Indian Instant Pot(R) Cookbook: Traditional Indian Dishes Made Easy and Fast

This is my 22nd Instant Pot cookbook (total count across both hardcopy and kindle). So to say I’ve laid eyes upon a few IP cookbooks it a bit of an understatement. Twenty-Two is certainly more than “a few”. I devoured Chapters 1 and 2 of the Kindle version of this “Indian Instant Pot Cookbook: Traditional Indian Dishes Made Easy and Fast” within hours of it being electronically delivered. And I am eagerly awaiting the hardcopy version to arrive next week! Within just the first Chapter there is more useful and detailed -- yet easy to understand -- Instant Pot specific information than any other IP cookbook that I own. The table of contents for this book hides the true value hidden in just Chapter 1 by not listing its subsections (I’ve done so for you below!). It is rich with helpful information some of which I’ve seen before, some which I haven't -- but what I have seen is spread out across multiple cookbooks and IP websites. Never before have I see so much useful IP information assembled all in one place in such a clean, straightforward, easy-to-follow manner. More importantly: Chapter 1 addresses the “elephant in the room” of the Instant Pot world. And that is the fact that the IP needs time to reach pressure, and it needs time to release pressure. Not only is this mentioned more than once -- it is accounted for in the recipes! Nowhere else have I _ever_ seen an IP cookbook or recipe website address this problem! For example, the Onion Masala recipe: “Prep Time: 10 minutes; Saute: 10 minutes; Manual High Pressure: 15 minutes; Total 60 minutes”. ANY other cookbook would list this as “Prep: 20 minutes; Cook: 15 minutes; Total: 35 minutes”. But not THIS cookbook. THIS cookbook is the first one I’ve seen to actually acknowledge reality for cooking with an Instant Pot. So right out of the gate, by the end of Chapter 1 -- the $6.99 full priced Kindle version has more than paid for itself in the value and richness of information provided. The remaining chapters of recipes are just icing on the cake! (Pure, rich, truthful, gonna-be-so-yummy icing + cake.) One of the earlier reviewers stated that many of the recipes included in this cookbook are already available on the author’s website -- as if that was a bad thing. So what if the cookbook came second and the website came first? If it were the other-way-around (cookbook first, then website) the author would likely be praised for providing such a rich supply of free “supplemental materials” to her recipes. Knowing that that I can go to the website and get detailed photos and descriptions, and then come to the cookbook to get just the bare-basic recipe details -- in a nice printed and bound cookbook, instead of a binder of loose-leaf printouts! -- that is a positive for me, and not at all a negative. Cookbooks are just that most of the time: bare-basic recipe details, where we’re lucky to get a few photos here or there, and almost never get a large-format good-quality photo to go with every recipe. (And when we do get those photos, the cookbook is usually hard-cover, costs and arm and a leg, and is better suited as a coffee table book than as a kitchen resource!) The fact that I go to the website and verify -- for free -- via individual recipe photos that yes, indeed, I am on the right track is a huge plus for me. (Because I am seriously a complete hot-mess in the kitchen. I need all the help I can get. The author's website is going to be an awesome supplement to her cookbook!) Not only am I a hot mess at trying to cook, I pretty much just flat-out hate cooking -- or at least I did until I got my first Instant Pot. Now I don’t hate cooking quite as much (but I am still pretty terrible at it). What I’ve managed to read in this cookbook so far has given me a new-found enthusiasm for trying things outside the usual mac & cheese, pot roast, chili, and chicken pasta. The recipes I’ve managed to read through so far are all clearly written in simple easy-to-understand steps; the ingredients are all things I’ve heard of, that I can pronounce, and that I know where to find in my regular grocery store. AND, as explained in Chapter 1, almost all of them are start-to-finish in less than an hour total -- with that "total time" being the actual truth that includes come-to-pressure and release-pressure time. Seriously, what’s _not_ to love here? If you like Indian food, you’re going to more than earn back your investment in this cookbook with the first few things you make from it (instead of getting them at an Indian restaurant). My only problem now is which ones to start with. (I’ll come back in a few weeks after I’ve made a bunch, and update this review with a progress report.) Here’s the full table of contents of everything you get with this cookbook (with some additions from me of section headers not included in the table of contents -- but should have been, in my opinion). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction Chapter 1 : Indian Food, Easy & Fast * The Pressure Cooking Tradition (in Indian Cooking) * Instant (Pot) Love * Rethinking the “Instant” in Instant Pot * The Indian Pantry * * Spices * * Dals & Beans * * Herbs * * Packages, Bottles, Cans * Instant Pot Terminology * Essential Equipment * Frequently Asked Questions * Pressure Cooking at High Altitude Chapter 2 : Kitchen Staples * Garam Masala * Punjabi Garam Masala * Goda Masala * Onion Masala * Ghee * Ginger-Garlic Paste * Paneer * Greek Yogurt * Meyer Lemon Chutney * Coconut Green Chutney * Mango Chutney Chapter 3 : Rice, Dals & Beans * Basmati Pilau * Masale Bhat (Marathi Spiced Rice) * Khichadi (Rice with Lentils) * Dal Fry (Lentils with Fried Onions) * Dal Makhani (Creamy Lentils) * Langar Ki Dal (Creamy Mixed Lentils) * Chana Masala * Chana Salaad (Chickpea Salad) * Punjabi Lobia (Black-Eyed Peas with Spinach) * Matki Chi Ussal (Spiced Sprouted Beans) * Punjabi Rajma (Red Kidney Beans) Chapter 4 : Vegetables & Vegetarian * Aloo Gobi (Potatoes and Cauliflower) * Aloo Jeera (Cumin-Spiced Potatoes) * Beet Koshimbir (Beetroot Salad) * Buhdh Gobi Mutter (Cabbage and Peas) * Baingan Bharta (Eggpland with Onions) * Coconut-Tomato Soup * Marathi Kadhi (Tango Yogurt Soup) * Marathi Rassa (Mixed Vegetables with Coconut) * Sindhi Sai Bhaji (Sindhi-Style Mixed Vegetables) * Paneer Biryani * Palak Paneer Chapter 5 : Fish, Chicken & Meat * Patra Ni Macchi (Fish with Green Chutney) * Jhinga Nariyl Wala (Shrimp Coconut Curry) * Chicken Biryani * Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken) * Punjabi Chicken Curry * Chicken Vindaloo * Chicken Korma * Chicken Tikka Masala * Beef Curry * Kheema Nariyal Saag (Ground Beef Coconut Curry & Spinach) * Kheema Matar (Spiced Ground Beef) * Pork Saag * Lamb Rogan Josh (Lamb Curry) * Lamb Dum Biryani (Lamb & Rice Casserole) Chapter 6 : Drinks & Desserts * Aam Panha (Raw Mango Drink) * Gulabi Doodh (Rose Milk) * Masala Chai (Spiced Tea) * Caramel Custard * Elaichi Dahi (Creamy Cardamom Yogurt) * Mitha Dahi (Steamed Yogurt Custard) * Gajjar Halva (Carrot with Raisins) * Chawal Ki Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding) * Narali Bhat (Sweet Coconut Rice) Pressure Cooking Time Charts * Beans and Legumes * Grains * Meat * Poultry * Fish & Seafood * Vegetables Measurement Conversions Acknowledgements About the Author

