Taro is thought to be a native plant of South India and it was the poor man’s potato until the latter became very cheap. Growing up, when the taro plants sprouted amongst the paddy fields, we knew the summer was over, and soon school would be back in session and the rivers would be full.
The taro’s leaves grow as big as an elephant ear, and during the monsoon, it was almost scary to see these monstrous leaves. Even today, during Spring, it gives me so much pleasure to see similar leafy plants, like hosta, sprout up around here. I almost always stop to take pictures and remember the paddy fields with taro plants from my childhood!
In the South, the favorite way to cook this root is to deep fry it, but I wanted to figure out a healthy alternate. Taro roots contain toxic substances, and need to be cooked well. The IP provides excellent control while cooking taro root, and this recipe is a simple and a healthy way to cook it.
Taro Roast is a pure vegetarian and a vegan dish. You can also make this dish gluten free, if you avoid the hing. Hing in its pure form is gluten free, but many vendors add wheat flour to reduce the intensity of its flavor.
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Taro Root (cheppankizangu, colocasia) Roast
In the South, the favorite way to cook this root is to deep fry it, but I wanted to figure out a healthy alternate. Taro roots contain toxic substances, and need to be cooked well. The IP provides excellent control while cooking taro root, and this recipe is a simple and a healthy way to cook it. This is a pure vegetarian and a vegan dish. You can also make this dish gluten free, if you avoid the hing. Hing in its pure form is gluten free, but many vendors add wheat flour to reduce the intensity of its flavor.
Add 1.5 cups of water into the Inner Pot of the Instant Pot (IP). Insert a stainless-steel steamer basket. Place the taro roots in the steamer basket.
Select ‘Steam’ with vent sealed, and cook for 6 min. Once the steam cycle is done, let the IP cool down and the pressure go down naturally.
When the IP has cooled down, open the lid and wait for the taro roots to cool down for about 5 minutes.
Peel off the skin (it should come off easily) and slice the taro root into ¼” round pieces.
Pour the contents of the dry spices into a wide non-stick frying pan (put the spices in one small area of the frying pan).
Pour vegetable oil over the spices (need enough to wet the pan surface plus a little more).
Heat on medium high. When you first hear the sound of the mustard seed "popping," spread the cooked taro roots evenly across the surface of the pan. Let them fry.
Add salt. Sprinkle turmeric powder, sambar powder, and the red chili powder uniformly over the surface of the taro roots.
Periodically flip the taro roots, each time spraying with canned aerosol vegetable oil. Continue to sprinkle red chili powder and sambar powder over the surface as needed.
Keep the heat on medium high and slowly dry roast the taro roots until desired color and crispiness are achieved.
Since the taro roots absorb nearly all moisture while they cook, sprinkling water on them occasionally may help to cook the taro roots with spices uniformly.
Once done, sprinkle a few cilantro leaves on top as garnish and serve hot.
Koottu (meaning ‘adding’) is a quintessential Tamil vegetable lentil stew, and may have been named as such because vegetables are added to a lentil base. Even today, the TamBram version of this utilizes only native vegetables and spices, except for the use of red chilies. My speculation is that this dish may have been cooked with pepper at one time, and was replaced by red chilies only recently. The Palghat version is a very popular dish and is aptly named as ‘mulagoottal,’ which translates to ‘adding pepper.’
The recipe below is a mashup and I use ‘English’ vegetables, and red chilies. Taking a cue from the ‘arachu vitta koottu’ (meaning ‘blend and mix’ variety), I added a combination of pepper, coriander and fenugreek seeds to get some additional kick to this otherwise humble dish.
Traditionally it is cooked with a neutral base, meaning there is no acidic element to this. But I wanted to add a bit of sour taste by including a tiny bit of yogurt in the end to subdue the somewhat overpowering cumin. Finally, the consistency is deliberately kept on the solid side, but if you prefer this to be more liquid, then add an additional cup of water.
This is a very delicate dish, but very simple to cook. You can use cabbage, or spinach or any of the vegetables from the squash or gourds family.
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Potato and Carrot Koottu - Indian Vegetable Lentil Stew
Koottu is a quintessential Tamil vegetable lentil stew. This is a very delicate dish, but very simple to cook. The consistency is deliberately kept on the solid side, but if you prefer this to be more liquid, then add an additional cup of water. You can use cabbage, or spinach or any of the vegetables from the squash or gourds family. It is gluten free and is a vegan dish.
