As much as I love spending time in the kitchen, many times I just wish I could spend that time with my little one and hubby or catching up on household chores.And this is one such super fast recipe, that you can make on those busy mornings where you have tiffin boxes to pack and breakfast to be served. After I was added to a food group in facebook by my friend, who is a foodie herself, I have been following their pressure cooker method of cooking (OPOS) a lot and have found it to be quite healthy and time saving and the best part is, I can do it without compromising on the taste. I have already posted a sweet recipe (beetroot halwa) done in this method. But flashcooking is a technique of OPOS (One pot one shot) that I have been using a lot and on a daily basis. I have to admit that flash cooking has sort of made me lazy and I do not prefer to spend my time stir frying veggies in an open pan unless I want to make them crispy ( for which i still stick to the traditional method). I have been cooking most of the vegetables in the pressure cooker and have been saving a lot of time and energy in the process. What is flash cooking? It is cooking the vegetables in the highest heat, with minimum water for the shortest time possible. Yes, I did have a lot of doubts and apprehension when I started with this technique, esp when my mom would come to the kitchen and panic everytime I released the pressure from the pressure cooker manually. But after few trial and errors, I understood how my cooker works and it is now an indispensable part of my cooking.
You can follow this technique with almost all the veggies. I have followed the video recipe of Mr. Ramakrishnan (founder of OPOS) the link of which I am sharing here. –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxBvnuqYYz4
Ingredients:
- 3-4 cups chopped broad beans
- 2 tbsp moong dhal
- 1/4 cup coconut shredded
- 1-2 green chillies as per taste
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp coconut or any oil of your choice
- 3 tsp water
For tempering:
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin sees
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 3-4 curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp urad dhal
Method:
Grind the coconut and chillies to a thick paste.
Take a pressure cooker I use a 3 litre pressure cooker. Use any size of your choice. ( make sure you fill the cooker with veggies no more than 3/4 th and not less than 1/4th of the cooker capacity. I use a 3 litre cooker and find 3-4 cups of veggies works well. )
Add 3 tsp water and 2 tsp oil in the cooker as the first layer. Mix the oil and water.
Now add the chopped broad beans mixed with salt on top of the water+oil as next layer.
Add the moong dhal and the ground coconut chilly paste on top of the beans.
Close the cooker with the weights on and pressure cook it for 2 whistles in the highest heat setting available. After 2 whistles, release the pressure manually. I use a fork to lift the weight just a little to release pressure. If you do not release pressure, then you will find the steam settling down and the veggies will be watery and get overcooked in the residual heat.
Open the cooker after you release the pressure mix everything and add the tadka with the ingredients mentioned above.
Serve hot with rice and ghee.
Note:
Start with extra 2 or 3 tsp water until you understand how your cooker works. If you do not get your first whistle within 5 minutes, switch off the flame and release pressure. They should not be cooked for more than 5 minutes. Leaving it longer might burn the veggie. If by any chance, they are under cooked you can cook them again. So it is always better to switch them off by the 5th minute to be on the safer side. If your pressure cooker is in good working condition you should be getting 2 whistles within 4-5 minutes.
The same technique can be followed for all veggies. Omit or add spices of your choice to get tasty poriyals/stir frys.
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