Boiled Eggs in an Instant Pot - Easy to Peel!

Boiled Eggs you say? The easiest thing in the world and why write a post about it? But here is the problem, whenever eggs are cooked in a sauce pan, the peeling of the eggs are a pain. I bet most of you have had this problem. Cook for 8 minutes exactly, cook and then pour cold water, immerse in the ice bath, none of them instructions worked. I mean the eggs were cooked alright but when I peel them, half the cooked egg ended up in the compost pile. I could never peel them without nicks and bruises!

DD2 loves boiled eggs and while that is the easiest thing to do but... I have also heard that fresh eggs have problems while peeling the shells but we have chickens which means fresh eggs are all we've got :)

Anyway this is until I started using the Instant Pot. It took a while to start using the Instant Pot for boiling eggs but once I started and figured it was perhaps the easiest method to deal with those pesky egg shells.

If you do not have an Instant a pressure cooker works just fine, cook for one whistle.

Take the eggs in an Instant Pot and set it to either Egg setting (5 minutes) or Manual 8 minutes depending on if you want soft or hard boiled eggs.
Once cooked cool the eggs by adding cold water.
Peel the eggs as easy as peeling a clementine :)
Peel the eggs as easy as peeling a clementine :)

See how easy that was?

Boiled Eggs in an Instant Pot
Cooking Time: 8 minutes
How to do it?

1. Take the eggs in the Instant Pot with enough water.
2. Turn on the Egg setting which is 5 minutes for soft boiled eggs and Manual 8 minutes for hard boiled eggs. Turn off when done.
3. Let the pressure release normally.
4. Add some cold water to the pot and once the eggs are warm to the touch you can start peeling the eggs.

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Channa Masala (for Batura)

Chole and Batura has a special place in my heart, this was the first proper Indian meal I ate after coming here to the US. In the US today there is no shortage of Indian food, be it North or South Indian even specialized food like Chettinad, Karaikudi cuisine etc., but when I first got here there was an occasional Indian restaurant in our nearest 50 mile radius and most Americans had never heard of curry. It was exotic food from the land of yogis :)

So when I got here not knowing how to cook, about the 3rd or 4th day when DH suggested we go for out for Chinese and I was excited. With dreams of the Chinese food I knew I was disappointed obviously, this was Chinese food in America not the Indo Chinese back home. No American chop suey in a Chinese restaurant in America and I might have shed a tear or two. It was all very confusing and not very tasty :) Then the next restaurant we tried was Indian obviously. We went into this Indian Restaurant and the first thing that jumped out at me was Channa Batura and I remember it was the best ever. I have been trying to perfect and recreate the taste ever since. On our subsequent visits to this restaurant the Channa and Batura never tasted as good! But of course right?



So here is an easy recipe for a creamy gravy that is perfect for mopping with the batura and it is pretty easy to make. I do not make a paste of the raw onions instead I boil them along with the garlic, ginger and green chilies and then make a paste of it. This makes it easy to cook and does not take as long as the raw onions paste. I also used amla powder instead of cooking the chickpeas with tea bags. I had only loose tea and no tea bags and that was a good thing because the amla powder gave the mild sourness to the gravy.

Recipe in pictures,

Cook the chick peas in an Instant Pot. Add the cut the onions, garlic, ginger and chilies in a sauce with a bit of water.
Once the boiled onions are cooled blend it to a smooth paste.
In a wide mouthed pan, heat oil, season with cumin seeds. Add in the blended onion paste and saute for 6-8 minutes or till you see the oil separating. Add in the spice powders.
Add in the tomato puree, mix and cook for about 8-10.
Add the cooked chickpeas and half way through the cooking process add the coriander leaves and turn of the heat.

Serve with baturas for best taste.

