Cook for Two Whistles
Having assisted at the Viking Cooking School with a "Taste of India" class I was inspired to prepare my own taste at home for my best friend aka my hubby. We have friends from India and occasionally they will give me packets of spices and such to use. So I got out a packet of Parampara Chhole Gravy mix and set about preparing the dish along with samoosa's and naan.
Knowing that my friend uses her pressure cooker for many of their meals, I decided that I would use mine. I placed the soaked chick peas and contents of the gravy packet in my PC and secured the lid. I then read the cooking instructions on the packet to determine just how long to cook the chick peas. Imagine my surprise when I read, "Cook for 2 whistles." What in heavens name is 2 whistles? I got out my PC book to check whether it said anything about whistles. No such luck. So I hit the Internet and googled "cook for two whistles" and lo and behold I found the answer.
Apparently this cooking instruction is based on the Hawkins pressure cooker of India. Indian PC's whistle periodically to let off steam many many cooks use this as a rough guide to time the recipe. According to the information I found two whistles is about 15 minutes of cooking once the pressure has built up.
So I cooked my chick peas for two whistles and they were a bit underdone for our tastes, but tasty nonetheless. I can't wait to see my friend. She'll be impressed that I know what "cook to two whistles" means!
Knowing that my friend uses her pressure cooker for many of their meals, I decided that I would use mine. I placed the soaked chick peas and contents of the gravy packet in my PC and secured the lid. I then read the cooking instructions on the packet to determine just how long to cook the chick peas. Imagine my surprise when I read, "Cook for 2 whistles." What in heavens name is 2 whistles? I got out my PC book to check whether it said anything about whistles. No such luck. So I hit the Internet and googled "cook for two whistles" and lo and behold I found the answer.
Apparently this cooking instruction is based on the Hawkins pressure cooker of India. Indian PC's whistle periodically to let off steam many many cooks use this as a rough guide to time the recipe. According to the information I found two whistles is about 15 minutes of cooking once the pressure has built up.
So I cooked my chick peas for two whistles and they were a bit underdone for our tastes, but tasty nonetheless. I can't wait to see my friend. She'll be impressed that I know what "cook to two whistles" means!
I think the instructions might have been for Indian Chickpeas, too! I just discovered some at my local Indian Mart and had to buy them because they are so cute. They look like miniature, slightly darker versions than the chickpeas we know and love. Sooo cute, and probably needing less time to cook, too!
ReplyDeleteI hope you decide to make more with your pressure cooker!
Ciao,
L
hip pressure cooking
making pressure cookers hip again, one recipe at a time!