Instant Pot Channa veggie Pulav

I am in love with the newest addition to my kitchen ” the instant pot”. I admit, I was one of those people who scoffed at the rave reviews instant pot was getting and had no intention of getting it, until my sister made that decision for me and gifted me one for my anniversary. Now that the shiny new toy was sitting on my kitchen counter, I had to use it and to be honest it has become one of my best friends in the kitchen next to my cast iron skillet and my traditional cooker of course. I would never claim IP is better than our traditional pressure cookers, but it is just as good and it never hurts having having an extra cooker at home, does it? I haven’t quite gotten around at trying out all the features in IP, but from what I have used, these are the few points I love about IP:

It cooks rice beautifully, be it plain rice (white or brown) or pulavs or biriyanis. I have not had a charred bottom in a while now.

No more counting whistles and wondering if you need to give that extra whistle or not. Set the time and go about doing other stuff.

No more whistle sounds and that frantic run to your toddler’s room to check if they have woken up! ( trust me I have a toddler who wakes up at the tiniest of sounds)

Love the saute option. It’s like I have an extra stove which is not bad at all. Especially if you just HATE the glass stop stove you have in your new house! (Can’t emphasize it enough- Just hate my glass top stove)

The best part is that I can carry it everywhere with me. I do not need to look for rentals with kitchen every time I travel. As long as I can plug it somewhere I should be good to go. (This is such a life saver since I have a toddler who has allergies and cannot eat much outside. This makes traveling easier for us and I am waiting eagerly for the smallest version of it for our travels.)

Oh and yes it makes delicious dhal makhani’s and dhals. Love the slow cook option.

So this sums up what I love about IP for now. Let me try other functions such as yogurt maker, delayed start etc and get back to you guys.

Now to the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 basmati rice
• 3/4 cup channa soaked over night or used already cooked/canned channa
• 3/4 cup mixed veggies (carrots, beans, peas, corn)
• 1 big onion finely chopped
• 2 big ripe tomatoes finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste or finely chopped ginger and garlic
• 2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander leaves
• 1 tsp chilly powder
• 11/2 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp oil/ghee
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cardamom pods
• 3 cloves
• 1 inch piece cinnamon
• 1 small piece star anise
• 1 cup coconut milk
• small handful of raisins
• salt to taste

Method:

Use the saute option mode in the IP and wait for few seconds until it heats up.

Add 1 tbsp oil and add the whole spices (bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise and cumin) Saute for a minute and then add the finely chopped onions.

Saute the onions until they turn nice golden brown and add the ginger garlic to it. Saute them until the raw smell of ginger and garlic is gone.

Now add the chopped tomatoes, spice powders (coriander powder, chilly powder, turmeric, salt and garam masala) Saute them for 4 to 5 minutes or until they tomatoes are well cooked and you see oil on the sides.

Add the soaked channa, veggies, raisins and rice. Stir everything together until they are mixed well and saute for 2 minutes.

Now add the coconut milk, 2 cups water, coriander leaves and salt. Taste the water and make sure it is salty enough for both the rice and channa.

Switch off the saute mode and close the lid. Now put it on Rice mode and make sure the vent is sealed (sealing position).

When done, release the pressure manually or naturally release it after sometime. Fluffy flavorful rice is ready to be served.

Note: I used soaked channa and it cooked along with the rice. It wasn’t too soft but cooked well enough. If you want the channa to be very soft, pls use cooked channa or canned channa in the recipe