Madhur Jaffrey - Madhur Jaffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook: Modern and Classic Recipes for the Instant Pot

The idea of traditional Indian food being prepared with the help of a pressure cooker is not new or alien to me or to any Indian. For at least the last forty years, almost every middle-class Indian household has had one, two, or even three pressure cookers whistling away in their kitchens to let them know that their dried split peas are done or their rice is ready or that their meat is tender.

I was drawn to the Instant Pot because it was not only a pressure cooker that allowed me to cook fast but much, much more. It could work as a slow cooker too, braising meats to a lovely tenderness in five to ten hours; it could transform itself into a rice cooker, cooking rice to perfection without any outside guidance; it could make my soups and stocks; and it could pressure steam as well, cooking a dozen or more hard-boiled eggs so beautifully that their shells slipped off with ease and allowed me to drop them into my curry sauces without a care in the world.

Having said all this, I have to stress that the Instant Pot is not a Magic Pot. It will not, in most cases, take over and cook for you (though sometimes it can). It is a multipurpose cooking utensil that takes some experimentation to master. If you want your fish to be just done and not overcooked, if you want your vegetables tender-crisp, if you want your meat to be tender but not dry and rigid, if you want to cook your dried beans evenly, then give the pot some time and patience. Work with it. Play with it. The pot allows for many possibilities, many combinations and permutations of its functions. Take the time and examine what they are.

To begin with, read the booklet that comes with the Instant Pot. This way you will understand its basic functions and its many dos and donts. After that, allow your own palate to tell you what you like and dont like. For example, generally I do not like my fish cooked under pressure at all. I prefer making the sauce first and then slipping the fish into the sauce and poaching it briefly using the Saut function. I also found that I preferred chicken cooked under Low Pressure rather than High Pressure. These are things that I learned as I cooked and experimented.

Also know that even though you are cooking in an Instant Pot, it takes time for it to come up to pressure. It is hard to predict just how much time this might be. It depends upon the amount of liquid and solids in the pot. Similarly, it takes time for the pressure to drop, time you may not have allowed for but should.

Once you understand this, the Instant Pot becomes the friend you always wanted in the kitchen. Now that I have it, I would not want to be without it. It cooks my dried beans and split peas (what Indians call dals) to perfection as it does my basmati rice. I love how my cauliflower turns out and I adore my Instant Pot egg curries. I also love my soups. Especially my Mulligatawny soup.

I have tested all the dishes in this book in the IP-DUO60 V3, 6-quart Instant Pot. You might want to make slight changes to your recipes according to which particular pot you own.

RICE When I acquired my Instant Pot, I knew that I could handle the pressure-cooking part. What I have gotten to know and love are the other special functions. The RICE function works perfectly. Just follow my directions for measuring and soaking the rice, then press RICE and let the machine do the rest. Even those of you who have been afraid of cooking rice will be left speechless. Just remember that you can ruin the delicate grains of rice when you serve them. Rice grains clump up. To separate them, slide the paddle provided with the machine down one side of the pot all the way to the bottom, then turn the paddle so it is parallel with the bottom of the inner pot and remove a lump of rice. Press down on the lump gently with the flat side of the paddle. The rice grains will fall apart naturally and easily.

If you are using basmati rice, always get the best-quality Indian basmati from an Indian grocer. Just ask the grocer, What is your best-quality basmati rice? It is often slightly yellowed, as it has been aged for at least six months. It will also be the most expensive.

CHICKEN When I cook chicken parts in my Instant Pot, I find that their texture is best if I cook them under LOW PRESSURE for six minutes and then use the SAUT function to cook them gently for another seven to ten minutes. Dont be afraid to experiment with any of the functions to make your food turn out just the way you want it.

MEAT Meat may be cooked at HIGH PRESSURE , but it is at its tender best when cooked using the SLOW COOK button. Shoulder of lamb, which I use in many recipes, will take about five hours to cook, but this is painless time that leaves you free to do other things.