Madhur Jaffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook

Title:  Madhur Jaffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook: Modern and Classic Recipes for the Instant Pot® Author:  Madhur Jaffrey About the author:  Regarded by many as the world authority on Indian food, Madhur Jaffrey is an award-winning actress and best-selling cookbook author. Her classic first book, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, was published by Knopf in 1973, and she has been the host of a series, “Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery,” for BBC television. She won James Beard Awards in 1982, 1994, 2000, 2002, and 2004.  
  • Our favorite Indian cookbook author has jumped onto the Instant Pot wagon and shares over 75 recipes from soups to curries.
  • Many of the recipes use other functions of the multicooker besides the pressure setting – such as the steam or saute function.
  • There are plenty of beautiful photographs throughout.
  • Try the Chicken in a yogurt sauce recipe shared below now.
Chicken in a yogurt sauce Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue +Bookshelf button). This is an excellent dish to make if you are entertaining. Serve it with Saffron Rice with Golden Raisins (page 123). Make the chicken first and remove it from the Instant Pot (it can be reheated later in a microwave oven). Clean out the inner pot, dry it well, and then make the rice. Serves 4-5
  • 2 pounds boned and skinned chicken thighs, most blobs of fat removed, cut into 1½-inch pieces
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼-1 teaspoon chili powder
  • One 3-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 2 green bird’s-eye chilies or ½-1 jalapeño, chopped, with seeds
  • 2 tablespoons chickpea flour
  • 1 cup plain yogurt, the sourer, the better
  • ¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 4 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
  • 15-20 fresh curry leaves, if available
  • 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 teaspoon My Garam Masala (page 154)
1. Sprinkle the chicken pieces evenly on both sides with 1 teaspoon salt, lots of black pepper, the cumin, coriander, and chili powder. Mix well, put in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight if you have the time, or for as little as an hour. 2. Put the ginger, garlic, green chilies, and about 6 tablespoons water into a blender and blend to a paste, pushing down with a rubber spatula as needed. Scrape out the paste and put in a bowl. Set aside. 3. Put the chickpea flour in another bowl. Slowly add 1 cup water, a teaspoon at a time, mixing with a whisk until you have a very smooth, lumpless paste. Now whisk in the yogurt, turmeric, and ½ teaspoon salt. Set aside. Select the SAUTÉ setting on your Instant Pot and set to More. When the screen says Hot, swirl in the oil. Wait a few seconds and put in the curry leaves. They will splatter, so stand back. Immediately add the ginger-garlic paste. Turn heat to Normal. Stir and sauté for 2-3 minutes, sprinkling a little water into the pot if seasonings start to stick. Add the chicken. Keep stirring for another 2 minutes, again sprinkling in a little water if anything seems to catch. Now add 1 cup water, the cilantro, and the garam masala. Stir to mix. 4. Hit CANCEL to reset the cooking program. Close and seal the lid and cook on LOW PRESSURE for 1 minute. Release the pressure manually. Take off the lid carefully, venting the remaining steam away from you. Select the SAUTÉ setting and set to More. Stir the yogurt mixture and pour it in. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring now and then, or until the sauce thickens. Turn the Instant Pot OFF or set to KEEP WARM as needed. My garam masala Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue +Bookshelf button). Makes about 3 tablespoons Almost every family in India has its own garam masala recipe, all differing slightly from each other. Garam means “hot” and masala means “spices.” But the “hot” in garam refers to spices that heat the body, not spiciness. Garam masalas not only heat the body, they are also very aromatic. They can be used whole or ground and tend to include cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, black peppercorns, black cumin, and black cardamom. Many people substitute green cardamom for the black (I do) and regular cumin for the black (I don’t). All these spices are relatively expensive. In commercially prepared garam masalas, many cheaper fillers, like coriander, are thrown in, so the aroma and intensity of the mix is lessened. When I say “My Garam Masala” in a recipe, I am referring to my more concentrated, highly aromatic mix. Most Indian grocers sell cardamom seeds, so you do not have to sit around peeling cardamom pods!
  • 1 tablespoon cardamom seeds
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon black cumin (also called shah zeera)
  • 1 teaspoon whole cloves
  • One 2-inch stick of cinnamon, broken up
  • 1⁄3 whole nutmeg seed (just hit the seed with a hammer)
Put all the spices into the container of a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder and grind as finely as possible. Store the mixture in a jar with a tight lid, away from dampness and light. It should last several months. Kalustyan’s, in New York City, is now selling My Garam Masala as Madhur Jaffrey’s Garam Masala, using this very recipe. You may buy it from them if you wish.