Dice the carrot and potato into small cubes and set them aside.
Add oil (1 tbsp or as needed) to a frying pan and heat the oil on medium heat. Add red red chilies, chana dhal and coriander seeds and fry until the chana dhal becomes somewhat brown.
Add cumin seeds, pepper, fenugreek seeds and fry them all for a few more seconds.
Turn the heat to ‘low,’ add coconut and fry the mixture by continuously stirring it so that it does not get burnt. Fry until the coconut becomes slightly off-white/brown.
Turn the stove off, and allow it to cool.
Using a blender, grind the fried spices into a fine paste, adding just enough (cold) water to achieve a paste consistency. Take extra caution not to heat it up too much during grinding.
Pour the paste into the Inner Pot of the Instant Pot (IP).
Add moong dhal, and the vegetables. Add salt.
Add about 2.0 cups of water.
Close the lid, and cook for 2 min at high pressure. Cool down naturally.
Add ¼ cup of water to the yogurt and mix it thoroughly to form a uniform liquid without any solids.
Open the IP lid when it is cool and when the pressure valve is down. Add the yogurt and mix gently but thoroughly.
Chutney is assimilated into local food traditions so much so that the very meaning of it varies depending on who you ask. For a Westerner, it may be a kind of a jam, somewhat sweet, and sometimes sour, but most definitely invented by a British Major named Grey! In reality, however, chutney is the oldest known pickling process that evolved in India some three thousand years ago. It literally means ‘finger licking’ and it is usually spicy hot, particularly in Southern India. It is served as a dip, or as a side dish. For me, having tomato chutney served with masala vada is heaven. Here is a recipe for a delicious spicy tomato chutney. It is inspired by the Andhra style of cooking and made deliberately on the spicy side. Its characteristic ‘bite’ is the result of using a large amount of onion. It is particularly well suited as a side dish for any afternoon tiffin varieties, but is also great as a dip. It is certainly finger licking good!
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Tomato Chutney
Here is a recipe for a delicious spicy tomato chutney. It is inspired by the Andhra style of cooking and cooked deliberately on the spicy side. It uses large amount of onion to give its characteristic 'bite'. It is particularly well suited as a side dish for any afternoon tiffin varieties, but also great as a dip. It is certainly finger licking good! It is gluten free and will be a vegan dish if you remove or substitute butter in this recipe.
Pour the contents of the dry spices into a wide non-stick frying pan (put the spices in one small area of the frying pan). Pour the vegetable oil over the spices (enough to soak the spices plus a little more).
Heat on medium. When you first hear the sound of the mustard seed "popping," add the diced green chilies, butter, and ginger/garlic paste into the pan. Stir until the butter melts and the chilies and garlic/ginger paste mix well together.
Add onions to the frying pan. Stir occasionally until the onions are cooked to a 'golden brown' color.
Add salt and sambar powder. Mix them well and let them cook together. Add a cup of water to the frying pan and bring to a boil.
Add the diced tomatoes to the frying pan right after the first boil. Ensure you stir periodically for uniform cooking and mixing of spices. Add a ½ cup of water.
Stir just enough until all the spices are mixed with the cooked tomato and the water is somewhat gone. It should still be a good moist paste, with well-cooked tomatoes.
Turn the stove off. Allow it cool.
Once cooled, use a blender to make a purée with a good thick consistency. If water is needed, add minimally.
It is said that if you can cook a good Biryani, you can be a chef at the Nawab’s kitchen! Indeed, it is not for the fainthearted! In my opinion, the ultimate culinary experience is to cook, to smell, and to eat a well-prepared Biryani. Of course, they are not all made equal; the ‘Hyderabadi Dum Biryani’ has always been the uncontested champion of Biryanis. When you cook your Biryani with saffron (without artificial colors), you are preparing a royal food served only in the finest palaces of India! Here is an authentic recipe for Hydrabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani using the Instant Pot. IP is perfect to prepare the dum part, which is the best part of this style of Biryani. It seamlessly infuses the blend of spices and their aromas by slow cooking the rice in near ideal pressure conditions. It is going to take time to prepare this dish right, so do not over commit to prepare too many other dishes. Remember that this dish is designed to be a complete meal, thus many side dishes really are not needed anyway. Simply make a kurma, or raitha or both. Enjoy cooking this meal and Bon Appétit!
