• DJM on December 03, 2017

  The Butter Chicken is fabulous. I cut the amount of cayenne in half.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Butter chicken (Murgh makhani)

  • PennyG on November 15, 2017

    Wow! This was absolutely delicious and easy too - in the Instant Pot. A definite make again and again and again ...

  • jenmacgregor18 on August 22, 2019

    Super simple. very little prep. Wonderful results. I used coconut milk w/ butter. So, I used saute function to thicken sauce after removing chicken.

  • hirsheys on March 25, 2018

    The first time I made this I didn't use the full amount of butter because I just couldn't bring myself to and sure enough, it was unimpressive. The second time, I sucked it up and followed the recipe, except that I made it with paneer instead of chicken. It came out great! A few quick changes - I only used 1 heaping tsp of garam masala (I ran out) and didn't wish for more, used only 1/2 tsp of my incredibly hot cayenne, and used heaping amounts of the rest of the spices, including (especially) salt. I also added a pinch of sugar and did not add the extra 1/4 c of water that the note on the right said to add when not using chicken. The only thing I'd change next time is that I'd microplane the ginger so that it really melts into the sauce.

  • purpleshiny on March 31, 2018

    I made this using tandoori masala in place of all the powdered spices except the garam masala (a friend had just made a trip to India and given me some tandoori masala) and it was excellent.

  • Rinshin on November 13, 2018

    Like the previous reviewers, I did not see the point in freezing half the sauce for later use and do not care for the use of half canned anything, so I used the whole can of coconut milk, 2 lbs of bone in chicken which was removed after cooking and adding back the meat in big chunks. Pureed the sauce and decided to bulk up the sauce by cooking it down a bit and also adding sliced paneer. Reduced the cayenne to 1/2 tsp only and after tasting the sauce, 1+ tsp sugar was also added. With these modifications, we were very happy with the results and made for best tasting butter chicken I've made so far.

  • CindyinOttawa on December 03, 2018

    In my 8-quart Instant Pot I doubled the recipe fully, followed it exactly (although I used ghee instead of butter) and used the same cooking time. Delicious! Butter Chicken isn't supposed to be spicy hot, and it wasn't...just excellent flavour, and the texture was perfect. I like having extra sauce to freeze and use another time.

  • stef on October 04, 2018

    Nicely spiced. I blended my can of tomatoes and added them to instant pot. That way I didn't have to take chicken out to blend. Will cut my chicken thighs in bigger pieces next time

  • sarahawker on August 16, 2018

    Definitely reason enough to buy this book. Delicious, just wonderful. The recipe that actually got me using the pressure cooker again. Used the leftover sauce with tofu and that was amazing too.

  • janeh9 on March 21, 2018

    Incredible! This will be a frequent repeat!

  • rionafaith on May 14, 2018

    Very good, though I wish the sauce were thicker! May try to reduce it more next time before adding the coconut milk and butter. Instead of only cooking 1 lb of chicken (which barely seemed enough for 4 servings once cooked) and removing half the sauce (why???), I just used 2 lbs of chicken straight off (2 boneless skinless breasts). I cut them into large chunks before cooking, but the timing seems intended for whole pieces and they were a tad overcooked, so I will leave them intact and cut after pressure cooking next time. Perfect heat level for me.

• Rice with lentils (Khichadi)

  • PennyG on March 25, 2018

    Hmmmm ... I had khichadi in India and it was much creamier than this was when I opened the pot after natural release. The texture of this was more like a very sticky rice. I did add more water to loosen it up as the recipe suggests, but next time I think I’ll add more to start with. Flavor is nice. I will try again with I’m thinking 2 1/2 cups of water vs. the 1 3/4 cups she calls for.

  • wjjjww on February 18, 2019

    i used 2 cups water. great flavor. don’t skimp on the salt!

  • trmarvin on January 06, 2019

    Nice, quick comfort dish.

  • paisleymonsoon on January 11, 2021

    This recipe is easy enough, but it was lacking something. After a few bites, I put in some garlic powder, and it was a little better. I don't think I'd make it on purpose again.

• Creamy lentils (Dal makhani)

  • sck on January 01, 2018

    Not enough water called for! What a mess.

