The return of the Pressure Cooker

... the joy of pressure cooking

         For all those wondering if I am posting about 'space ships'... be corrected. This day is dedicated to the humble pressure cooker; whistling away since the day it was created by Denis Papin (a real geek of his time: he was a physicist and a mathematician). Now that was the 17th century. Come February 2012... I am still all praise for the brilliant Mr. Papin for his awesome contribution to culinary endeavours. 

         Now most of my friends in Europe (read my generation) views my top gadget with a sort of apprehension and lost-age awe. Most of them claim they have never seen anything like this ever and a few says ... 'it brings back memories of gran's kitchen'... 

All said and done, I am on a mission now: to prove that this out of age looking apparatus is an absolute must have. It can fry, sizzle, boil, steam roast, slow cook, bake and most importantly it whistles (ladies.. no offence). Pressure cooking is nutritious, fast, delicious and today it's image is on the rise;no wonder a few but elite chefs across Europe is shown to be using them (Nigel Slater, Heston Blumenthal et al). There are a host of websites dedicated to this method of cooking. Feel free to go through them. Trust me once you start pressure cooking; there is no looking back. However, like with any appliance, do familiarise yourself with your pressure cooker:read through its instructions carefully to enjoy it's benefits. 

         Now let's get cracking with a very special dish-another all time favourite of mine. It's adapted from a Moroccan recipe I learnt from a friend: Alex Laredo. 

Moroccan style Stewed Lamb with red lentils

Ingredients

500gm     Lamb (go for neck fillet 

               or   shoulder cut), cut    

               into bite-size pieces

250gm     Red lentils, washed and   

               drained

1 med      Onion, finely chopped

350gm     Chopped tomatoes, 

                blanched, skinned and de-seeded

1Tbsp       Tomato puree

100gm     Pumpkin, cut roughly into 1.5 inch chunks

1Tbsp      Garlic, chopped

1tsp         Ginger powder or 1/2 tsp of root ginger

                paste

1 1/2tsp   Cumin powder

1tsp         Cinnamon powder

1/2tsp      Turmeric powder

3Tbsp       Olive oil

2tsp         Paprika (mild/sweet)

1/2 tsp    Paprika (hot)

500ml      Vegetable stock

1/2Tbsp   Honey

2             Bay leaves

1 fistful     Roughly chopped coriander 

1tsp         Lemon juice

               Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker. Depending on the size of your pressure cooker, fry the lamb pieces in batches. Love Bytes: Do not over-crowd the vessel. To achieve the lovely golden brown colour and to retain the juice inside the meat, the oil should be smoking hot. Once laid in the pot, do not shift the meat pieces until a lovely golden crust forms. Once that is done remove the meat immediately and rest. Do not throw away the juice of the rested meat. That's where the real flavours are :)
2. Next up... lets reduce the flame to low. We do not want the bits and pieces stuck to the pot to burn. Lightly scrape the bottom and add the finely chopped onions. Stir for a couple of minutes; then tip in the garlic and bay leaves .Continue sautéing for another 2 minutes. By now the onion should turn translucent and loose it's raw flavours.   
3. Next in: chopped tomatoes. Keeping the heat low, cook the tomatoes till they go pulpy. All nice and sunny in the pot; now is the time for those aromatic stuff: tip in the turmeric powder, cumin powder, cinnamon powder and both varieties of paprika (if you are using the sweet as well as the hot variety). Give it all a nice big stir.
4. Bring in the red lentils and the pumpkin pieces.  Mix well to coat the pumpkin and the lentils with the lovely aromatics and herbs. Next up are the nicely browned lamb pieces. Save the lamb drippings for latter use. Mix again. Tip in the honey and continue stirring for 2 more minutes. At this point add the tomato purée
5. All done: the last bits and bobs before we have a taste of Morocco- Increase heat to medium. Add the vegetable stock and the juices from the lamb.  Check seasoning. One last stir and that's it! Close the lid. 
6. While the pressure cooker works its magic; wait for it to reach full pressure. Like me, if you are using electric hob then...switch off and let the pot remain for around 20 minutes. At the end of that time: release pressure slowly...however, I often wait for the pressure cooker to cool on its own. For this, I take it off the hob after the 15 minutes cook time and let it rest for another 5 minutes or so.
7. Open the lid and check for the right consistency. The finished dish shouldn't be watery at all. The lentils have to be mushy and just about coating the nearly melting pumpkin and lamb pieces. 
8. To serve: add the lemon juice; gently mix and sprinkle a good fistful of freshly chopped coriander. Voila... lovely Moroccan stewed lamb with red lentils. 
9. Ladle it over some couscous or steamed rice or just enjoy with some pitta bread! 

Love Bytes: This method takes around 20 minutes of actual cooking time in my pressure cooker (Yes, from the scratch)... The same recipe would take me at least 45 minutes cooked in a casserole dish, in a conventional oven at 150 degree C. This cooking time is besides the time taken to braised the meat and cook the onion and the tomatoes :)

         For now it's Beslama :) (Moroccan way of saying goodbye. Beslama literally means: I leave you to go safely)... Good night, to all the lovely people out there and see you soon on yet another culinary voyage. .................. ...............................Maverick Cook

My old trusted cooker... still doing what it's meant to do...