Instant Pot Recipe Reviews

Keeping track of instant pot recipes that I've tried & any modifications made:

Liked

1. Chicken Biriyani (Indian IP cookbook)
1. Made this doubling everything in her recipe, so my notes are also taking the doubling into account; doubling it makes ~4 servings (deff not her suggested 12 lol)
2. used 6 bone-in drumsticks (~2 lbs) rather than boneless one inch pieces, which requires a longer pressure cook time (10 minutes instead of 5)
3. Used one large jalapeño instead
1. you can use 1 tsp of chili powder if you don't have fresh jalapeño, though I think I preferred the fresh jalapeño 
4. I blended the required ginger, garlic, and jalapeño rather than dicing them 
5. Salt to taste = 1 tsp of salt
6. Used slightly more cumin seeds than recommended
2. Firni aka Rice Pudding (Indian IP cookbook)
1. doubled the recipe and used slightly less sugar (she recommended 1/2 cup but I used 1/3)
2. If you don't have half-and-half but have heavy cream, you can sub with half as much (1/2 cup half-and-half = 1/4 cup heavy cream)
3. Khichuri (Indian IP cookbook)
1. Used regular long-grain rice instead of the recommended short-grain rice
2. Also used chana daal instead of moong daal 
3. Changes I would incorporate next time I try this:
1. To make it more watery next time, I would add more water at the start
2. I would cook for a few minutes more to get the daal a little more soft
4. The yogurt for serving was made with blended yogurt, milk, salt, cumin powder, and coriander leaves
4. Aloo Gobi (Indian IP cookbook)
1. Since I used frozen cauliflower, I set the pressure cooker to 4 minutes instead of the recommended 2.  I think the cauliflower was still a little hard, though perfectly edible, so maybe next time I'll set it to 5 or 6 minutes.
2. I like adding the pav bhaji boxed spice when I make cauliflower bhaji on the stove.  Next time, I'll be adding that to this dish.

Ambivalent

1. Tomato Soup (Official Instant Pot Cookbook)
1. I might try blending the ingredients before I cook them next time, though after I saute the onions and carrots.  Since I don't have an immersion blender, probably the easiest way to go.
2. I didn't have any chicken stock on hand, but the soup tasted fine with just water.
3. I added my own whole spices: whole peppercorns, elachi, bayleaves, allspice.  
4. Overall not a fan of tomato soup in general, but I had a weird craving for this with a grilled cheese sandwich.  Even though I dislike tomato soup in general, this wasn't bad.  I didn't love it, but that's probably because I don't generally like tomato soup.

Disliked

1. Beef Curry (Indian IP cookbook)
1. tasted really bland.  biggest disappointments were saltiness, spiciness, depth of flavor, and lack of tenderness
2. Look at this recipe for tips on what to do instead
3. What I would do differently next time: incorporate changes from the above & pressure cook for a longer amount of time to make beef more tender
1. I incorporated the changes mentioned above but the beef was still very watery
4. What I would do differently next time: saute the onions, ginger, and garlic in oil with the spices instead of blending & no tomatoes next time, less water if possible (though the pressure cooker does need a cup minimum to build pressure.  I think the blended tomatoes exacerbated the water problem)
1. I don't know what to do about the bitter/bland taste the beef had though
2. I like cooking it for a long time because it makes the beef super tender.  85 minutes on high and it was falling apart beautifully (one thick cut, cubed beef will need a lot less time and may not fall apart as well)
3. Maybe could try marinating it overnight?
5. Bottom line is that the beef recipe needs a lot of work before it tastes good