THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO MAKE THIS ICONIC DISH, BUT TODAY WE'RE USING OUR SECRET SHORTCUT AND THE INSTANT POT.
Remember, this is a very brothy recipe made up essentially of Indian cheese - paneer and peas. So, you don't need long cook times as you would if you were cooking beans. Five minutes is enough. But, note that in the Instant Pot, the warm-up time is 21 minutes. It's the perfect cook time to really pull all the flavors together without overcooking the ingredients.
If you want to scale the recipe below up, simply double the ingredients. The cook time will stay the same, though the warm-up time will increase because of the extra water. From my extensive testing for my new cookbook Instant Pot Indian, I discovered that when scaling a recipe up or down in the Instant Pot, the cook time generally remains the same, but the warm-up time fluctuates.
If you don't want to make paneer (Indian cheese) from scratch at home, head to your grocer. These days, everyone is selling it, even Costco - who I think has some of the best paneer on the market - sold in 2-pound blocks. You can use half and freeze the rest. Pull it out and defrost it when you are ready to use it again.
Check out our scratch stovetop mattar paneer recipe and the stovetop version of this recipe using our Punjabi masala, too!
Pressure Cooker Size: 3 quart or larger
Warm Up: 21 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Cool Down: 10 minutes natural release + manual release
TOTAL: 36 minutes + manual release time
NOTE: I made this recipe using 4 1/2 cups water, but it was slightly too much, why I pulled it back to 3 cups. I will retest it to make sure it's right. If you feel that you need to add a touch of water, just do so after cooking and opening the lid. Add the water and warm it up using the SAUTE setting and simmer until it's the right consistency.
You may not be familiar with all of the spices that I've listed in the recipe and that is okay. Don't stress. Do you need every single one? No! And please make this recipe with whatever spices you have on hand. But, once you collect them all and make your recipe you'll start to understand why we use them and in this combination.
They layer to give you different nuggets of flavor. So each one gets you closer and closer to restaurant-quality cooking. The methi or dried fenugreek is one ingredient that can be very confusing. Keep in mind that we use it in just about all Punjabi cooking - even referring to it as the 'magic' ingredient in our style of cooking. Here's a video that will explain more from my YouTube channel(and please subscribe while you're there!).
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This recipe is by Anupy Singla, founder of Indian As Apple Pie.
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