  • tresy on July 10, 2018

    If anything my result was too wet, but it was still delicious. I did, however, use Dal Makhani Masala seasoning from a local Indian grocery store (1 Tbsp). It's ingredient list was far more interesting than the recipe's. Will definitely be making this again, with slightly less water.

  • clkandel on September 06, 2020

    Very good. Mashing up some of the dal is a key step - don't skip it. Came out perfect.

  • Skamper on February 04, 2019

    I tried this in my stovetop PC and the lentils burned to the bottom of the pot - a big mess. The next day I made it in my Instant Pot and it came out perfectly.

• Chana masala

  • tresy on June 12, 2018

    Agree about the masala and longer soaking/cooking of the chickpeas

  • clkandel on January 22, 2019

    The chickpeas were not done with the 18 minute cooking time and natural release. Next time I'll just cook them the normal amount of time for dried chickpeas. Flavors are great.

  • purpleshiny on March 31, 2018

    Really good. The Onion Masala recipe is worth doing (and then you can make this recipe several times). I used a stick blender for the mashing as I had a hard time mashing them otherwise. I preferred a longer time soaking and a longer time cooking the chickpeas - 3 hours soaking and 25 minutes under pressure (and it took 40 minutes for the pressure to release). I did it as written the first time and felt the chickpeas weren't done enough (and I bought the chickpeas for this recipe, so I don't think they weren't fresh). I like to double the recipe for leftovers.

  • klipper on September 20, 2019

    Delicious. The Prep Time Header says 10 minutes, plus one hour to soak. However the recipe doesn't mention pre-soaking of the chickpeas. I cooked for the 18 minutes as instructed, and they were a little underdone. Will try a pre-soak next time. Recipe says yields 6 serves - I think you would be lucky to get 3 out of it. Otherwise, it's great.

  • Skamper on August 25, 2018

    Since I have a stovetop PC, I cooked the chickpeas the amount of time I normally do. Also make them in advance to make this an easier weeknight dish and to free up the PC for another recipe. I had about 1 c. of cooking liquid left with the chickpeas, and added all of it to the masala. I used the amchoor powder instead of lemon juice.

  • deboChicago on August 24, 2019

    This is a very interesting method for making chana masala. Very tasty but I’m not sure it’s my favorite version.

• Coconut green chutney

  • tresy on July 04, 2018

    Personally did not care for this at all, despite being a cilantro fan, nor did my family. Flavour lacked complexity. Not worth the minimal effort to make, IMO.

  • clkandel on January 22, 2019

    This is a simple and tasty chutney. I used much less garlic though - only 1 clove, not 4.

  • janeh9 on March 21, 2018

    I made this using jalapeños as part of the green curry fish recipe. Vibrant sauce, that will lend itself well to other dishes...

• Eggplant with onions (Baingan bharta)

  • tresy on June 21, 2018

    Cooking this at low pressure, as called for, does not appear to work for me. Using high pressure yields a better result, IMO.

  • hirsheys on April 01, 2018

    Tasty, but not brilliant. I'm not sure I'd add the amchoor next time, but otherwise, I liked it. Like all recipes in this book - it works well and is super easy.

• Red kidney beans (Punjabi rajma)

  • tresy on August 26, 2018

    If you have onion masala already, you just need to cook the red beans and then add the masala.

  • Skamper on September 16, 2018

    I already had some onion masala in the freezer, so made a cup of dried kidney beans in the pressure cooker earlier in the day, then simply reheated the beans, about a half cup or so of cooking water (I didn't want them too soupy), mashed some of the beans with a potato masher, then added the onion masala and let it all simmer for a bit. Very easy and tasty.

• Fish with green chutney (Patra ni macchi)

  • tresy on July 04, 2018

    The recommended cooking time, 2 minutes low pressure, was woefully inadequate. Two of 3 packets were completely undercooked; we had to pop them in the microwave to finish the cooking. Since I did not care for the chutney, and there is no other seasoning, we found this disappointing.

  • janeh9 on March 21, 2018

    I made the green chutney for this dish and used it all, but will make extra next time because it's so good! Made this with cod, which I had on hand. The method of wrapping in parchment, then in foil before cooking was new to me, and worked beautifully.

• Black-eyed peas with spinach (Punjabi lobia)

  • kath on May 20, 2018

    This is a really delicious vegetarian dish! The seasoning is perfect. If it is served as a side dish it might yield 4 servings. We ate it as a main course with a bit of rice and a salad and found it was only 2 servings.

