Indian As Apple Pie

This recipe is one that once you make it, will stay in your menu rotation. It's really so good - made even more special with one of my favorite rice brands, Three Horses Jasmine Rice, and coconut milk, Chef's Choice. This pulao (rice) recipe is a combination of my own family recipe and one from the cookbook 'A Little Taste of India'. I love how they use coconut milk in their version and  started incorporating this ingredient into my own rice dishes when my family wants something just a tiny bit different. I changed some of the steps around and clarified...

'This is the best f*&^-ing thing you've ever made in that contraption.' My husband loves food. Punjabi food. And, he gets to the point. I've been working with the Instant Pot for over a year, and this was the first recipe that really got him excited. The others have been good, but you don't mess with his chicken curry. And in the slow cooker it's so amazing that it was tough getting the flavors just right in the electric pressure cooker.  What makes this recipe different than other chicken curry recipes for the pressure cooker and others versions I've tested...

Dal Makhani, Buttery Black DalPressure Cooker Size: 3 quart or largerWarm Up: 18 minutesCook: 40 minutesCool Down: 10 minutes natural release plus manual release timeTotal: 1 hour 8 minutes plus manual release timeMakes: 8 cups 1 ½ cups sabut urad (whole, dried black dal with skin), picked over and washed½ cup rajmah (dried red kidney beans), picked over and washed1 small red or yellow onion, roughly chopped1 (1-inch piece) ginger, peeled and roughly chopped3 cloves garlic1-4 Thai or serrano chiles, stems removed2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil1 pinch hing (asafoetida)2 teaspoons cumin seeds½ teaspoon turmeric powder1 (1-inch) cinnamon stick1 cassia...

Gujarati cuisine is the 'kissed with sweet' cuisine of India. Just about everything has a touch of sugar to it. And, because of religious reasons, they don't use onion or garlic in their cooking. So different from the fiery curries laden with onions in the Punjabi world. But, you'll see how in this recipe the flavor comes from the layers and layers of spices and sweet-sour mix with the sugar playing against the lime juice. Some recipes for this dal make it all in the Instant Pot - creating the tarka in the beginning on the saute setting. I didn't do that here and...

This recipe is adapted for the Instant Pot from my first book, The Indian Slow Cooker, on page 66. I originally saw this recipe in fellow cookbook author Raghavan Iyer's book 660 Curries and modified it for the slow cooker. I am still confirming the total cook time. I would suggest following the instructions below and if the chickpeas are still not soft, just add another 5 minutes to cooking and let me know by posting a comment. Hopefully I'll have that locked in in the next day or so when I remake it. Otherwise not only delicious - addictive!  Black Dal with...

Thank you to all of you who joined my Facebook Live cooking class showcasing Crackling Honey Garlic Tofu. Over 279 people watched the demo and so many of you participated and cooked with me. Here's the recipe for Crackling Honey Garlic Tofu. Once you make this dish, I know you'll make it again - likely the very same day. If you are like me you'll eat the first batch by yourself and then have to make another for your family. It's truly that good. Tofu is a fantastic ingredient to get into your weekly meal rotation. According to the USDA, a quarter cup or...

Whole Moong Dal is commonly made in North Indian households. It's a staple that is always there on the table to help round out your meal. These moong beans (it's technically a bean and not a lentil) are also often soaked overnight, drained and then sprouted to be eaten in salads. We use them for everything! This is a very basic, delicious dal to get into your weekly meal rotation. And, a perfect, wholesome and healthy ingredient to reach for when you just. cannot figure out what to make for dinner. This Instant Pot version is modified from my slow...

Thank you to those who joined my Facebook Live class on Sunday, and especially those of you who cooked with me and emailed photos of your dishes. They looked heavenly. It makes me so happy to be able to inspire all of you to try something new and delicious. For those of you who missed it, below is the recipe I showcased. I have also included the video of the full class. It's a Facebook Live demo so there is a lot of chit chat. Feel free to fast forward as needed. Thanks for supporting my first Live cooking class...

This Instant Pot recipe is adapted from my book The Indian Slow Cooker, page 95. If you don't have this essential and classic guide to Indian food in your crock pot, why not? And if you do have it and love it as so many of you have told me, please do consider writing a review on Amazon. We authors live for your reviews. Why do I promote slow cookers, electric pressure cookers and stovetop Dutch ovens like my favorite Le Creuset? Because I do not believe that there is just one way to cook. If you love cooking, you love...

So many folks think of curry, or gravy when thinking of eating Indian food. But, the fact is that we rarely make a meal without a sabzi on the side. These are vegetables cooked with a variety of spices that are stir-fried and then left to cook through in their own steam. Okra, Cauliflower and Potatoes, and eggplant are examples of sabzi. You can make a sabzi out of just about any vegetable. My dadi once showed us how to make it from watermelon rind. These dishes are eaten on the side of our meals, stuffed into bread when leftover, and sometimes rolled into roti...