Welcome to the biggest flavors in this book. Some of these recipes are not for the faint-hearted (or the third-grade set). From a road map for tagine-style suppers to an aromatic, irresistible chana dal, these dishes bring out the best of what the Instant Pot can do: preserve internal moisture in just about everything, mellow the flavors of dried spices, and save you time (and money) with tasty cuts and root vegetables.
Since curry is such a wide designation, you’ll even find soups and noodle dishes here, recipes you might have expected in other chapters. For more about the specifics of curry and curry powder, see the FAQs below. But before the recipes, it’s important to point out that most curry calls for cooked rice. So we should bend the discussion that way first.
Simply put, rice is not just rice. Even long-grain white rice is not just long-grain white rice. Some varietals have a delicate fragrance, a tantalizing blend of sweet and herbaceous flavors; others offer nothing more than a dull, flat, starchy ho-hum. It’s tempting to say that you get what you pay for, but that’s not always the case. Unfortunately, a taste test among brands is the only sure way to know. But for a shot at the best, look for plump grains, white or brown, either beautifully polished to a pearly luster or evenly brown across the batch.
Because of its intact germ and bran, brown rice can go bad relatively quickly; it will last maybe 4 months or a little longer if stored in a dark, cool pantry—or up to a year in a sealed container in the freezer. Raw, the rice should not smell musky or funky.
Rice grains come in various lengths. For our recipes, we’ve gone with the standard, North American three: short (almost never used in this book), medium (used a bit more often, if not much in this chapter), and long (the most common type throughout this chapter and the book as a whole). When it comes to long-grain rice, we prefer white or brown basmati or Texmati, simply because these are less floral than jasmine rice.
Medium-grain rice, most often found in North America as the varietal Arborio, has a stickier consistency. And short-grain rice, sometimes called “sushi rice,” can be quite gummy. Either medium- or short-grain rice works well as a base for the soupy curries in this chapter, particularly those based on recipes from Thailand and Southeast Asia.
If you want to cook rice in the Instant Pot, be careful. The Rice function is calibrated differently among the models. Some will not automatically accommodate for brown rice; you must set the cook time manually. Read your pot’s instruction manual. It (or the included recipe booklet) offers specific instructions on how to make plain rice in your model.
Curry is the English version of a Tamil word that means “sauce.” Curry powder is the blend of spices that flavor said sauce, which has either been rendered from the natural juices of meats and vegetables or created from ingredients like broth or coconut milk.
When most Americans think of curry powder, they think of a yellow, dried-spice blend. Where applicable, we call for it. Sometimes, in the Beyond section of a recipe, we even offer a specific blend you can concoct if you want to go all out. But with the advent of gourmet supermarkets and the growing food culture in North America, gone are the days when “yellow curry powder” meant just one thing. It and all other sorts of curry powders are now available in an almost overwhelming range of quality and flavor among proprietary blends. Some taste of nothing but acrid, low-grade turmeric; others offer an array of dried spices (and therefore a more complex flavor). In higher-end spice stores, you can even sample the offerings. If you search around at specialty spice stores or East Indian markets (even online), you’ll be astounded at what’s available.
Of course! Beyond any special blends we recommend in the recipes themselves, here’s how to make a basic batch: Start with 1 tablespoon each of at least three, if not all four, of these spices: ground coriander, ground cumin, ground dried turmeric, and/or ground dried ginger. Add 1 teaspoon table salt and up to 1 teaspoon ground dried cayenne. Then add at least two but preferably three or four of the following: 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried sage, ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek, ¼ teaspoon ground mace, and/or ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. You’ll be the envy of your block.
Sometimes, but not always. Check the label if you have health concerns or don’t like a salty dish. If salt is among the ingredients, and particularly if it’s near the top of the list, consider omitting any additional salt in the recipe and passing extra at the table.
By all means! There are red curry powders (usually quite fiery) as well as specialty, regional blends—not only from India, but also from Great Britain, South Africa, and the Caribbean. In truth, there are probably as many curry powders used in Indian and Southeast Asian cooking as there are people in those regions standing at a stove right now. Don’t get hung up on authenticity. Experiment, check out other bottlings, see what you like, and keep your experience in the kitchen fresh and exciting.