Channa Masala
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Soaking Time: Overnight
Ingredients

1. 2 cups of dried chickpeas
2. 1 1/2 cups of chopped red onions
3. 4 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
4. 1 inch piece of ginger chopped
5. 4-5 red chilies chopped (I used the fresh ones not dried)
6. 1 cup tomato puree
7. 1/2 tbsp of amla powder
8. 1/2 tbsp coriander powder
9. 1-2 tsp of red chili powder if required
10. 2 tsp of turmeric powder
11. salt to taste
12. seasonings: cumin seeds
13. handful of fresh coriander leaves
14. 1/2 tbsp oil

Method

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water. Discard the soaking water and wash the chickpeas. Now cook the chickpeas with twice the amount of water and turmeric powder in the Instant Pot for 25 minutes. If it is not soaked cook for 45 minutes.
2. In a sauce pan add the onions, chilies, garlic and ginger and about 1/4 cup of water and cook for about 6-8 minutes. Turn off the heat. When cooled blend to a smooth paste.
3. In a wide mouthed pan heat oil, add cumin seeds followed by the blended onion paste.
4. Sauté the paste till the oil starts to seep out for about 8-10 minutes or so.
5. Add the amla powder, coriander, chili powder and give it a mix. Now add the tomato puree and let it cook for another 8-10 minutes or so till the oil separates.
6. Add in the cooked chickpeas with salt with either all of the water or how much you want and continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes. Half way through the cooking add the coriander leaves. Turn off the heat.

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Instant Pot Black Beans - Chipotle Style

I love beans, I always have, not the white chick peas which I got to know better after coming here to the US but kidney beans, black chick peas, field beans, cow peas and others which were common in TamilNadu.

Black Beans is also one that was introduced to me by Chipotle when I purchased a burrito bowl. The slightly tougher texture makes it easy to cook and also perfect in salads. We make burrito bowls often with various combinations of proteins, grilled or roasted vegetables and different kinds of grains. It is always accompanied by Black Beans cooked the Chipotle way slightly watery but the beans still maintaining their shape for the most part. With the advent of the Instant Pot cooking this beans is pretty easy. You don't have to plan a burrito bowl to enjoy a bowl of this delicious beans.



Without an Instant Pot these beans can just as easily be cooked with a pressure cooker.

To the Instant Pot add the black beans, enough water, onions, ginger, garlic, green chilies and put in manual mode and cook for 10 minutes.
Once cooked let the steam subside naturally and open the Instant Pot.
Put the Instant Pot in saute mode and add the spices and coriander leaves. Cook till desired consistency is reached.
Unplug when done.

The beans is an accompaniment for a burrito bowl or for enjoying as is in a bowl.

Instant Pot Black Beans - Chipotle Style
Soaking Time: Overnight
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 - 15 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 cups of Black Beans soaked overnight (if required a handful of Red Kidney Beans)
2. 1/2 cup of chopped onions
3. 2-3 garlic cloves chopped
4. 2-3 green chilies, seeds removed and chopped fine
5. 1 tbsp ginger grated
6. 1 tsp cumin powder
7. 2 tsp of red chili powder
8. salt to taste
9. handful of coriander leaves

Method

1. Wash the soaked black beans in several changes of water.
2. Add the black beans, onions, garlic, ginger, green chilies, along with 4 cups of water (more if you want the beans to be watery).
3. Put the Instant Pot in manual mode and 10 minutes cooking time *.
4. Once the cooking time finishes and it goes to warming mode, leave it till the pressure releases naturally.
5. Now open the Instant Pot and put it in saute mode -normal setting. Once the read out flashes Hot, add in the spice powders, salt and coriander leaves and cook for about 5-6 minutes or till the desired consistency is reached.
   
6. Unplug the Instant Pot and the beans is ready to be served.


7. Note:If using dried beans directly follow the time recommended in the Instant Pot booklet.

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Samai Ven Pongal - Millet and Lentils Savory Rice - In an Instant Pot

Pongal is by far one of my favorite festivals. If you have connections to a farming community that is how it will always be if you still live in India or not. I am lucky this time I will be home for the Pongal holidays. Pongal is the harvest festival celebrated in the Tamil month of Thai.