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Hyderabadi Vegetable Dhum Biryani
It is said that if you can cook a good Biryani, you can be a chef at the Nawab’s kitchen! Indeed, it is not for the fainthearted! In my opinion, the ultimate culinary experience is to cook, to smell, and to eat a well-prepared Biryani. This is a vegetarian meal and gluten free.
Rinse the rice thoroughly and soak it for at least an hour.
Add a few strands of saffron to a small amount of warm milk and set it aside.
On a non-stick frying pan, add oil and set the stove to med-high. Add 3 cardamom (only the small inner black seeds, and not the pods) to the oil.
Add 3 cloves, 3 small pieces of cinnamon stick, 1 tbsp of cumin seeds and fry until they are lightly brown.
Add green chilies, ginger and garlic and fry them all together for a few seconds.
Add onions and fry them until they become soft. Add salt and butter.
Add all Masala powders. Reduce the heat, then add ½ cup of yogurt, half of the diced mint and half of the diced coriander leaves. (Cooling it down when adding the yogurt ensures that it does not separate.)
Add all the vegetables (carrot, cauliflower, potatoes, and green peas). Adjust heat if needed. Slowly turn them over without making the vegetables fall apart. Cook until the potatoes just become soft. Be careful not to overcook the potatoes - if they overcook, then they will become mushy later in the process.
Ideally at this stage, you should have the vegetables cooked half way through and they are soaked in a thick gravy that is cooked as well. This is the most difficult and important part of the dum recipe for good consistency.
If the curry mix is very dry and all the moisture evaporated, add about 1/2 cup of liquid (puree) yogurt after it has cooled down. Mix gently. Add some fried onion (optional) and set aside.
In a separate large vessel, add 1 tbsp of cumin seed, and 1 tsp of oil. Add 6 cups of water.
In a tea ball, put in 3 cloves, 3 cardamom, 3 cinnamon sticks and a few bay leaves and close it with the lid. Drop the tea ball in the water. Heat the water and bring to a rolling boil. Keep it boiling for a few minutes.
Add the rice. Wait for 3-5 (maximum five) minutes. Do not cook the rice completely (just half way through). The test is that if you take a rice grain, and press it with your fingers, it should break into two halves.
Take the rice out of the container. Strain the rice, and spread it on a on a large plate for it to become dry for a few minutes. Make sure you save at least one cup of this water.
In the inner pot of the Instant Pot (IP), spread a layer of the cooked vegetable gravy mixture (from step #11) evenly at the bottom. Use as much as half of the cooked vegetables and the leave the other half for later. The trick here is to add the liquid part of the vegetable gravy to the bottom. You want more liquid in this layer than the later layers.
Add a layer of the half cooked rice slowly until the vegetable gravy base is covered with rice. Spread the rice uniformly over the cooked base. If the rice is cool enough, use your hand to sprinkle it on. If the rice is very hot, gently spread the rice using a spoon.
To this layer, sprinkle a uniform layer of coriander and mint leaves to cover the rice. Use as much as you like, but if you are not a fan of mint or coriander leaves, you can skip this step as well. Also sprinkle the fried onion (optional) onto this layer.
Note: Do not fill in layers beyond the 4L mark. Remember, rice will still expand a bit.
Repeat the above three steps, i.e., building a layer of vegetable base, then rice and then finally a layer of mint and coriander. Continue to build these layers until all rice and the base are used up. Ensure that the top/final layer is rice.
Sprinkle ½ cup of water over the top layer, preferably the leftover water from the rice preparation step (from step #15). Also, remember the rice and vegetables are only half cooked, so you need some amount of moisture in the pot. For 2.5 cups of rice, you need a total of about one cup of moisture for the rice to cook in.
Sprinkle the saffron milk on the top layer. Add some additional yellow coloring, if needed. Sprinkle some long cut onions and chilies over the top layer.
Close the lid. Close the valve to the 'sealing position' and set to 'slow cook on high' for 30 minutes. This the dum part. The IP may not build enough pressure for the 'floating valve' to pressure position. That is okay.
After 30 minutes, open the lid. Biryani should be done, check the vegetables and the rice. Taste some from the bottom layers. If the rice is not done, add additional minutes.
Mix the rice and serve. Some folks like to serve it without mixing, but I like to mix. Garnish it with onions, green chilies, and cilantro.