First off, it’s a Hindi or Punjabi term that means “hot spice blend.” The “hot” doesn’t refer to its being spicy but to the way the spices are said to raise the body’s internal temperature. In the same way, we might say “warming spices” for blends with, say, cinnamon and nutmeg: cozy flavors that are often associated with colder weather.
As with yellow curry powder, there’s a wide range of quality and flavor among garam masalas on the market. You can also create your own. Over the years, we’ve come up with some blends that match various proteins. We’re giving you house secrets here. Use them wisely. Each will make about 2 tablespoons of garam masala.
• For lamb and beef, mix together 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground dried turmeric, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, and up to ¼ teaspoon ground dried cayenne.
• For pork, chicken, veal, or tofu, mix together 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon mild paprika, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, and up to ¼ teaspoon ground dried cayenne.
• For fish and shellfish, mix together 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground dried turmeric, 1 teaspoon mild paprika, ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek, ½ teaspoon ground dried ginger, ½ teaspoon ground dried mustard, ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg, and up to ¼ teaspoon saffron threads.
It’s a wet blend of dried spices, fresh chiles, fresh aromatics, and oil or ghee. The basics are red, yellow, and green curry pastes, available in small jars, cans, or plastic tubs in the Asian or East Indian aisle of almost all supermarkets. Once opened, the packages can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for at least 4 months, maybe longer.
Red curry paste has a complex, bright flavor and is usually the hottest, although it can have plenty of sweet notes. Yellow curry paste is usually milder and more herbaceous than red (and sometimes milder than green). Green chile paste has sour notes and a fresh flavor, often from lemongrass. Some green chile pastes are absurdly hot since they’re made from what seems like a metric ton of pulverized fresh green chiles.
But there are more blends than those three which you can use in these recipes. Massaman curry paste is heavy with warming spices (like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg) and is generally the mildest of the pastes. Penang curry paste is a fiery red mix, heavy with lemongrass and makrut lime leaves, guaranteed to knock your tongue for a loop. Sour vegetable curry paste is just what it sounds like: a sour, musty mélange missing coconut (which is in many of the others) but made with fermented shrimp paste (and therefore stinky, although it mellows over the heat).
No matter which of these you use, read the labels. If the first ingredient listed is chiles or cayenne, you’ve got a banging-hot version in hand. If you’re worried, use half the stated amount of curry paste the first time you make a dish. But remember: You can’t add more curry paste as a garnish. It’ll be too pungent, too “raw.” Instead, use a hot red pepper sauce like Sriracha for heat at the table.
It’s clarified butter—that is, butter with the milk solids removed. Whenever you melt butter, you’ve surely noticed those white blotchy bits at the bottom of the liquid fat. Take those out and essentially you’ve got ghee.
To make your own, put a cut-up stick of butter in a shallow bowl (a soup plate works best) and microwave on high in 10-second increments until melted, then cool for 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature to let the milk solids settle to the bottom. Skim the clear, oily fat off the top, leaving the solids (and inevitably some of the oil) behind. Store the clarified butter (the ghee) in a covered small glass jar in the fridge for a month or two. It will solidify again but you can scrape out what you need. Discard the solids and the small amount of oil with them—or save them for a few days in the fridge to add with the thickener to custards (particularly ice cream custards) for extra richness.
And one final note: Watch out if you buy ghee. Some brands are quite literally nothing more than butter-flavored shortening. Others are the real deal: clarified butter. Spring for the real deal.
Basically, these are split and processed chickpeas. (They are not yellow lentils, nor actually lentils of any sort.) The chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) are of a specific variety that are then dried and cut into pieces about the size of corn kernels. They cook quickly with a grainy texture and an earthy flavor. You cannot substitute other sorts of lentils or “dal” (split pulses or legumes) for chana dal. Look for it in bags in the aisle near the whole grains.