The beginners guide to pressure cooker

Lifestyle Parenting, Household Affairs and Cuisine corner
1

I hope someone around here uses pressure cooker and can give a bit of advice and share some recipes. I am thinking of buying one soon InshaAllah but have no idea how it is used safely.

any good brands you can suggest?

Also any recipes you can share? Do we put daals/ghost in cooker with all the masaley aand water or we have to booneyfi the masala first?

I am concerned about safty also

Thank you in advance :biggthumb:

2

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

Hi fizza .. Prestige is a good and an affordable brand, you will get these PC's in ASDA/ Tesco Direct or even in Argos .. as a starter go for a 6 Ltr one .. its just the right size for cooking for 3-4 people ...

From the Safety perspective , you dont have to worry until you are the doing the following:
- Use the rubber very carefully , the minute it gets damaged or chipped , replace it .. the same goes with the PC's cover , if you notice any slight damage to its bolts and weight , immediately stop using it ..

  • Ensure you close the lid by applying some pressure on top of the lid .. so that the locks get properly done .. Prestige is pretty good and easy to use PC

  • Put enough water in the PC .. usually problems begin when you dont add enough water ..

  • For the first few times when you use the PC keep it on Medium heat setting so that the Pressure doesnt build up too much .. once you become used to it , then you can change the heat setting from medium to medium high ... but I have never recomended using high heat setting with PC's ..

  • After turning the heat off , dont try to open the PC lid or tamper with it , give it 20 minutes to cool down and then open the lock of the lid ..

PC's are generally safe in the UK .. cant say the same about the ones from Pakistan.. once husband got one from Pakistan and it was freaking scary , specially that it had a separate weight and I wasnt very comfy using it .. but the PC you will buy from the UK is pretty easy , the weight is inbuilt .. so you dont have to worry about it at all ..

3

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

CB :hug:. Thank you

4

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

Regards what to cook in the PC :

Normally lamb takes about an hour in the PC .. the first 20 minutes are the build up of pressure and after you hear the PC whistle out , you give it another 30 - 40 minutes for the lamb to soften up fully .

For channa's that are soaked overnight , or kidney beans .. you need to give it the same time as mentioned above for lamb.

I also use it for some vegetables like Turnip.. chop it up and chuck it in the PC along with enough water .. takes 15 minutes for the pressure to build up and another 25 minutes for the vegie to soften up

So yeah , thats about all that I use the pressure cooker for ..

5

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

i use Hawkins pressure cooker and its amazing…

i cook all kinds of meat,veggies,beans n daal in it in no time…

they also give a recipe book with this PC having all the desi n continental cuisine and also timings required for meats n daals etc are also mentioned…

6

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

can you guys share some more step by step pressure cooker recipes? my sweet mom gave me one and the only time i have used it was when she came over to cook for us.

7

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

Well you can do Lamb pulao .. Hareem posted a brilliant pulao recipe just a day ago in her thread ..

What do you wish you make and perhaps we can help you a bit more that way?

8

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

My HEAD is the BEST Pressure Cooker, 100% safe...can NEVER EVER explode...i cook up so many great ideas in ma head! :D

9

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

an hour to cook? Mine is done in like 15 minutes.
I should check what brand. I'm inclinded to say Fargo?

10

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

wow .. Muniya thats really fast actually ..

I feel things used to get cooked quicker when I was london based .. but ever since I moved up north, meat and channas and almost everything takes more then 3o minutes :hinna: something to do with the water maybe ?:hmmm:

11

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

^ can you link that recipe please? i could not find it.

i'm not looking for a particular recipe...just any general desi food recipes using a pressure cooker (daals, meat salans/kormas, veggies, etc)

12

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

in Hawkin's pressure cooker....
meat takes 10minutes to cook....meat=mutton,lamb n beef(i've never cooked chicken in PC)
daals in 5-7 minutes.....
veggies in 5minutes....

i make masala for meat first like for biryani or salan......fry onions till golden brown add tomatoes n then all the masalay,meat,yogurt fry for 2 minutes add 1-2 glasses water,let it boil n then put the lid on slow-medium heat.....it will be ready in 10minutes

for daals add soaked daal n required water/masalay n pressure cook....for 2cups of daal i put 3 cups water
for beans n veggies... prepare onion/tomatoes masala first then add masalay...add little water as they are veggies n pressure cook for 5 minutes....

after the required time for cooking,turn off the flame n let the steam evaporate completely then open the lid...
if you are in hurry then put the PC under running cold water,check for the pressure n then open the lid...

13

Re: The beginners guide to pressure cooker

yeah sure .. the link is as follows :

http://www.paklinks.com/gs/household-affairs-and-cuisine-corner/561700-hareems-housekeeping-and-culinary-ideas-8.html