I'm too tired to do a properly detailed write-up for this right now, but it was really tasty despite my repeated goofs while preparing it. I've cut back the sugar slightly as I found it a tiny bit too sweet for my taste.

Masala Chai Crème Brûlée

Slightly adapted from Vegetarian Indian Cooking with Your Instant Pot

Ingredients

• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 3 black tea bags
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 6 black peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• 1/2 (3") cinnamon stick
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 5 large egg yolks
• 9 Tbsp. sugar, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Combine cream, milk, tea bags, cardamom, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger in a heatproof (glass or steel) container.
2. Pour 1 1/2 c. of water into the InstantPot and then place the container of cream mixture on a trivet in the InstantPot.
3. Seal the InstantPot and pressure cook on high for 1 minute. Immediately release the pressure and remove the container from the pot. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks with 5 Tbsp. of the sugar, vanilla, and salt.
5. Whisk the egg yolk mixture until it becomes pale yellow.
6. Once steeped, strain the cream mixture, reserving the liquids and discarding the solids.
7. Gradually whisk the cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
8. Pour the custard into a casserole dish or several small ramekins.
9. Cover the casserole/ramekins with foil or a heatproof lid.
10. Add another 1/2 c. of water to the InstantPot and place the casserole/ramekins into the pot on a trivet so that they're elevated above the water. (If using a casserole dish, make sure that you can get it back out again when you're done; if it's a tight fit consider running twine or similar below it that you can use to pull it out.)
    
11. Seal the InstantPot and pressure cook on high for 7 minutes. Allow a 10 minute natural release.
12. Remove casserole/ramekins from InstantPot and allow to cool to room temperature.
13. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and place under broiler for 3-5 minutes to melt and caramelize the sugar.

Black Forest Pavlova

I really enjoyed this take on a pavlova. It tops the meringue with a chocolate mousse and macerated cherries. I original recipe calls for macerating the cherries with marsala wine and dried fruit. I didn't like the sound of that, so I just macerated the cherries with a bit of vanilla sugar. If you wanted to go for an even more black forest-y flavour, you could add a bit of kirsch to the cherries. I thought about adding a bit, but I didn't think that TF or the Kidlet would like it, so I just left it out.

Black Forest Pavolva

Adapted from Delicious.com

Ingredients

Meringue

• 190g sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp. vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mousse

• 200g dark chocolate
• 100g milk chocolate
• 1/2 c. boiling water
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cherries

• 1 1/2 c. halved cherries
• 1/4 c. sugar (vanilla sugar, if possible)
• 1 tsp. kirsch (optional)

Assembly

• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

Meringue

1. Combine cornstarch with sugar and set aside.
2. Add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat until thick and foamy.
3. Begin adding sugar a Tbsp. at a time while still beating.
4. Beat until stiff peaks form.
5. Beat in vinegar and vanilla.
6. Scoop meringue out onto parchment-lined baking sheet and shape into a large bowl/nest.
7. Bake at 135°C (275°F) for 40-45 minutes.
8. Turn oven off and leave meringue in oven to cool overnight (or at least for a few hours).

Mousse

1. Break the chocolate into smallish pieces and place it in a blender jar.
2. Pour in boiling water and blend until smooth.
3. Add egg whites and blend until fully incorporated.
4. Add cream and vanilla and blend until well-combined.
5. Pour into bowl and chill until firm.

Cherries

1. Toss cherries with sugar and kirsch (if using) and set aside to macerate for at least 2 hours.

Assembly

1. Beat the mousse to losen it.
2. If topping with cream, combine the vanilla and cream and sift in the icing sugar, then whip the cream.
3. Spoon the mousse into the meringue.
4. Top with cherries.
5. Top with whipped cream (if using).

Makkai nu Shaak (Corn with Cumin and Curry Leaves)

There's not much to this curry, but it makes a great side to go along with more substantial curries. And it is extremely easy to put together. The Kidlet loved it too!

Makkai nu Shaak

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. ground asafetida
• ~3 c. corn kernels
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 12 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves
• 1-2 fresh green Thai chilies, cut into 2cm pieces

Directions

1. Heat ghee over medium-high heat.
2. Add cumin and cook for 10-20 seconds.
3. Add turmeric and asafetida.
4. Immediately add corn, water, cilantro, salt, curry leaves, and chilies and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally for 8-10 minutes.
6. Serve with rice and curries of your choice. (Iyer recommends Toovar nu dal and rotis.)