I purchased this mainly in support of the wonderful author Urvashi Pitre. I first came to know of her and her book on youtube, as I watch a lot of Indian cooking videos for (initially entertainment!) learning how to cook the cuisine and for inspiration. Urvashi has made a few videos on Indian spices, rice, and the Instant Pot. I was most impressed with her depth of knowledge of the subjects and her humble personality. She spends a lot of time working on her website, helping others on the facebook group, and generally spreading her enthusiasm for cooking and food. Her website twosleevers.com is extensive and includes a lot of recipes for keto or ketogenic (low carb) dishes. Writing, promoting, and launching a book is a lot of work, and I bought the book as a way to thank her for her efforts. Now on to the book review. The first two chapters Introduction and Kitchen Staples are very thorough. For me, I had watched videos for a year but always got stalled with "I don't know where to buy curry leaves." Then someone sent me to http://www.thokalath.com/grocery/ which helped me to find a very good grocer just 3-4 miles from my home. There is a huge Indian population in the metro area. I have had so many friends talk of the apartment building smelling of curry, and for me that'd be heaven, but I digress. This book is both a great introduction to Indian cooking in the Instant Pot, as well as presenting some lesser-known Indian recipes. Urvashi has gone to great effort to document recipes that use ingredients that are relatively easy to find. I have made several recipes so far and have been pleased with the results. Normally I would have given a book of this caliber 4 stars but I gave it 5 because of the author's high level of interaction on the web. There are on average only two pictures per chapter, and when a chapter has such a wide variation of recipes, more pictures really should have been included. Somewhere along the line, the decision was made on how many photos and what was to be photographed, I'm sure it was budget related, but more is always better for ethnic cooking. If you have access to the web, by all means go to twosleevers.com and do a search for the recipe you are interested in, there are plenty of pictures there. This book would have been enhanced with a glossary of Indian words. While they are sometimes spelled out, just cracking open a recipe for example, what does tikka mean? You get the idea! Noobies, you may need to supplement your Indian Instant Pot education by searching the title of the dish on youtube to see how it is done, and be advised, there are several ways to accomplish a dish. Look at the Twosleevers website for more photos and possibly videos. I highly recommend this book.