  • okmosa on September 01, 2021

    This recipe is great. Flavorful while easy. Yes to all of the spinach. I agree that this is closer to 4 servings as a main or 2 as a side.

  • anightowl on May 16, 2019

    Quite good, although I did make some changes. I diced an onion and sauteed it with the garlic and ginger, and I didn't have fresh tomatoes so I substituted canned, and used the liquid as part of the water requirement. The seasoning balance was quite nice in this dish. I was amazed that the huge amount of spinach called for almost disappears in the finished dish, so don't skimp on the spinach. I chopped mine before adding, so that may be a factor. The serving size is way off. I served it with bread and it's 4 small servings, not 6 as stated unless used as a side dish, or maybe served over a bowl of rice. While good as made, I added a drizzle of lime infused olive oil to each serving to brighten the flavors.

  • Tee.Tee on October 26, 2018

    This was quick, easy, and delicious. I served it with basmati rice for a vegetarian meal. Though seasoned well the next time I‘ll use more as a personal preference.

• Palak paneer

  • aberne on May 13, 2019

    Good, but not my fave version of the dish. Missed a bit of acidity that recipes that use a tomato have.

  • hirsheys on April 01, 2018

    Pretty good, though I pureed it too much - next time I'd leave a bit more texture. I'm sure this would be best with pan fried paneer, but it was still good with plain old cubed paneer.

  • dtremit on August 08, 2018

    Works great with other kinds of greens -- just increase the cooking time by a minute or two if they're sturdy.

  • purpleshiny on March 31, 2018

    Really great flavor. I made the paneer using the book recipe - will buy paneer next time. It's a solid medium hot as written - I would reduce the cayenne a tad.

  • Skamper on July 10, 2019

    I cut the cayenne to a heaping 1/4 tsp and would further reduce it to just 1/4 next time. I used canned diced tomatoes (as she recommends) and used about 2/3 of a can with juices, so reduced the water to about 1/3 c. It was still a little watery so I'd further reduce the water next time. With 1 lb of spinach, not sure it needs any extra water at all, if using tomatoes and juice.

• Potatoes and cauliflower (Aloo gobi)

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 21, 2021

    I had trouble with the liquid level and the timing. I had a burn notice just after as I was up to pressure. I doubled the water to 1/2 cup and would do so in the future. just use saute to cook down liquid afterward. The cauliflower & potatoes weren't cooked in 1 min under pressure. I ended up with a total 5 minutes under pressure. The potatoes were done perfectly, but the cauliflower was too soft. I would go with 3 minutes next time & then check. Otherwise, the flavor was very good and not too hot. If I can get the timing right, this would worth repeating.

• Beetroot salad (Beet koshimbir)

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 02, 2021

    I really wanted to like this. I love the individual ingredients, but it has a lot of strong flavors that, to me, don't seem to get along. It's like they're all competing for attention. That's just my opinion. It's quick to put together and you only have to sacrifice 2 beets to give it a try. :)

  • sarahawker on August 16, 2018

    Quite good, NOT a hit with husband and kids but you have to love beets which I do.

  • janeh9 on March 21, 2018

    A beautiful, delicious and unusual use of beets. I made it with non dairy sour cream, and it was perfect!

• Cabbage and peas (Bundh gobi mutter)

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 21, 2021

    I wish I had seen Skamper's note about the ginger & garlic being added after the onion sautes. I was scraping the bottom of the pan to try & remove it so it didn't burn. I also had to pressure cook for about 4 minutes for my cabbage to be tender. It still had a bit of bite to it at 4 minutes, but at the recommended time under pressure, it was downright crunchy. The flavor didn't thrill me. I'll try it with a bit of yogurt to see if it improves, but I'm not sure I'd make this again.

  • Skamper on April 01, 2020

    If I were to make this again, and I'm not sure I would, I'd add the ginger & garlic to the onions after they'd sauteed a while. Everything stuck to the bottom and I got the burn display. It was still edible, but just ok. I did mix it with yogurt the next day as a lunch salad, as she suggests, and that too was just ok.