The publisher is offering three copies of this book to EYB Members in the US and EYB will provide one copy worldwide. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post and this forum post. Once you log in and enter your member name you will be directed to the next entry option – the blog comment. After that, there are additional options that you can complete for more entries.

Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on September 12th, 2019.

Recipe excerpted from Madhur Jaffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook: Modern and Classic Recipes for the Instant Pot® Copyright © 2019 by Madhur Jaffrey and with permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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158 Comments

  • mmask  on  July 14, 2019

    Chicken in a yoghurt sauce

  • SherTN  on  July 14, 2019

    My Mother’s Red Lentil Soup

  • vickster  on  July 14, 2019

    Royal Chicken Korma

  • Laura1  on  July 14, 2019

    My Mother's Red Lentil Soup

  • MarciK  on  July 14, 2019

    Southern-style mushrooms in a creamy coconut sauce

  • lauriesk  on  July 14, 2019

    Sweet, hot, and sour eggplants

  • matag  on  July 14, 2019

    Goan shrimp curry

  • Amdona  on  July 14, 2019

    Indian Chinese pork chops

  • southerncooker  on  July 14, 2019

    Green bean stir fried in south Indian style.

  • Judyfos  on  July 14, 2019

    My Mother’s Red Lentil Soup

  • ravensfan  on  July 14, 2019

    Salmon in a Bengali mustard sauce (Bengali macchi)

  • AlexH  on  July 14, 2019

    Royal Chicken Korma!

  • infotrop  on  July 14, 2019

    Lamb kabobs

  • stepspior  on  July 14, 2019

    Royal chicken korma

  • amyz218  on  July 14, 2019

    Lamb kabobs

  • Kristjudy  on  July 14, 2019

    Goan shrimp curry

  • cora429  on  July 14, 2019

    Beef oxtail in a bazaari North Indian red sauce

  • Cmoran  on  July 14, 2019

    Southern-style mushrooms in a creamy coconut sauce

  • tpop  on  July 14, 2019

    chicken korma

  • ktcupcake  on  July 14, 2019

    Basmati rice pilaf with whole garam masala and dill (Sooay kay chawal)

  • Salter  on  July 14, 2019

    Chicken in Kerala's Spices — my husband loves anything Keralan

  • JenjiRM  on  July 14, 2019

    Butter chicken (Murgh makkhani)

  • Joy001  on  July 14, 2019

    Goan shrimp curry

  • miggsy  on  July 14, 2019

    Sweet, hot, and sour eggplants

  • thecharlah  on  July 14, 2019

    Chicken mulligatawny soup

  • kmn4  on  July 14, 2019

    Saffron rice with golden raisins (Zaafraan uar kushmish ka pullao)

  • LeMinou  on  July 15, 2019

    Shrimp Curry

  • oreganoca  on  July 15, 2019

    Cauliflower with cilantro and ginger

  • sarahawker  on  July 15, 2019

    Royal chicken korma

  • hdh74  on  July 16, 2019

    My Mother’s Red Lentil Soup

  • alemily  on  July 16, 2019

    Southern-style mushrooms in a creamy coconut sauce

  • barbarapalermo  on  July 16, 2019

    My Mother's Red Lentil Soup

  • SarahGelle  on  July 16, 2019

    I'm going to make the chicken in yogurt sauce today! I can't wait for the cookbook to arrive

  • Elena Rose  on  July 16, 2019

    Mango soup

  • bopper  on  July 17, 2019

    Gujarati Mango Soup is one I would love to try

  • Steben  on  July 17, 2019

    My Mother’s Red Lentil Soup

  • mfsimmons  on  July 18, 2019

    Every day chickpeas!

