A new stew for a new pot….

I have used a pressure cooker since I began cooking. It is a necessary tool in every Indian cooks arsenal. Most Indian families use it to greatly shorten the cooking time of lentils and beans. However, pressure cookers can also be used to cook meats and one pot dishes!

With the advent of the InstantPot (or electric pressure cooker) – using a pressure cooker has never been easier. I resisted buying one for a long time – after all I already had a pressure cooker (2 actually!) – why would I need yet another appliance? I took the plunge over the summer and have to say – I love it. The ability to set my recipe and walk away from the cooker is fantastic. Additionally it is immensely quieter than traditional stove-top cookers while at the same time staying cool to touch. Lastly it puts out no heat (unless you are doing a quick release) – a nice side benefit here in the south.

I have played around with various recipes since the purchase – and have decided to re-vamp an old recipe for the first IP post.

This dish is a meat stew – it can be made with lamb or beef. Prep is very quick – and all in one bowl. Cooking takes place entirely in the InstantPot. Normally a lamb stew could take up to 2 hours on the stove top. Here – the entire dish comes together in under 1 hour, with very little attention and clean up is easy as well.

One last note – most dishes in a pressure cooker rely on a liquid of some sort to help build the steam needed to get the cooker to temperature. When you read this recipe, you will see this one requires no added liquid. That is because the tomatoes and yogurt will liquefy enough providing the necessary cooking environment.

 

Labdhara Gosht

(Indian Meat Stew) – Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• Meat Mixture
  • 1 pound stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes **
  • 1 small onion (approximately 4 ounces), peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 medium tomato (approximately 6-7 ounces), finely chopped
  • 2 fresh Thai green chilis, finely chopped
  • ½ cup cilantro, finely chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
  • ¼ cup yogurt
  • salt to taste

• Tempering
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil (use more or less depending upon cut of meat) ***
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • A generous amount of freshly ground pepper
  • Juice of ½ lemon

• Garnish
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion (or to taste)

IntantPot Method:

1. Put all ingredients for meat mixture into a bowl. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
   

   
2. Set InstantPot to Sauté mode.  Add coconut oil and once hot, add garlic. Stir quickly and make sure that the garlic does not burn otherwise the garlic will turn bitter.
3. Now, add meat mixture to pot and stir to coat all meat with the garlic oil.
4. Close lnstantPot Lid and set steam release handle to “Sealing” position.
5. Cook on manual for 20 minutes. Allow steam to release naturally.
6. Once steam is released, remove lid, set InstantPot back to Sauté mode, and press Adjust twice to simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens slightly. Make sure not to let the stew get too dry and make sure the meat does not stick.
7. Add a generous amount of black pepper and lemon juice, stir to mix.
8. Garnish with cilantro and finely chopped onion.
   

   Stew Under Pressure!!!

9. Serve hot with Indian bread of your choice, or with rice.

 

Notes

** Although I use stewing beef here, you could also use cubed lamb. All steps remain the same.

*** I use coconut oil but if you are not a fan, feel free to substitute with any mild flavored oil such as canola.