Of course, a dish as popular as Sambar must have a real tall tale to showcase its mighty origin! One day, Sambaji (none other than the son of the great Maratha warrior Sivaji), who also happens to be a great cook, finds himself without his favorite ingredients in his cousin’s kingly court kitchen in Tanjore. He magically creates this world-famous dish with local ingredients and aptly names it after himself – Sambar! Whether you relegate this to the great storytelling ability of our people or assign it to historians for further research, it is in general agreed, that the origin of this dish must have been from a modest Tanjore Brahmin’s kitchen and has since spread across South India over time. In doing so, it has incorporated elements of local cuisine, such as adding coconut in Kerala or even jaggery in Karnataka. But the real credit goes to the Udupi hoteliers who popularized their version of Sambar, which is sometimes referred to as ‘Hotel Sambar.’ It is this version that has ‘traveled the world and seven seas’ to become ubiquitous in all Madrasi restaurants and kitchens alike.
Sambar – The Spicy Soul
When my mother heard that I am going abroad for my studies, she immediately made sure that I learned to cook Sambar, and she sent me off with a packet of Sambar powder. Ever since then, I have been evolving my Sambar recipe. Now it contains all the key elements of all the Sambar recipes that I have come across. Try it for yourself…I think you’ll really enjoy it!
It is a pure vegetarian dish and almost a vegan one but for the butter in it. You can also make this dish gluten free, if you avoid the hing. Hing in its pure form is gluten free, but many vendors add wheat flour to reduce the intensity of its flavor.
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Sambar (Vegetable lentil stew)
It is a pure vegetarian dish and almost a vegan one but for the butter in it. You can also make this dish gluten free, if you avoid the hing. Hing in its pure form is gluten free, but many vendors add wheat flour to reduce the intensity of its flavor.
Pour the contents (except the curry leaves) of the dry spices into the Instant Pot Inner Pot (put the spices in one small area of the pan).
Pour the vegetable oil over the spices (just enough to soak the spices plus a little more).
Plug in the Instant Pot, press ‘sauté’ and ‘adjust’ to ensure the digital display is on ‘more.’ This is the high setting for sauté.
When you first hear the sound of the mustard seed "popping," pour the diced green chilies, butter, and ginger/garlic paste into the pan. Add the curry leaves. Stir until the butter melts and chilies and garlic/ginger paste mixes well together.
Adjust the ‘sauté’ temperature down if needed. Sauté for another 1 min.
Add onions to pan. Stir occasionally until the onions are soft, just until they are translucent.
Add salt, sambar powder, and tomatoes. Add 1 cup of water to the pan, mix them well and let them cook together. Ensure you stir periodically for uniform cooking and mixing of spices (just fold it over using a spatula). Bring it to a boil. Adjust the sauté temperature as needed.
Turn off the Instant Pot
Add (1 cup) Dhal to the Inner Pot, add (6 cups of) water
On manual, under high pressure, with vent sealed, cook for 20 min. Let it cool down naturally.
In a bowl, add the tamarind, and add a cup of water and microwave for 2 minutes. Once cool, make a puree by squeezing. Remove all pulp. Dilute the tamarind, if needed, for the right consistency and keep 1 cup of tamarind juice aside.
Add all the ingredients (except the coconut) for the paste to a small frying pan and add 2 tsp of oil. Fry them on medium heat until the lentils become slightly brown.
Grind the fried spices into a fine paste using a grinder and by adding enough water to achieve a paste consistency.
Open the grinder, add the coconut and grind them together for a few seconds. Set aside the paste.
In a small frying pan, add a bit of oil, some salt and gently sauté the cut vegetable until it is about half cooked. Add a small amount of water if necessary.
Add the tamarind juice, and the ground paste to the pan and cook them all together until they come to a boil. Turn off the stove after it has reached a boil.
Once the IP has cooled down, make sure there is no pressure in the cooker and that the (pressure) pin is down. Open the Cooker lid -- be careful, as the dhal will be extremely hot.
Add the cooked ingredients to the inner pot. Add water, if needed, for consistency. Set the IP for ‘slow cook’ high for 30 minutes. Close the lid, with the vent open.
Once done, taste and add salt if necessary. Add Jaggery (optional), if preferred.
Add in fresh cilantro for garnish. Serve hot over rice.
