WONDERFUL MEALS IN MINUTES
Classic French and Indian dishes are made over in the Instant Pot
When Ottawa’s Robert Wang invented his first Instant Pot nearly a decade ago, one of his inspirations was the popularity of electric pressure cookers in his homeland, China.
Wang ’s first device was essentially an electric pressure cooker and slow cooker in a single countertop appliance.
But with every iteration, Wang ’s company added functions, from sautéing to steaming to yogurt- and porridge-making to rice-cooking and more.
The Instant Pot’s versatility certainly helps to explain its global popularity.
Among the more than 2,000 cookbooks it’s spawned, some of the newest entries, such as Ann Mah’s Instantly French! (St. Martin’s Griffin, $29.99) and Rinku Bhattacharya’s Instant Indian (Hippocrene, $25.69) focus on one country’s culinary riches.
Mah’s book, which includes recipes for more than 70 familiar dishes, sometimes involves other tools beyond the Instant Pot.
Bhattacharya’s cookbook, which is one of several on Indian cuisine authorized by Instant Pot, contains more dishes that are one-pot wonders.
“The pressure cooker is the Indian home cook’s tool to ensure that dals are meltingly soft and meats comfortingly tender,” Bhattacharya writes.
Her book collects 100 recipes for dishes for all of India’s regions.