SERVES 3–4
Known as Keema Matar, this dish is loved by children, old people, and everyone in between. It is the first dish a young Indian abroad tries to cook, as it seems the most approachable. When I started writing cookbooks in America, I heard from so many college students who said that they learned to cook from my books and that the first dish they tried was this one. The seasonings I have used for this recipe are quite typical of the southern area in and around Hyderabad. Keema there was once considered a part of a leisurely Sunday breakfast offered to menfolk returning from a morning horse ride. The other dishes at breakfast would be khichri (dal and rice cooked together), crispy poppadums, and pickles.
In Delhi, where I was raised, this dish was served at lunch or dinner and usually with flatbreads like chapatis, parathas, and naans. (Pita-type breads would also do.) On the table would also be a vegetable dish, such as one made with cauliflower, a dal, a yogurt relish, and a small onion-tomato salad. You may also serve this with rice.
3 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
½ teaspoon whole black or brown mustard seeds
½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
2 dried hot red chilies
10 fresh curry leaves, if available
½ cup finely chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed to a pulp
2 teaspoons peeled fresh ginger grated to a pulp
1 pound ground lamb
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 cup peas, fresh or frozen and defrosted
¾ teaspoon salt
1. Select the SAUTÉ setting on your Instant Pot and set it to More. When the screen says Hot, swirl in the oil. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and red chilies. When the mustard seeds start to pop, turn the chilies over and put in the curry leaves. They will splutter, so stand back. Now quickly put in the onions. Stir and sauté for 4–5 minutes or until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and ginger and stir a few times. Add the ground lamb and stir, breaking up all the lumps in the meat. Add the coriander and cumin. Stir a few times, then add 1 tablespoon of the yogurt. Stir from the bottom as you continue to break up the lumps in the meat. Add the remaining yogurt, 1 tablespoon at a time the same way, as you continue to smash up the lumps and the yogurt gets absorbed. Add ¾ cup water and press CANCEL to reset the cooking program.
2. Close and seal the lid. Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 10 minutes and then allow the pressure to drop by itself. Open the lid carefully, venting the remaining steam away from you. Select the SAUTÉ setting and set to Low. Add the peas and salt and stir to mix. Cook gently for 2–3 minutes if peas were frozen, 5–6 minutes if fresh, stirring now and then. Hit CANCEL when the peas are cooked through.
SERVES 4–6
Known locally as just eshtew, this classic dish with meat, potatoes, and vegetables is very popular with Kerala’s Christian community, especially at Easter, when it is served with appams—steamed, spongy, savory rice cakes. Alas, there are no recipes for the appams in this book, but I generally serve this stew with plain rice anyway. You may also serve it with Plain Brown or Red Basmati Rice (this page). This stew must have some British ancestry, but the spices it uses all grow in Kerala’s backyards. It is generally cooked to be very spicy, so put in as many green chilies as you can easily manage.
Leave your can of coconut milk standing still, top up, for twenty-four hours. Just before using, open it carefully without tilting the can too much. Now, spoon off the very thick creamy coconut milk that has risen to the top and put it in a bowl. This is the thick coconut milk. The rest remaining in the can is the thin coconut milk.
4 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
3 whole green cardamom pods
1 medium stick cinnamon
3–4 whole cloves
About 30 fresh curry leaves, if available
1 large onion, cut into fine half-rings
2 teaspoons peeled fresh ginger grated to a pulp
2 pounds boneless lamb from the shoulder, cut into 1½-inch cubes
Salt
One 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk, separated into thin and thick coconut milk (see headnote)
3 large red potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into 1-inch chunks
⅛–¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1–3 fresh hot bird’s-eye chilies, with long slits cut lengthwise down their centers
1. Select the SAUTÉ setting on your Instant Pot and set to More, with the timer set for 30 minutes. When the screen says Hot, swirl in the oil. Then put in the cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir once or twice and put in half the curry leaves. They will splatter, so stand back. Quickly add the onions. Stir them until they are soft and just beginning to change color, about 5–6 minutes. Add the ginger and stir once or twice. Now put in all the meat and ¾ teaspoon salt. Stir the meat with the seasonings for 7–8 minutes, until it no longer appears red, then add ½ cup thin coconut milk and ½ cup water. Hit CANCEL to reset the cooking program. Close and seal the lid. Cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 20 minutes, then release the pressure manually.
