Hi,

I was prowling around looking at various indian recipes here and elsewhere and came across the phrase "pressure cook for ## whistles" Now once I heat my pressure cooker and get it up to temperature, it doesn't whistle, it hisses and does so continuously. Can any kind soul translate "whistles" or whatever, to a time under full pressure - please. An explanation would be good too - just out of interest.

I'm not dumb, and can more or less work out what it's likely to mean, but something a little more precise would be wonderful. Thanks in advance.

Ian (in England)

LOL!

The traditional Indian pressure cookers whistle like an engine. They build pressure and then release it like shhhhhhhhhhhh.., then stop until pressure builds again and go shhhhhhhhhhh again. So, people in India usually count the number of time this happens. So, a particular dal will be cooked for say 2 whistles or 5 whistle and so on.

I will try to amend this as I go along, because new pressure cookers do not do this and give out continuous hiss. Let me know which recipe you are looking at Ian and I will see what I can do. I will also look up in my pressure cooker book and see if there is a simple way of explaining/changing it.

Merry Christmas!

Mamta

Pressure Cooking time in minutes for various Indian dishes

Aloo Dum 1

Beans, Pinto 6

Beans, Soya 20

Beef curry/stew 10-12

Beetroot 10-12

Bengal gram or black chickpeas or kala chana (soaked overnight) 20

Bhappa doi (steamed sweet yoghurt) 20

Black eyed beans (soaked overnight/2 hours in hot water) 6

Cauliflower Bhaji 2

Chicken curry/stew 5

Chickpea curry (soaked overnight or 2 hours in hot water) 20

Coq Au Vin 6

Dal, Chana (soaked 1/2 hours) 4

Dal, Chana and bottle gourd (lauki) 4

Dal, Mah ki (Whole Black Gram, soaked for 2 hours) 30

Dal, Red Gram 12

Dal, Tuvar (Red Gram) 3

Dals, Mixed (like Navratan ?soaked 1/2 hour) 1-2

Dhansak 10-12

Khitcheri/Khichuri (rice and lentil mix) 4

Kidney beans (soaked overnight or 2 hours in hot water) 20

Lamb curry/stew 5

Lamb Saag 6

Matar Paneer 1

Mutton Curry 10-12

Mutton Rogan Josh 10

Peas, dry (soaked for 2 hours) 10

Pilaf, Prawns 3

Pork Curry/stew 6-8

Potato curry

Rice Pilaf, with or without vegetables 3

Rice pudding 10-12

Rice, boiled 2

Soup, vegetable 3-5

Stock Vegetable 15

Stock, Beef, with vegetables 30

Stock, Chicken, with vegetables 15