I got brave yesterday and made my first ever, from-scratch Indian meal of palak paneer, aloo gobi, and butter chicken; and while I cooked I thought of all of the success stories I’ve heard on Urvashi’s FB page. I thought to myself: I’m sure this will be good, but not so good it warrants a boasting post to a bunch of strangers on Facebook. I WAS WRONG. 😁 Here is why: 1. I made three dishes in probably an hour and a half, which was shockingly quick for something I thought might take much longer and dirty many dishes. Nope! I even cleaned the kitchen up while my last dish cooked and had time to spare in the backyard with the family! My husband just about fell over when he saw the clean kitchen (he’s cleaned up after me many times and knows how bad things can get! 😆). 2. The food tasted SO GOOD. I was skeptical because the recipes were simple and Indian food has always seemed so complex and daunting. Urvashi’s recipes were anything but. 🤤 3. I had been making someone else’s butter chicken recipe, thinking they’d be similar enough. I WAS SO WRONG. Urvashi‘s requires less work, less ingredients, and is more delicious and has a better flavor profile by a factor of 10. I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT. 🤩 4. My husband loved it, which wasn’t all that surprising. What was surprising is that my kids (2 & 6–the eldest is a pretty adventurous eater, but HATES spice, while the toddler is self explanatory. 😁), inhaled the food. Every time we’ve taken them to Indian restaurants, it’s been like pulling teeth to get them to eat. My son climbed in his father’s lap to demand bites from his plate. My daughter took a roti, stuffed it full of everything on her plate, and went through it like a possessed buzz saw. And when it broke in two, double fisted it until it was gone. AND! Never did she complain about the spice, which there was just enough cayenne and jalapeño in the food to barely register heat (an amount I adjusted knowing her spice fears). I AM STUNNED! 😲🤗 So thank you, Urvashi, for the cookbook and the confidence to tackle something that seemed so overwhelming. You are gifted and I’m so glad I found you, my instant pot, and your awesome Facebook group!