2. While the meat cooks, put the potatoes and carrots in a bowl. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt, the chili powder, and coriander over them and mix well. Throw the green chilies into the same bowl.
3. When all the pressure has been released from the Instant Pot, open the lid carefully, venting the remaining steam away from you. Add the carrots, potatoes, and chilies and stir to mix. Close and seal the lid once again and cook at LOW PRESSURE for 3 minutes. Release the pressure manually. Hit CANCEL. Remove the lid carefully, venting the remaining steam away from you. Select the SAUTÉ setting and set to Normal. Add ¾ cup thick coconut milk. Crush the remaining curry leaves in your hand and add them to the pot as well. Stir to mix and bring the stew to a simmer. Fish out the whole green chilies so they present no danger to the unsuspecting.
SERVES 4–6
This dish is very popular throughout North India, eaten with Indian flatbreads or rice. I like it best when it is slow-cooked. I have just chopped the spinach finely here, but you could blanch it first in boiling water and chop finely or coarsely, as you wish.
5 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
2 pounds boneless lamb meat from the shoulder, cut into 1½–2-inch pieces and wiped dry
1 medium cinnamon stick
1¼ cups chopped onions
4 teaspoons of peeled fresh ginger grated to a pulp
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼–1 teaspoon chili powder
⅓ cup peeled and chopped tomatoes (canned will do)
1 pound spinach, finely chopped (see headnote)
1¼ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon My Garam Masala (this page)
1. Select the SAUTÉ setting on your Instant Pot and set to More for 30 minutes. When the screen says Hot, swirl in the oil. Put in the dried-off pieces of lamb, a few at a time, and brown them. They will stick, but leave them alone until they unstick. Put them in a bowl as they brown. Do all the lamb this way. Then put the cinnamon into the pot. Stir once and add the onions. Stir and fry until the onions begin to turn brown, 6–7 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and stir for a minute. Then add the coriander, cumin, turmeric, and chili powder. Stir once and put in the tomatoes. Stir, scraping up any crust stuck to the bottom. After a minute, pour in 1½ cups water and add the spinach and salt, stirring until the spinach wilts.
2. Add the meat. Close and lock the lid but do not seal it. Select the SLOW COOK setting and set the timer for 5 hours. When done, remove the lid carefully and check for salt. The sauce should be thick. If there is too much of it, boil some of it away by using the SAUTÉ setting set to Normal. Add the garam masala and stir it in.
SERVES 4–6
In the deserts of Rajasthan, they like this dish very hot. It looks red when it appears on the table, from all the ground red chilies that go into the sauce. I make it less hot (you do not have to), but I try to get the same color by adding nice bright red paprika.
It is generally eaten with Indian flatbreads. You may buy some naan or whole-wheat pita breads to eat it with. Rice would be fine too. At a meal, I might include a green vegetable or the Sweet, Hot, and Sour Eggplants (this page). Some kind of salad or a yogurt relish would round out a nice dinner.
¼ cup peanut or olive oil
2 medium cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
10 green cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
3 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic peeled and crushed to a pulp
2 pounds boneless lamb from the shoulder, cut into 1½-inch cubes
1¼ teaspoons salt
¼–1 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons bright red paprika
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1½ cups lamb stock or water
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Pour the oil into the inner container of the Instant Pot and select the SAUTÉ setting set to More. When the screen says Hot, put in the cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom, and bay leaf. Stir a few times, until the spices begin to darken. Quickly add the shallots. Stir and sauté for about 5 minutes or until the shallots just begin to brown. Add the ginger and garlic. Stir for another minute. Now add the lamb, salt, chili powder, paprika, and coriander. Stir a few times, then put in the stock or water. Close and seal the lid and cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 22 minutes, letting the pressure release naturally. Spoon out most of the fat. Serve garnished with cilantro.
SERVES 4
For those like me who like to eat around bones, this is a perfect dish.
Although Hindus generally do not eat beef, Indian Muslims and Christians do. This dish, along with braised shin meat and slow-cooked goat trotters, is often sold at street stalls in Muslim neighborhoods. Generally they are very spicy—and very red from chili powder—but you can control the heat by using less chili powder and fresh chilies. I use paprika to give the meat the red bazaar look. Normally served with soft Indian breads like naans, you may serve this with rice, rice noodles, or whole-wheat pita bread. A salad of sliced shallots (or onions), tomatoes, and cucumbers and a yogurt relish would make suitable accompaniments.
