Soak chana (black chickpeas) overnight or for at least 6 hours.
Grind the tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cloves, cardamom, and fennel seeds into a smooth paste—no need to add any water while grinding. Keep aside.
Also, grind the fresh coconut with a half cup of water to a fine paste. Keep aside.**Note: You can also roast the coconut and then grind. If you don't have fresh coconut, you can also use ½ cup of full-fat coconut milk instead. Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Add oil to the POT. Once POT is hot, add onions and saute until onions turn light brown for 3-4 minutes.
Next, add the masala paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the soaked kadala (chickpeas), spices like turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, salt, and water for cooking. Stir well.
Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to "BEAN/CHILI" Mode and set the timer to 30 minutes.
Do a NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE.
Meanwhile, prepare the tempering. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, dry red chilies, asafetida (hing) and sauté for 30 seconds and keep aside.
Once the pressure has released naturally, add the ground coconut paste and press sauté to cook for 3-4 minutes. Adjust the consistency by adding water if required. Finally, add the tempering to the curry.
Serve kadala curry with appam or puttu.