This dish was developed purely out of necessity as a utilitarian dish in our villages when they had plenty of milk and yogurt without much of a distribution or refrigeration system. Typically, when yogurt was getting old, they needed to utilize it rather urgently. The result was a superb, and yet a simple dish. By design, they used only sour yogurt that gave the dish its characteristic taste and its lingering tang. However, the biggest problem is that when the yogurt is heated, it curdles and separates as the denatured milk protein starts to separate from the liquid (whey). This can be prevented using a combination of slow (low heat) cooking, a high fat yogurt, and by adding some starch. The Instant Pot (IP) is fantastic for low heat cooking and this recipe is guaranteed to keep the yogurt intact!
Wash and soak the ingredients for grinding (without the coconut) for at least an hour. Grind them into a paste and add the shredded coconut and grind them all together for a few more seconds. Set the paste aside.
Plug in the IP, press ‘sauté’ and ‘adjust’ to change the digital display to ‘more.’ This is the high setting for sauté.
Pour the contents (except the curry leaves) of the dry spices into the IP Inner Pot (put the spices in one small area of the pan). Pour the vegetable oil over the spices (just enough to soak the spices plus a little more).
When you first hear the sound of the mustard seed "popping," add the curry leaves. Add the cut chayote into the inner pot, add salt and add ¼ cup of water to moisten the mixture. Cook the vegetable until it is partially cooked (until it is just starting to get soft) and press ‘cancel’ to shut down the heating. Turn on the IP to ‘slow cooking’ high and set the time for 30 minutes.
Add the paste and three cups of water and mix them well with the other contents of the pot. Finally, add the yogurt and gently stir all of the contents well once. Close the IP and ensure the steam release to the venting position. Periodically check to see if the chayote is cooking well.
Once the time runs out, press ‘cancel’ and unplug the IP.
This is one of my favorite ways to make Dhal. It is very simple to make in the IP and has served as a complete meal on way too many occasions. This dish also happens to be the very first one that I really mastered. It’s inspired by the ever so popular Andhra Tomato Pappu. Over the years, this has become my go-to comfort food, and I often crave for this Dhal on rice along with a few (or more) fresh potato chips. Sometimes life’s “most simple things can bring the most happiness.”
It is a pure vegetarian dish and almost a vegan one but for the butter in it. You can also make this dish gluten free, if you avoid the hing. Hing in its pure form is gluten free, but many vendors add wheat flour to reduce the intensity of its flavor.
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Andhra Tomato Pappu (Lentil Soup)
It is a pure vegetarian dish and almost a vegan one but for the butter in it. You can also make this dish gluten free, if you avoid the hing. Hing in its pure form is gluten free, but many vendors add wheat flour to reduce the intensity of its flavor.
Pour the contents (except the curry leaves) of the dry spices into the Instant Pot Inner Pot (put the spices in one small area of the pan).
Pour the vegetable oil over the spices (just enough to soak the spices plus a little more).
Plug in the Instant Pot, press ‘sauté’ and ‘adjust’ to ensure the digital display is on ‘more.’ This is the high setting for sauté.
When you first hear the sound of the mustard seed "popping," pour the diced green chilies, butter, and ginger/garlic paste into the pan. Add the curry leaves. Stir until the butter melts and chilies and garlic/ginger paste mixes well together.
Adjust the ‘sauté’ temperature down if needed. Sauté for another 1 min.
Add onions to pan. Stir occasionally until the onions are soft, just until they are translucent.
Add salt, sambar powder, turmeric powder, and tomatoes. Add 1 cup of water to the pan, mix them well and let them cook together. Ensure you stir periodically for uniform cooking and mixing of spices (just fold it over using a spatula). Bring it to a boil. Adjust the sauté temperature as needed.
Turn off the Instant Pot
Add (1 cup) Dhal to the Inner Pot, add (4.5 to 6 cups of) water. Adjust water based on the consistency you are looking for.
On manual, under high pressure, with vent sealed, cook for 20 min. Let it cool down naturally.
Once the IP has cooled down, make sure there is no pressure in the cooker and that the (pressure) pin is down. Open the Cooker lid -- be careful, as the dhal will be extremely hot.
Add in fresh cilantro for garnish. Serve hot over rice.
This recipe is for making rice in an Instant Pot. The ratio of rice to water is given for Jasmine Rice. Water amount changes and it depends on the type of rice used.