1½ teaspoons coriander seeds
1½ teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
One 4-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1–3 fresh hot green bird’s-eye chilies, chopped
¼ teaspoon or more chili powder, as desired
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons nice red paprika
4–5 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
2¾–3 pounds oxtail, cut into 1½-inch pieces and wiped dry with paper towels
1 medium cinnamon stick
5 whole green cardamom pods
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
1¼ teaspoons salt, or to taste
1. Put the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black peppercorns, and fenugreek seeds into a clean coffee grinder and grind until you have a fine powder.
2. Put the ginger, garlic, and green chilies into a blender along with ½ cup water. Blend until you have a smooth paste. Add the chili powder, turmeric, and paprika as well as the spices from the coffee grinder. Give the machine another whirr to mix all ingredients. This is the spice paste.
3. Pour 3 tablespoons of oil into the inner container of your Instant Pot and select the SAUTÉ setting, set to More. When the screen says Hot, add enough of the meat pieces as will easily fit in a single layer. Brown on both sides and remove to a big bowl. Brown all the meat this way, adding more oil if needed.
4. When all the meat has been browned and removed to the bowl, add another tablespoon of oil to the Instant Pot. When the screen says Hot, put in the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Stir once or twice and add all the shallots to the pot. Stir and brown lightly, scraping up all the browned meat juices at the bottom. When the shallots are soft, add the paste from the blender. Stir and sauté for about 5 minutes.
5. Put all the meat and meat juices back into the pot, adding 1½ cups water and the salt. Stir to mix. Hit Cancel to reset the cooking program. Close and seal the lid, then select the PRESSURE COOK setting and set to high pressure, with the timer set for 55 minutes. When the time is up, let the pressure release naturally. Open carefully and remove as much of the fat as you can before serving.
SERVES 4
This is the everyday goat curry served in much of North India and Pakistan. In our family we simply called it gosht or “meat.” Most butchers in the West do not carry goat at all. But now, increasingly, there are many halal butchers in or near Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi neighborhoods that do. You will also find it in West Indian neighborhoods.
In nearly all South Asian homes, the meat is cooked with the bone. It has much more flavor this way. Ask your butcher for some meat with bone from around the neck, some cut-up rib chops, some meat from the shank muscle (no bone here), and a few marrowbones with meat attached. Most of the pieces should be about 1½ inches in at least one direction. Wash the meat when you get it home and pat it dry.
Serve this with any flatbread or with rice.
2 pounds goat meat (see headnote)
5 tablespoons plain yogurt
4 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
½–1 fresh hot green chili (like bird’s-eye), chopped finely
One 3-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, grated to a pulp
4 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed to a pulp
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
¼–1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons bright red paprika
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup peeled and chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
½ teaspoon My Garam Masala (this page)
1. Combine the meat and yogurt in a bowl. Mix well and refrigerate overnight or for at least 3 hours.
2. Select the SAUTÉ setting on your Instant Pot, set to More, and set the timer for 30 minutes. When the screen says Hot, swirl in the oil. Put in all the meat and just let it sit there for a minute. Then stir it around for 7–8 minutes, until it is lightly browned in spots. Remove with a slotted spoon and save in a bowl. Put the onions and green chilies into the pot. Stir and cook for about 5–6 minutes or until the onions just start to brown. Add the ginger and garlic and stir around a few times, then add the cumin, coriander, chili powder, paprika, and salt. Stir a few times, add the tomatoes, and stir and cook them until they thicken and you can see the oil at the edges of the spice paste. Add the meat and stir from the bottom for 2–3 minutes. Add ¾ cup water. Hit CANCEL to reset the cooking program.
3. Close and seal the lid. Cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 25 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, releasing the remaining pressure manually. Hit CANCEL. Take off the lid carefully, venting the remaining steam away from you. (You may also, as an alternative, cook the meat by selecting the SLOW COOKING setting set to Normal for 6 hours. Then proceed with what follows.)
