Pressure Cookery

This recent innovation in the art of cooking practised in the Western countries has not yet been taken up by most professional chefs in India. It is however bound to become very popular in due course because of the shorter time required for cooking some of the Indian dishes. The writer uses a pressure cooker as a routine in her cookery demonstrations for housewives. The following notes are therefore appended for the benefit of readers.

The quantity of water, the pressure and the time required for cooking different vegetables, lentils, soups, fleshy foods, etc., have been worked out by the manufacturers of some well-known brands of pressure cookers. Their data is however of little use in Indian cookery. The writer has therefore worked out her own data with regard to pressure cooking. All cooking, except where specifically mentioned, is done at 15 lb pressure. The quantity of water required, the time required for cooking after the pressure is attained and the method of cooling before the pressure cooker is uncovered, are mentioned in the recipes. It may be stated that the data mentioned is with regard to the Presto brand of pressure cookers; in the case of the other types of pressure cookers the quantity of water will have to be varied, the time remaining constant. The details as regards rice cookery are however applicable to all brands of pressure cookers, as no heating is done after a pressure of 15 lb is attained, the pressure being allowed to drop by itself; there is thus no loss of water in the form of escaping steam and hence the quantity of water need not be varied.