WASP who loves Indian food here, and have been trying for a while to learn how to cook Indian food from well-known cookbooks by the likes of Julie Sahni and Madhur Jaffrey. My wife recently got us an Instant Pot as well, so when Amazon popped this up on my list, I was intrigued. Then I saw how new the book was and how many of these five-star reviews claimed to have made a bunch of the recipes already, and I was convinced this was a review-farm operation. I still liked the idea of an an IP-specific Indian cookbook enough to do further research, saw that Dr. Pitre's following was a pre-existing thing earned through some hard work both on and off the Internets, and decided to give it a go after all. I thought I might have made a mistake when I saw the following couplet in the first proper chapter: "Do we really need all those spices and ingredients to cook Indian food? I say no." Thankfully, Dr. Pitre alleviated my fears by immediately going on to catalog the core spices of Indian cooking, addresses the importance of having a spice grinder and preferably making your own garam masala, and offers a couple of solid-looking recipes for common spice blends (which don't necessarily involve the IP). Listen to this advice re: getting into the nitty-gritty of the spices. It's advice I already took from Julie Sahni, and every time I attempt to make Indian food I am reminded that this effort is well worth it. Overall, I am impressed with this book. It's cleanly written, well-organized, and (as already mentioned) seems to share the basic values I've seen in other well-regarded writings about Indian cooking for a Western audience. It is an entirely different approach to Indian cooking than the "classics" I've been studying; I'm sure purists would scoff at some of the occasional shortcuts taken. But a lot of Sahni's recipes from _Classic Indian Cooking_-- great as they are!-- take multiple hours to make, and often require a trip to the Indian grocery to pick up something I don't have. My exploration of that particular cookbook has been relegated to the weekends accordingly. Meanwhile, we gave Dr. Pitre's butter chicken a go tonight (using Sahni's garam masala, roasted up from whole spices by yours truly). Aside from the garam masala (which we already had handy), we had basically everything in the recipe on our shelves or in our freezer. The makin' of took less than an hour from end to end, and we were both quite impressed with the results (although, to my surprise, my Tunisian-lineage wife requested I dial down the cayenne next time - I felt the amount of kick in the recipe was dead on, and certainly much more satisfying than what we'd find in our local Indian buffets). We're giving Dr. Pitre's IP baingan bharta recipe a go tomorrow. Since it's sometimes proven a bit fussy for us on the stovetop, I'm also not sure I believe that paneer can be made with consistent success in an Instant Pot. I'm sure we'll probably try it anyway. And even if you're not particularly into Indian food, some of the basic Instant Pot advice on offer is certainly worth having. This is a very welcome and well-thought-out approach to Indian cooking for weeknight cooks, and if we have results equal to that butter chicken with the next couple of efforts from the book, I'll happily come back and bring this up to five stars.

I cannot say enough good things about this cookbook. I was definitely intimidated to make the Indian recipes I love at restaurants, but this cookbook is so down to earth with friendly advice and no nonsense cooking. She gives recipes for many of the dishes you find an Indian restaurants and some that as she says “unless you’re friends with an Indian person or have been to India you have never heard of”. All of the ones I’ve tried the flavors were so wonderful and spot on. I bought this book a week ago and I’ve cooked from it every single night since. My 2 and 9 year olds all love all the recipes, and I’ve been able to reduce the amount of “spicy” without any of the flavor, though her recipes are not heavy on the “spicy” elements . The tomato coconut soup was a revolution in our house, I think it’s the best soup I’ve ever had and a total dump and go recipe. If you have any interest in cooking Indian food in the pressure cooker this book is the one for you! I haven’t found a single bad thing about it except maybe that there could be more chutney recipes, but honestly she puts so much in here that’s just me being greedy. Her mango chutney recipe is truly divine and who knew you could make paneer so easily? A terrific book!

I know this may sound overblown, but I feel like this recipe book totally changed my life. I love to cook, but *planning* meals always felt overwhelming - so many ingredients, running to different stores, have to use this or that up before it goes bad, etc. But then covid hit and the restaurants were closed and shopping was so unpredictable because of shortages, and my husband asked if I please-please-please could figure out how to make him some Pakistani food (he loves Punjabi cuisine). I tried Urvashi's butter chicken recipe (even though it's not Punjabi, it's the one everyone raves about and it seemed easy) and then when I started reading her book I realized I could keep spices on hand, chicken in the freezer, rice and canned tomatoes in the cabinet, and onion, ginger and garlic out on the counter, and whatever else in my life might be chaotic, I have all the ingredients for several different dishes I could make in the Instant Pot, even after a full day of distance learning. Cooking Indian food in the Instant Pot went from seeming overwhelming to seeming like a godsend. Even after lockdowns ended, Urvashi's recipes have remained like 50% of our recipe rotation, and not only the Indian/Pakistani recipes - all of them. Because after working my way through this book, I've bought all of her others. Our family favorites include the Chicken Karahi (dry Punjabi curry), Chicken Vindaloo, and French Garlic Chicken, but *every single recipe* we've tried has been delicious and has gone into our rotation. Just last week we tried her cheesecake recipe and it's also a keeper. But this book will always remain my favorite, because it was my entry into Urvashi-World. (And also, all the recipes are so good. So, so good.)

