Madhur Jaffrey’s Instantly Indian Cookbook: Modern and Classic Recipes for the Instant Pot

Indian food doyenne Jaffrey (Vegetarian India) hops on the Instant Pot bandwagon with this winning collection of recipes that are big on flavor but also more labor-intensive than Instant Pot users may expect. Options include soups, dals, curries, sides, and condiments, with plenty of dishes for vegetarians and omnivores alike. Classics (butter chicken, several chickpea recipes, Goan shrimp curry) mingle with some unexpected dishes (spicy fat French fries, quinoa with tomatoes), any of which would make for a proper feast. Jaffrey rightly encourages home cooks to read a recipe top-to-bottom before beginning; unlike many Instant Pot recipes, hers are more involved than throwing everything in the machine and pressing a button. Many call for using multiple of the device’s cooking modes, and some for using the gadget in addition to, for instance, a good old-fashioned cast iron skillet (to brown the spices for kerala chicken). Readers may question why, for instance, chickpeas should be soaked overnight, as quickly cooking dried legumes is one of the Instant Pot’s selling points. Some meat dishes, meanwhile, call for marinade times ranging from a few hours to overnight. This is a solid cookbook full of rewarding recipes, and one readers will enjoy so long as they don’t confuse “instant” with “quick and easy.” (May)