Pressure Cooker Pork Vindaloo

Pressure Cooker Perfection from America's Test Kitchen

We've had a pressure cooker for a bit over a year now. In that time, we've been experimenting with it here and there, making short ribs and stocks, and playing around with our own pressure cooker concoctions. 

But now we've been inspired to kick our pressure cooker use into high gear over the last few weeks after reading the new book from America's Test Kichen: Pressure Cooker Perfection. 

We've previously read and recommended Lorna Sass's Pressure Perfect for those wanting to get more use out of their pressure cookers. Sass, the grande dame of pressure cooker chefs, published her first pressure cooker book in 1989 and quickly established herself as the go-to expert on using pressure cookers in the home. 

We still recommend Sass's book, but we love this new book from America's Test Kitchen. (Full disclosure: We recevied a free press copy from ATK). It's smartly organized and filled with recipes we want to try. The first we dove into was Braised Chicken Thighs with Potatoes. It resulted in a delicious chicken in a flavorful gravy-like sauce -- truly delicious. 

For our second foray, we wanted something more exotic to share with you. We opted for a dish that was new to us: Pork Vindaloo.

We've eaten our fair share of Indian food, including vindaloos. Back in the day, when we first met, we used to love going to this trashy Indian buffet in our neighborhood for lunch on weekends. The food was not great, but we really loved it. There was something about curries on a Saturday afternoon that became a bit of a tradition. 

That place has long since closed, we moved from the neighborhood and our Indian food consumption has taken a steep nose dive. In our own kitchen, we've played with Indian recipes here and there (they don't frequently come up in food magazines). Flipping through Pressure Cooker Perfection, the Pork Vindaloo stuck out to us because it was a new idea. We've had plenty of other vindaloos, but never considered one with pork.

The recipe combines a bevy of spices with pork, tomatoes, vinegar and sugar. The result is a thick, flavorful sauce. 

There are a few things we'd do differently next time:

• We'd more thoroughly trim our pork. We didn't trim nearly enough fat from our pork butt, resulting in too many fatty pieces in the final product. When you trim yours, we recommending that you remove all of the thick layer of fat. 

• We'd watch our heat. Once our pressure cooker got up to high pressure, we kept our heat too high, resulting in a caked-on mess in the bottom of our cooker. It all cleaned up fine (eventually, thanks to Bon Ami -- have we talked about that with you guys yet? Because it's our favorite cleaning product these days. Yes, we have a favorite cleaning product.). But the too-high heat was a rookie mistake on our part. 

If you want to get on the pressure cooker bandwagon, here's what we recommend:

1. Get yourself a pressure cooker. We have the Fagor 8-Quart Pressure Cooker ($109 on Amazon). Every pressure cooker test that we read recommends this as the best buy for the money. We've been incredibly happy with it. 

2. Buy a copy of Pressure Cooker Perfect ($11 on Amazon). 

Trust us, you can handle the pressure. 

 

 

 

 

Pork Vindaloo
Pressure Cooker Perfection from America's Test Kitchen
Purchase a copy of Pressure Cooker Perfection

Notes from Zach and Clay:

We'd make two changes when we make this a second time:

• We'd more thoroughly trim our pork. We didn't trim nearly enough fat from our pork butt, resulting in too many fatty pieces in the final product. When you trim yours, we recommending that you remove all of the thick layer of fat. 

• We'd watch our heat. Once our pressure cooker got up to high pressure, we kept our heat too high, resulting in a mess in the bottom of our cooker. 

 

Serves 6
Total time: 1 1/2 hours (30 minutes under pressure)
Pressure Level: High
Release: Natural 

Ingredients

3 pounds boneless pork butt roast (sometimes referred to as Boston butt), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 onions, chopped fine
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

1. BUILD FLAVOR: Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pressure-cooker pot over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of meat on all sides, about 8 minutes; transfer to bowl.  

2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, mustard seeds, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and cloves and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in broth, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps. Stir in tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, browned pork with any accumulated juices, and remaining pork. 

3. High Pressure for 30 minutes: Lock pressure-cooker lid in place and bring to high heat pressure over medium-high heat. As soon as pot reaches high pressure, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to maintain high pressure. 

4. Naturally release pressure: Remove pot from heat and allow pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure, then carefully remove lid, allowing steam to escape away from you. 

5. Before serving: Using large spoon, skim excess fat from surface of soup. Stir in cilantro, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.