4. Select the SAUTÉ setting set to Normal. Stir the meat and check the salt. When the sauce starts bubbling again, sprinkle the garam masala over the top and stir it in. Hit CANCEL or leave at KEEP WARM. Remove extra fat when serving.
SERVES 2–4
India has a tense, cold, mountainous, land border with China in the north, but all along the east, south, and west coasts of India, the two countries have traded by sea for at least a thousand years. Many Chinese people have settled in Chinatowns in port cities like Calcutta and Bombay, and a special Indochinese cuisine has developed in which soy sauce plays an integral part. This recipe, a creation of mine, is part of that tradition. It is also the first recipe that my children asked for when they left home to go to college. I have adapted it for the Instant Pot. It is important that the chops be thin and somewhat fatty.
Serve these chops with a rice dish.
4 center-cut pork chops, each about ½ inch thick (weighing about 1½ pounds in all)
3 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
1 medium stick cinnamon
6 whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into ⅛-inch rounds
1 medium stick celery, halved lengthways and then cut crossways into ⅛-inch-wide pieces
3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
1½ tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1. Pat the pork chops with a paper towel until they are quite dry.
2. Select the SAUTÉ setting on your Instant Pot and set to More for 30 minutes. When the screen says Hot, swirl in the oil. Put in two pork chops at a time to brown them. They will stick initially, but let them stay in place until they start to brown and loosen. Turn them over and brown the other side. When done, remove them to a bowl. Brown the remaining chops the same way and remove to the bowl. Then add the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaf to the Instant Pot. Stir a few times. Now add the onions, carrots, and celery. Stir until all are lightly browned, 7–8 minutes. Hit CANCEL to reset the cooking program.
3. Now put the chops and their accumulated liquid back in the pan. Add ½ cup water, the tamari, sugar, and chili powder, and stir to mix.
4. The next step may be done one of two ways:
a. To pressure-cook: Close and seal the lid. Cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 20 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally for 10 minutes and then release the remaining pressure manually. Hit CANCEL to reset the cooking program.
b. To slow-cook: Add another ½ cup water to the pot. Cover with the glass lid or use the regular lid, then lock but do not seal it. Select the SLOW COOK setting and set to Normal for 4 hours. When the time is up, hit CANCEL to reset the cooking program.
5. Remove the lid. Select the SAUTÉ setting and set to More to boil away most of the liquid, gently turning the chops in the sauce as you do so. You should end up with very little sauce left clinging to the chops.
SERVES 4–6
In this recipe, which I created specifically for the pressure cooker more than two decades ago, I cook the pork cubes with just ginger, garlic, and a special mixture of spices (see Rai Masala on this page). It is quite scrumptious, yet very easy to make in the Instant Pot. I buy cubed, boneless pork shoulder, cut into about 1–1½-inch cubes, and take off the larger hunks of fat from every piece. Just leave a sliver of fat, as that makes the meat very juicy. Those who do not eat pork may use lamb. (Although pork is more succulent.)
For a simple meal, just put these kabobs on top of rice, and add a further topping of slivered onions and tomatoes dressed with lime juice, salt, and chili powder. (See Onion-Tomato Salad, this page.) You may also roll them in a soft flatbread with the same salad.
3 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
One 3-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, grated finely
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed to a pulp
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1–1½-inch cubes, heavy chunks of fat removed (see headnote)
2 tablespoons Rai Masala (this page)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼–½ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1½ tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste
1. Set the nonstick inner pot, if you have one, inside the Instant Pot (or use your stainless steel one). Select the SAUTÉ setting, set to More, and pour in the oil. When the screen says Hot, put in the ginger and garlic. Stir once or twice and add the pork cubes. Stir a few more times and put in the rai masala, cumin, turmeric, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Stir for about 2 minutes to mix all the spices, then add ½ cup water and mix it in.
2. Close and seal the lid and cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 20 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. Remove the lid. Hit CANCEL to reset the cooking program, then select the SAUTÉ setting and set to MORE. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and save it in a bowl. Meanwhile, boil down all the liquid in the pot until you just have oil and a little of the spice mixture.
3. Add the meat back into the pot, still set to More, and stir it around, until lightly browned. Squeeze lemon juice over the top and mix it in.
4. Lift the meat out of the fat when serving but save the fat for storing leftovers, if there are any. The fat preserves the meat, almost like a confit.