This is a very easy to read and more importantly- understand cook-book for the Instant Pot. It takes more time shopping for ingredients and laying them out in order than to cook for instance Chicken Biryani on pages 96-97 as the author acknowledges. However, once done with preparation, cooking is easier and much safer than on a conventional gas or electric stove top as well as clean-up, afterwards. Furthermore, much healthier than a microwave and totally processed foods. As author states in book, Instant Pot-Pressure cooking saves time and electricity as well as tenderizes and infuses flavors into meat or vegetables! (see attached picture) One must read the Prologue and Chapter 1 and 2 to the book to understand what is required as well as abbreviations and settings of different versions of the Instant Pot as well as some very good history on different Regional Indian cuisine! (Recommend Book "Prisoners of Geography" By Tim Marshall page 170- Start of Chapter on India and Pakistan available at Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Geography-Explain-Everything-Politics/dp/1501121472/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543660555&sr=8-1&keywords=tim+marshall+prisoners+of+geography ) Finally, for actual cooking and meal preparation a minimum of utensil's is required, especially specialty utensils- however do recommend a timer of some sort to keep track of various natural and manual release times....!!!!! End-State: This book as well as the Instant Pot should be considered by US Department of Veterans Affairs (US DVA) Occupational Therapists, etc... for issue and instruction of Veterans with Mobility Issues as author recommends for other civil individuals these issues on pages 6-9! Furthermore, this Cook Book and Instant Pot should be looked at by Veterans Service Organizations (VSO's) that offer cooking instruction in conjunction with major Grocer Chains such as Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) has does (or did in past) Publix Grocer Chain, as one example!

I cook Indian food as a matter of course, although I can always use ideas for other spice mixes. The first recipe I made out of this book was for the chickpea curry. And although I questioned the amount of time the book told me to run the Instant Pot, I followed the instructions strictly. And after the release, I found my chickpeas was still ROCK HARD. So I inched up in time 10-15 minutes on each go and found it took exactly the amount of cooking time I expected for unsoaked chickpeas, which is about 50-55 minutes. I later found a table of time required for various legumes and found the recipe was consistent with that table. But I know because I've been cooking chickpeas in an instant pot at 6,000 ft for several years that it takes about 55 minutes. It makes me question the timing on the instant pot portions of the recipe. By the way, this book doesn't necessarily save time even though it uses an instant pot for much of the cooking. These recipes tend to be complex with a good number of steps. Today's program located Truly though, I probably didn't need this particular cookbook. I've been cooking butter chicken and Dal in my instant pot for quite some time. My own recipes. So this book is unnecessary for the technique which apparently isn't always correct anyway. If you are not familiar with how to use an instant pot for the sometimes complex recipes, this could be useful for you, but beware the timing on chickpeas.

An excellent cook book for the Instant Pot

Fantastic book for the curry lover. The recipes are simple and easy to do. My cooking skills are limited and tolerated by my long suffering husband . He now has second helpings and takes left overs to work. recipes are very tasty and varied. I had to expand my spice cupboard but it was well worth it. I have had no issues with burning as per some reviews, in fact quite the opposite I was dubious with how little water was added ... trust the recipe! It works

Simple, straightforward recipes with excellent results. We have made 5 or 6 recipes (several times) thus far and will make many more as all have been well received at our family table, by young and old. While we have cooked Indian food before, we often found the flavour of various dishes (using other cookbooks) to be very similar (or the same) in flavour. What strikes us most about these recipes is that each is a stand-alone in flavour and texture. We’ve had our IP for less than a year and use it 1~3 times / week. While I owned the book a good while before we started using, it is now the one I’m reaching for most often for the IP. The herbs / spices are readily found in a chain supermarket and are worthwhile additions to your collection if you don’t own them already. The author includes both the Indian name for the dish as well as English, and a brief introduction, for all which we enjoy. This is the book I recommend most to friends new to IP or those considering purchasing an IP.

Excellent product.Saw it in USA for the first time.Good purchase.

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