  • lselke  on  July 18, 2019

    Red lentils cooked in a Muslim style.

  • BatshevaR  on  July 18, 2019

    Muligatawny soup

  • vivi  on  July 19, 2019

    Chicken mulligatawny soup sounds delicious!

  • lapsapchung  on  July 20, 2019

    Green beans stir-fried in a South Indian style because we are about to have a glut of beans in the garden

  • dtremit  on  July 21, 2019

    Sweet, hot, and sour eggplants seems perfect for the summer!

  • tennyogirl  on  July 23, 2019

    Mung dal, rice, and cabbage soup

  • Lafauvette  on  July 25, 2019

    buttery dal

  • luccio  on  July 25, 2019

    My mother's red lentil soup

  • Joy001  on  July 25, 2019

    Royal Chicken Korma.

  • DarcyVaughn  on  July 25, 2019

    Gujarati hot, sweet, and sour red kidney beans (Gujarati rajma)

  • Ozma81  on  July 25, 2019

    Southern-style mushrooms in a creamy coconut sauce

  • lookncook72  on  July 25, 2019

    Sweet, hot, and sour eggplants. I LOVE eggplants!

  • BMeyer  on  July 25, 2019

    lamb kabobs

  • pedturn  on  July 25, 2019

    After going through the whole list, I came back to the cold yogurt soup, with chickpeas, cucs and tomatoes !

  • Knordahl  on  July 25, 2019

    Shrimp curry or lamb kabobs

  • Siegal  on  July 26, 2019

    Red lentil soup

  • sipa  on  July 26, 2019

    Chicken cooked with Kerala's seasonings

  • Sfgordon  on  July 26, 2019

    South Indian mixed-vegetable korma

  • t.t  on  July 27, 2019

    Everyday chickpeas (Ghar kay chanay)

  • Arinelle  on  July 27, 2019

    Sweet, hot, and sour eggplants

  • Tabby72  on  July 27, 2019

    Shrimp curry!

  • antpantsii  on  July 28, 2019

    Sweet hot and sour eggplant

  • mhindle  on  July 28, 2019

    Brown lentils with zucchini (Sabut masoor aur zucchini)

  • braabpro  on  July 29, 2019

    my mother's red lentil soup

  • cellenly  on  July 29, 2019

    Royal chicken korma

  • kennethjohngilmour  on  July 29, 2019

    cauliflower with cilantro and ginger found on page 40

  • jd5761  on  July 30, 2019

    Buttery Dahl for me

  • Aminata95  on  July 30, 2019

    Lamb kabobs

  • joneshayley  on  July 31, 2019

    Beets in Delhi style tomato sauce

  • dmcfann  on  July 31, 2019

    Beef oxtail in bazaari North Indian red sauce

  • Maefleur  on  August 1, 2019

    my mother's red lentil soup

  • hrk  on  August 3, 2019

    Brown lentils with zucchini (Sabut masoor aur zucchini)

  • GregH  on  August 3, 2019

    Beef oxtail in a bazaari North Indian red sauce (Lal gosht)

  • lindaeatsherbooks  on  August 4, 2019

    I would make the chicken mulligatawny soup.

  • Livia  on  August 4, 2019

    Goat curry!

  • stitchan  on  August 5, 2019

    Squid in a tomato-chili sauce

  • elsid22  on  August 7, 2019

    Chicken korma

  • artthecat  on  August 7, 2019

    Butter chicken

  • VeryVigario  on  August 8, 2019

    Kale cooked in a Kashmiri style

  • katehenderson  on  August 9, 2019

    Creamy cauliflower soup!

