• I have soaked 1 cup of dried chickpeas overnight and pressure-cooked them the next day until perfectly cooked through. Cook the chickpeas using any method of your choice, but do soak overnight if you are using dried chickpeas.
  1 ½ cups Chickpeas
• Note: If you are using canned chickpeas or garbanzo, simply wash and drain 1 can of it and use it in the recipe. Skip the above step.
• In a bowl, wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes (soaking the rice is optional).
  1 cup Basmati
• In a blender or mixer jar, add cilantro, mint leaves, green chilies, garlic cloves, ginger, little water, and grind to form a smooth paste.
  1 cup Cilantro, ½ cup Mint, 3 to 5 Green chilies, 6 to 8 cloves Garlic, ½ inch Ginger
• Heat ghee or butter in a pan or pot. Add garam masala spices that are available in your pantry. I have used bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Add cashews and saute for a few seconds.
  2 tablespoon Ghee, 1 Bay leaf, 1 inch Cinnamon stick, 2 pod Cardamom, 2 Cloves, 1 tablespoon Cashews
• To this, add sliced onion and saute until translucent. Now add the ground paste (from above) and cook till the rawness goes off completely. Check out the video of making of pulao.
  1 Onion
• Add the tomatoes and saute for two more minutes.
  1 Tomato
• Now add the soaked rice, cooked chickpeas, salt, 2 cups of water, and bring it to a boil. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until rice is cooked through thoroughly.
  2 cups Water, 1 teaspoon Salt
• Switch off the flame. Leave it undisturbed for 10 minutes. Then slowly toss and fluff the rice. This rice is so flavorful all by itself
• You can also serve it with yogurt dip or raita if desired.

How To Make Instant Pot Chana Pulao Or Chickpea Rice Pilaf, Or Chana Biryani?

• Turn on the saute mode of your instant pot. Add ghee, bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and cashews, and saute for a few seconds.
• Now add sliced onion and saute till translucent. To this, add the ground herb paste given above and saute until the rawness goes off completely.
• Add the tomatoes and saute for a few seconds. Finally, add the rice, salt, boiled or canned chickpeas or garbanzo with 1 to 1 ¼ cups of water.
• See that all the rice is under the liquid. Close the lid of your instant pot and see that the pressure valve is in the sealing position. Select the MANUAL / PRESSURE HIGH function and set the timer to 6 minutes.
• Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. Then release any remaining pressure.
• Open the instant pot and gently mix the cooked rice using a silicone spatula to prevent the hot cooked rice from breaking when tossed