Wish you all a Very Happy Pongal!

Pongal is made to pay respects to the Sun God or called Surya Pongal and for the celebration of the cattle in the farm called Mattu Pongal. The 4 day long Pongal festival has Surya Pongal on the 2nd and the Mattu Pongal on the 3rd days.

Usually Pongal is made with freshly harvested rice but here we will add a twist and make Pongal with millets which is also a very important staple grown in the arid parts where there is scarcity of water. Renewed interest in millets is helping farmers in the drier parts of the states of Tamilnadu, AndhraPradesh, Karnataka and Telegana and leading to bio diversity of food crops. Water hungry crops like wheat and rice and the popularity of rice over traditional millets also put a big burden on farmers living in the arid regions of these states and not able to make a living. So it is fantastic that millets are making a comeback as a health food which goes a great way in adding diversity to the foods that are being eaten.

Millets are considered the poor man's food which in a status conscious society like India probably lead to its loss of popularity. Now that the rich man's diet has lead to suffering from diseases everyone is taking a more positive look at millets as a way to improve health and also awareness for sustainably grown cereals increases. While 2018 was declared as the 'Year of the Millets' let us hope that millets will continue to be patronized by a lot more people.

We all know that white rice is nutritionally unable to compete with millets and also adding a diversity of grains and cereals to the diet should be as important as watching calories. We try to use white, red and brown rice in our diets but millets surprisingly compete equally in taste in our house and much better liked than rice. While sourcing millets is hard because of the non availability in food stores in the US we manage to use it by carrying it with us whenever we can.

They are fantastic to be eaten with a lot of curries and in making popular rice based dishes like ven pongal. The slightly off color of the millets is because it is not polished. Samai/Samao or little millet is almost white in color but if it is not polished it looks slightly browner in color.

Using an Instant Pot or Pressure cooker we can make soft and delicious ven pongal in no time. The Pressure cooker version of this recipe is here. The sweet millet Pongal should also be enjoyed this Pongal season.



Ven Pongal can be served with coconut chutney or pulikuzhambu.

Set the Instant Pot in Saute mode and Normal setting.
Add ghee and when hot add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
Add the required amount of water and add the millet, moong dal and salt.
Close the lid and in Manual mode set 12 minutes. In a small pan heat ghee and roast the cashews.
Let the pressure subside by itself, when it flashes L followed by a number it is in the warming cycle. Let the pressure subside normally and open the Instant Pot.
Add the cashews and mix it in.

Serve with some puli kuzhambu.

Saamai Ven Pongal - Millet and Lentils Savory Rice
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 cup of Saami or Little Millet (any millet can be used)
2. 1/2 cup of split yellow moong dal or paasi paruppu
3. 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger grated
4. 4-5 green chilies finely chopped
5. 1/2 tbsp of freshly ground pepper powder
6. 1/4 cup of cashews (optional, skip for nut free)
7. 1 tbsp + 1 tsp of ghee (replace with any oil of choice)
8. salt to taste
9. seasonings: cumin seeds, curry leaves and mustard seeds

Method

1. Wash the millets in several changes of water and set aside. Each cup of millet requires 3 1/2 cups of water for the creamy texture.
2. Put the Instant Pot in 'Saute' mode and adjust settings to 'Normal'. When the Instant Pot flashes Hot add in the ghee.
3. Add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds, when you hear the mustard pop add the curry leaves, ginger and green chilies, saute for 30 seconds and add in the pepper powder followed by the required amount of water for the millet to cook.
4. Now add the rinsed out millet and salt and close the Instant Pot and put it Manual setting for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes you can turn off the Instant Pot or leave it on in the warming setting till the pressure releases naturally.
5. While the millet is cooking, heat a small pan with the tsp of ghee and roast the cashews till they are golden brown and set aside.
6. Once the releases naturally open the Instant Pot, add in the roasted cashews mix and serve.

Ven Pongal can be served with some coconut chutney or tamarind based kuzhambu.

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