  • daniellespinato1  on  August 9, 2019

    Black-eyed peas with mushrooms (Labhia aur khumbi)

  • kitchenclimbers  on  August 9, 2019

    mango soup

  • LaurenE  on  August 11, 2019

    Royal Chicken Korma

  • NaomiH  on  August 12, 2019

    Southern-style mushrooms in a creamy coconut sauce

  • EmilyR  on  August 16, 2019

    Royal Chicken Korma

  • Shelmar  on  August 16, 2019

    Black eyed peas and mushrooms

  • Dendav  on  August 16, 2019

    Chicken Korma

  • Roosta  on  August 16, 2019

    Spicy fat French fries

  • dprice  on  August 16, 2019

    The "My mother's red lentil soup" recipe. I love red lentils!

  • MoonOverParma  on  August 16, 2019

    Chicken in yogurt sauce

  • HomespunHouse  on  August 16, 2019

    My mother's red lentil soup

  • sequoia55  on  August 17, 2019

    Royal chicken korma

  • Glossopswift  on  August 17, 2019

    Potatoes in a Marwari style

  • echarest  on  August 17, 2019

    Chicken in Yogurt Sauce

  • divamode  on  August 17, 2019

    Carrots and peas with sesame seeds

  • Nuthatch34293  on  August 17, 2019

    Goan Shrimp curry

  • Hobarttheowl  on  August 18, 2019

    Royal chicken korma!

  • Tapper42nd  on  August 18, 2019

    Butter dal!

  • RickPearson54  on  August 18, 2019

    goat curry

  • mattiwilson  on  August 18, 2019

    Rajasthani red braised lamb (Rajasthani gosht) for sure. Had a version of this 8 years ago and have been looking for a recipe since!

  • parisiansummer  on  August 19, 2019

    Butter Chicken / Murgh Makhani

  • mkcorban  on  August 19, 2019

    Royal chicken korma

  • deanfromuk  on  August 20, 2019

    Chicken mulligatawny soup, my grandfather used to make me beef mulligatawny

  • Alleycat  on  August 20, 2019

    Chicken korma or chickpeas with ginger tomato sauce.

  • Caliope  on  August 20, 2019

    Butter chicken!

  • trudys_person  on  August 20, 2019

    Lamb Kabobs! Yum!

  • Ishtar  on  August 21, 2019

    Lamb pilaf

  • love2chow  on  August 21, 2019

    Lamb with spinach (Saag gosht)

  • DimensionAEB  on  August 22, 2019

    I would like to try My Mother’s Red Lentil Soup

  • auntietina  on  August 24, 2019

    Sweet, hot, and sour eggplants

  • Robynfs  on  August 26, 2019

    Spicy Fat French Fries sounds like a winner to me!

  • Uhmandanicole  on  August 26, 2019

    Mung dal with spinach (Saag wali moong)

  • banba1  on  August 27, 2019

    Buttery dal (Dal makkhani)

  • jamston  on  August 27, 2019

    Ground lamb with peas (Keema matar)

  • JHann  on  August 27, 2019

    Goan shrimp curry

  • sedm3949  on  August 28, 2019

    Rajasthani red braised lamb!

  • sammii04  on  August 29, 2019

    Eggs in a tomato-tamarind Hyderabadi sauce sounds delicious.

  • musteat  on  August 29, 2019

    creamy cauliflower soup

  • YumRead  on  August 29, 2019

    Mung dal with spinach (Saag wali moong) (page 18)
    from Madhur Jaffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook: Modern and Classic Recipes for the Instant Pot® by Madhur Jaffrey

  • MaggieMaggieMae  on  August 29, 2019

    My Mother’s Red Lentil Soup

  • RobinF  on  August 30, 2019

    I would try the featured recipe ‘Chicken in a Yoghurt Sauce’ as this really appeals to me after reading the recipe.