• Chicken biryani

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 02, 2021

    This is very fragrant and delicious. And I liked the proportion of chicken to rice. I will make it again. However, Lina is right. The listed saute time is way off. It took at least 15 -20 minutes to saute the onions. Seeing the notes below, I also added a bit more water so my rice was almost covered. It was done after the allotted pressure cooking time & natural release. ...The recipe didn't note a quantity of salt. I eyeballed it and it needed more. Next time start with 1/2 tsp and see how that works.

  • lina on July 10, 2019

    Great flavors, but like other recipes in this cookbook, they really needed to do some sanity checking before publication. For example, this one says the saute time is 5 minutes, but requires 1-2 minutes of sauteing the spices, 2-3 minutes of sauteing the garlic and ginger, and *browning the onions*. So really it's more like 25 minutes of saute time. Then, the recipe calls for one cup of rice but says it serves 6. No, one cup of rice will not serve 6 people. I would make this again I would double the rice (and the water) and cook for 8 minutes or so with natural release. 5 minutes is not long enough to cook basmati rice and the top layer was still uncooked because the recipe calls for the rice being on top, so it can't be entirely covered by the water.

  • sarahawker on March 11, 2021

    Made this several times and always a comforting dish. Definitely double this recipe, not enough for the four of us. I did add more water until the rice was "just" covered and glad I did.

  • Skamper on August 25, 2018

    A very tasty dish. I used the whole spices and with the exception of the cinnamon sticks and a few peppercorns, we didn't have to avoid them in the finished dish. I used 1.5 jalapenos with seeds and ribs removed (we are wimps). The onions didn't really brown within the cooking time and I only seared the chicken for 1-2 minutes. I didn't turn up the heat to bring to pressure (I have a stovetop PC). I used brown basmati rice so upped the water to 1.5 c and this worked well.

• Coconut-tomato soup

  • clkandel on October 22, 2019

    Lots of flavor. I didn't have fresh tomatoes so substituted canned, which worked well.

  • montecristo99 on October 04, 2018

    This was terrific and really easy to throw together. Agree with Partyof7's note--reduce cayenne by half.

  • Partyof7 on March 20, 2018

    Very delicious. I used fresh baby san marzano tomatoes (like cherry tomatoes) from Wegmans and reduced cayenne by more than half!

• Onion masala

  • clkandel on January 22, 2019

    Love that this can be frozen.

  • purpleshiny on March 31, 2018

    Enough to make the Chana Masala recipe 9 times. It freezes beautifully - I have it frozen in 1/3 cup portions. I also double the Chana Masala recipe when I make it, so it doesn't last quite so long.

  • Skamper on August 25, 2018

    The first time I made this, I tried a half batch. I have a stove top PC, not an instant pot, and most of the masala burned to the bottom. Luckily, I was able to salvage 1/3 cup that wasn't burnt, and it made the best chana masala I've ever made, also in this book (and this is probably the 4th recipe I've tried). I tried it again with a full batch, using less heat to bring up to pressure, and only cooked for about 11 minutes. Perfect. It yielded 2 cups, not three, but that's still a lot of chana masala!

• Paneer

  • purpleshiny on March 31, 2018

    It's really easy to make and the flavor is pretty good. However, I couldn't get it to compress together, so it ended up being flecks in my Palak Paneer instead of cubes.

  • Skamper on July 10, 2019

    I tried this with a quart of whole milk and it came out fine but only made about 1 cup of paneer.

• Punjabi chicken curry

  • purpleshiny on March 31, 2018

    This is my favorite from the book so far. However, I've found that if I pour the sauce over the chicken, the chicken will burn on the bottom of the pot. I get better results if I mix everything together before setting the pressure.

  • KristenS on October 27, 2020

    Yup, didn't read the notes and got some burn on the bottom. Good, simple recipe. Makes a great amount of sauce. Might do again but will fiddle with spices (too much turmeric for me).

  • Skamper on February 03, 2019

    I wish I'd read the note above before making this. I got the dreaded "burn" display a couple of minutes into cooking. I was able to put the IP on saute until the chicken was cooked through, and it was still very tasty. Next time, I will either try mixing everything first, or do this one pot in pot.

• Chicken tikka masala

  • purpleshiny on March 31, 2018

    This is good, but I prefer the chicken curry in Melissa Clark's Instant Pot book a bit more.

  • sarahawker on August 16, 2018

    LOVED this. Would eat this every day. Used Chicken thighs, I think the cooking time would be way too long for breasts.

