Making Room for the Instant Pot

Hachiya Persimmons

The other day, my brother asked if I participated in this year's annual celebration of consumerism in the US - Thanksgiving sales. I did, with gusto. I love nothing more than a good bargain. My chief purchases centered around food, of course - an Instant Pot, and an Apple Watch (I'll explain).  

For years, the universe has been sending me signals to buy an Instant Pot, which has been all the rage in American kitchens for quite a while now. There was the New Yorker article on the "Butter Chicken Lady", my favorite NYT food writer, Melissa Clark's columns on the device (paeans to the Instant Pot, really), that eventually morphed into a whole book on Instant Pot cooking, and the actual presence of the dang thing in practically every kitchen I entered. Still, I refrained from buying one, not least because kitchen real estate is at a premium in my home, and the Instant Pot is a hulk of a machine. Plus, the name carries a whiff of a gimmick, I thought. Nothing happens in an instant, after all. 

Lemon Almond Cake with Whipped Cream Topping

A while ago, a blogger I admire shared an incisive comparison of the Instant Pot versus pressure cookers, drilling the idea deeper into my head, and then I happened to have a taste of a spectacular dal makhni cooked in an Instant Pot. Finally, I caved. I haven't regretted the purchase yet. I've already done a lot of experimenting in the Instant Pot. I made Butter Chicken using the Butter Chicken Lady's recipe. I've also tried her recipes for Baingan Bharta, Lamb Biryani, Chicken Biryani, Mushrooms and Chicken, all with resounding success. I am now tempted to make Gajar ka Halwa, a laborious endeavor made easy by the Instant Pot, if she is to be believed.

The Apple Watch is intended to be a complementary purchase. For many years, my husband has been waging an aggressive marketing campaign. It's as though Apple's paid the guy to get a watch on my wrist. You'll never miss a call, he argued. But I don't mind missing calls at all. Too many calls I get are from scamsters (I've won the lottery! They need my social security number!) or from unknown numbers leaving voice messages in what sounds like Chinese. What got me off the fence was the activity tracker. I tested out my husband's watch and realized that it's not a bad thing to be able to keep track of how many dal makhni calories I've burned.  

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The holidays are always a nice excuse to bake. My most successful bake was a lemon almond cake with a lemon curd filling and whipped cream topping. I also attempted a chocolate hazelnut cake using this recipe but was underwhelmed with the results. Tasty, but so crumbly! I also baked a St Louis Butter Cake from the NYT (it's called "butter cake" for good reason - the recipe calls for an ungodly amount of it), and a sweet potato tea cake from the venerable Tartine. 

We recently received a gift of home grown hachiya persimmons. That's the sort of thing that beats any Black Friday bargain deal. Hachiya persimmon must be left out till they turn very soft and mushy. Eaten firm, they'll leave a nasty astringent taste in your mouth. I've never baked with persimmon, so some research is called for. The Apple Watch will be involved (post-baking, of course). If I can summon the creativity, I'll bring in the Instant Pot too. 

St Louis Gooey Butter Cake