  • Mtetpon  on  August 30, 2019

    Lamb kaboby

  • silversand  on  August 30, 2019

    Gujarati hot, sweet, and sour red kidney beans (Gujarati rajma)

  • Tsanchez  on  August 30, 2019

    Just checked this out from the library, and I’d love to have a copy of my own! The buttery dal looks oh so comforting.

  • catmommy9  on  August 30, 2019

    Black-eyed peas with mushrooms looks good.

  • Chrissey  on  August 30, 2019

    Chicken mulligatawny

  • sheridarby  on  August 30, 2019

    Butter chicken (Murgh makkhani)

  • paulbing  on  August 30, 2019

    Chicken Korma

  • Mtopola  on  August 31, 2019

    Southern-style mushrooms in a creamy coconut sauc

  • carajanehunter  on  August 31, 2019

    Muligatawny soup

  • WombatCuddler  on  August 31, 2019

    Everyday chickpeas (Ghar kay chanay)

  • Elve56  on  August 31, 2019

    Brown lentils with zucchini, Madhur Jaffrey’s flavors are so amazing even with simple ingredients.

  • kitchen_chick  on  September 1, 2019

    Gujarati mango soup

  • Jtdodd  on  September 4, 2019

    The Goan Shrimp Curry sounds delicious!

  • Lora724  on  September 4, 2019

    Butter chicken (Murgh makkhani).

  • platinumpansy  on  September 6, 2019

    My Mother’s Red Lentil Soup would be the first to try

  • kimbolarson  on  September 6, 2019

    Chicken mulligatawny soup is always a great choice.

  • Anniefro21  on  September 6, 2019

    Buttery dal

  • jlemoine  on  September 7, 2019

    The red chicken curry. Yum!

  • kalex426  on  September 7, 2019

    Fennel-flavored fish curry with cauliflower

  • jlemoine  on  September 7, 2019

    The red chicken curry.

  • KittyPride  on  September 7, 2019

    I would try to make Mung dal, rice, and cabbage soup.

  • Lijstjesmeisje  on  September 7, 2019

    Let’s start with Chicken in a yoghurt sauce and work our way through.

  • ARackerby  on  September 8, 2019

    Ground lamb with peas (Keema matar)

  • AudreyMenard  on  September 8, 2019

    Royal chicken Korma

  • HelenAus  on  September 8, 2019

    Chicken in yoghurt sauce

  • kimboston206  on  September 8, 2019

    Chicken in yogurt

  • Karla123  on  September 8, 2019

    Cauliflower with cilantro and ginger!

  • ameliark  on  September 8, 2019

    Chicken cooked with Kerala’s seasonings

  • lene  on  September 8, 2019

    Ny mother’s red lentil soup

  • okmosa  on  September 8, 2019

    I would make anything in this book! But I searched for the very first Indian dish I ever made and there it was – saag gosht!!

  • Shelley.b  on  September 8, 2019

    Goan shrimp curry

  • Berryd  on  September 8, 2019

    Butter chicken

  • PeavineBlues  on  September 8, 2019

    Pongola
    Puli Jingha

  • Dannausc  on  September 9, 2019

    Sweet, hot, and sour eggplants

  • CAKelly  on  September 10, 2019

    Beets in a Delhi-style tomato sauce

  • janv  on  September 10, 2019

    Goat curry (Bakri ka gosht)

  • calguire  on  September 11, 2019

    Lamb pilaf (Yakhni pullao)

  • mph993  on  September 12, 2019

    Salmon in a Bengali mustard sauce (Bengali macchi)

  • starzine  on  September 13, 2019

    Chicken mulligatawny soup.

  • Breeze81  on  September 29, 2019

    I’m really excited about this cookbook. I’d love to try the Green bean stir fried in south Indian style

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