  • klipper on September 20, 2019

    Excellent. Used chicken thighs. Made it without the cayenne initially (feeding a 3 yr old as well) then added it in to the remainder after serving up her portion. The whole family **loved** it. The liquid smoke is a good touch. Don't bother sticking the meat under the grill / broiler. It won't caramelise post pressure cooking.

• Ground beef coconut curry and spinach (Kheema nariyal saag)

  • sarahawker on November 09, 2018

    Used kale in place of the spinach and it was very well received. Son said it was “Indian hamburger helper”

  • KristenS on May 05, 2020

    Pretty good, nice spice mix. Mine came out of the Instant Pot very liquidy (but not creamy).

  • Skamper on August 25, 2018

    Another tasty dish from this book. Used the whole jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed. Also used reduced fat coconut milk and it worked well. Used 8 oz fresh chopped spinach, half before cooking and half after.

• Marathi spiced rice (Masalé bhat)

  • sarahawker on August 16, 2018

    This is a fantastic recipe. If pressure cooker is being used for something else brown onions on stovetop and add to rice in rice cooker. Big Flavor

• Sindhi-style mixed vegetables (Sindhi sai bhaji)

  • janeh9 on March 21, 2018

    I made this instead of the vegetable soup that I usually make to use up the veggies in the crisper before going away. The only one that I left out was celery, which seemed wrong with the other flavors. It was good with rice both before we left town, and great to pull out of the freezer when we returned!

• Lentils with fried onions (Dal fry)

  • shoffmann on January 01, 2020

    Pretty tasty. Instant pot only used to cook the dal so not quite as "one pot" simple as some IP recipes.

  • Skamper on January 29, 2020

    My (unsoaked) chana dal was not fully cooked after 6 minutes. Next time, I would not add the full 3/4 cup water to the spice/onion/dal mix - it was a little soupier and more diluted than I would have liked.

• Chicken korma

  • HalfSmoke on October 08, 2017

    Very simple, delicious, and Instant Pot quick too. This version has a bit more heat than I'm used to at the local Indian restaurant, so if you prefer less heat I suggest reducing the cayenne by half or leaving it out altogether. Otherwise, the flavors are spot on.

  • Skamper on September 16, 2018

    This was easy and very delicious. I reduced the cayenne from 1/2 tsp to a heaping 1/4 tsp and would reduce it to an even 1/4 tsp next time. (I think my new garam masala blend has a bit more heat than the last one, too.) I have a stovetop PC, so let it come to pressure over medium heat, which took about 15 minutes, but I didn't want to risk scorching. (Sauce fit perfectly in mini ninja.)

• Chicken vindaloo

  • HalfSmoke on June 25, 2018

    Wonderful! Very flavorful and instant pot easy. Vindaloo is known to be high octane, and this does carry a bit of heat, but is more moderate than that found at most Indian restaurants. It can be made hotter with more cayenne, but I thought this recipe as written had just the right amount of heat and allowed the wonderful flavors to come through. A real winner.

• Indian rice pudding (Chawal ki kheer)

  • trmarvin on March 12, 2019

    Amazing - such a treat. Even better after a day in the fridge.

• Garam masala

  • trmarvin on January 06, 2019

    Next time I'd bump up the cinnamon (use 2 sticks instead of 1), and it'll be my go-to blend.

• Basmati pilau

  • luluf on August 05, 2021

    We have this with every curry. It is really tasty and the rice grains are all separated, it is just so quick, easy and perfect

• Ginger-garlic paste

  • Skamper on August 25, 2018

    Helpful to make in advance and keep in the freezer. I've started making it with twice as much garlic as ginger, as that seems to be the ratio called for most often in her recipes.

• Mixed vegetables with coconut (Marathi rassa)

  • Skamper on March 19, 2019

    This wasn't a favorite in our house. I used broccoli, cauliflower, yellow squash, and a little bit of green cabbage. I chopped the veggies into about 2 inch pieces; if I were to make again I'd probably cut a little smaller. But we didn't love the flavor so I doubt I will make again.

• Paneer biryani

  • excurvatus on November 26, 2019

    This is good! It only serves about 3 in my opinion. Just follow the recipe and dig in.

• Spiced ground beef (Kheema matar)

  • dc151 on January 16, 2021

    Simple to pull together. Flavorful. Served with eggplant with bulgur from Ottolenghi's Simple.