sev in this recipe. 

Variations:

Some restaurants in southern India also serve orange-colored masala puri. To do that, they avoid the greens in the masala. You may use half green herbs and add more carrots in the peas while cooking. The carrots give a natural orange color to this recipe. 

Want to use air-fryer puri in this recipe? Here is the air-fryer puri recipe.

How to Make Masala Puri in The Instant Pot?

Ingredients:

1 cup dried soaked yellow or green peas, 1 medium carrot (optional), 4 cups of water, Salt to taste, 1 tsp Turmeric powder

Masala Paste:

1 tsp cooking oil, 3 large garlic cloves, 2-4 green chilies, 2-4 dried red chilies, 1 inch fresh ginger, 1 small cinnamon, 3-4 small cloves, 5 black peppercorns, 1/2 cup cilantro, 1/2 cup mint leaves, 1/3 cup dalia dal/roasted Chana dal, 1/3 cup cooked peas, Salt to taste 

Toppings:

20-25 air-fryer or regular puris, Chopped onions, Chopped tomatoes, Chopped cilantro, Chaat masala, Crispy sev/mixture, Lime juice

Method of Making Masala Puri in Instant Pot:

Cook the Peas:

• Wash, soak, and pressure cook the dried peas.
• For 1 cup of soaked, dried peas, you will need 3 cups of water to cook.
• Add salt and turmeric to the dried peas while cooking. 

If cooking in the instant pot, set the IP to beans mode and for 6 minutes for a cup of dried peas. If you want really mushy peas, cook them for 12 minutes in high. Let the IP come to a natural pressure release on its own. 

Make the Masala:

• For the masala, take 1/3 cup of cooked peas and an equal amount of dalia/roasted dalia dal in a blender jar.
• Add all the other ingredients mentioned under the masala paste and make a thick yet smooth paste by using little water.
• Make a fine paste by adding very little water to it. 

• Set the instant pot into a sauté mode and add 1 tbsp oil. Now add this masala paste and cook for 3-5 minutes until the masala bubbles and starts to thicken. 
• Now add 3-4 cups of water (depending upon how you like the consistency). If you are planning to serve the chaat immediately, add the cooked peas and bring the curry to a boil. 
• Adjust salt if necessary and switch off the IP.

Prepare the Chaat:

• Crush 5-7 puris on a plate and soak them with the spicy peas gravy.
• Now add chopped onions, grated carrots, onions, and tomatoes.
• Finish the chaat with a pinch of chaat masala, lime juice, and crispy sev or mixture. 

• Serve immediately.
• Enjoy!

Here is the air-fryer recipe:

Air-Fryer Puri