Kala Elachi Pulao (Black Cardamom Pulao)

This is a simple rice dish that jazzes things up a bit by adding a few spices (and a lot of saffron) to the rice while it cooks. I did the sautéing in the InstantPot and then just added the rice and water in on top and cooked it as usual. One thing to be wary of when doing this is that you'll need to give the rice a few extra minutes at pressure since the pot is already hot by the time you're adding it. I'm still dailing in exactly how long it needs. The usual 18 minutes wasn't quite enough. I'll try 20 next time and see how that goes.

I'm normally fairly wary of black cardamom, but it just gently infuses the rice in this dish without being overpowering. Just don't bite into one of the pods! The relatively large amount of saffron may seem like a bit much, but I found it balanced out well once combined with everything else. I made my pulao with long-grain brown rice, but I do think this would've been stellar with a nice white basmati rice. The lighter backdrop (in both colour and flavour) would've really let the spices shine. If you do decide to make it with white rice, don't forget to reduce the cooking time accordingly. White rice should only need four or five minutes at high pressure!

Kala elachi pulao (centre), with several curries surrounding it.

Kala Elachi Pulao

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 5 black cardamom pods
• 2 bay leaves (Indian or bay laurel)
• 1 onion, halved and sliced thin
• 1/2 tsp. saffron threads
• 1 c. long-grain brown rice
• 1 c. water

Directions

1. Set InstantPot to Sauté on medium heat.
2. Add ghee and allow it to melt and heat up.
3. Add cardamom pods and bay leaves and cook for 30-60 seconds.
4. Add onion and cook for 3-5 minutes.
5. Stir in the saffron.
6. Add the rice and water.
7. Cancel Sauté, seal InstantPot, and set it to pressure cook on high for 20 minutes.
8. Allow a 10 minute natural release, then fluff the rice with a fork or rice paddle.
9. Serve with your favourite curries. (Iyer recommends rogan josh in particular.)

Vengayam Mendium Kozhumbu (Onion in Tamarind Broth)

Iyer describes this as having a comforting umami-ness similar to French onion soup. He recommends serving it over rice with a little ghee swirled in. I can see where he's coming from with the French onion soup comparison, but I found it a little too tart to be a good analogue. I think next time I'd try cutting the tamarind concentrate back to just 1 tsp. (rather than 1 1/2). It's quite nice otherwise though. The onions really sing.

Vengayam mendium kozhumbu (top right), pictured with makkai nu shaak (bottom), garam masala murghi (left), and kala elachi pulao (centre).

Vengayam Mendium Kozhumbu

Slightly adapted from 600 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 1/4 tsp. ground asafetica
• 1 onion, halved and sliced thin
• 1 Tbsp. Sambhar Masala
• 15 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves
• 4 c. water
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
3. Add fenugreek and asafetida.
4. Add onion and cook for 1 minute.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes.
6. Add sambhar masala and curry leaves and cook for 1 minute.
7. Add water, tamarind concentrate, and salt and stir to deglaze pan.
8. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
9. Boil vigorously until reduced by 25% (~15 minutes).
10. Serve over rice.

I was hit by a powerful chocolate craving today. Normally I probably would've just made some sort of chocolate cake and called it a day. But we had a bunch of bananas that needed to be used, so I decided to dig out this Cook's Country recipe and give it a try.

I've never been a big fan of chocolate chip banana bread, but this double chocolate stuff is good! I always found the little nuggets of stabilized chocolate in chocolate chip banana bread off-putting in texture and jarring in flavour. Swapping out the chocolate chips for chopped dark chocolate deals with the textural issue and adding a chocolate-y backdrop by replacing some of the flour with cocoa nicely addresses the flavour component.
This makes a pleasingly chocolately loaf while still letting the banan come through. It's a nice balance.

My loaf was a bit crumbly and somewhat lacking in structural integrity, but that could've been due to the fact that I ran out of eggs and had to substitute a flax egg. (And then got impatient and didn't wait for the flax egg to properly gel.)

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2020

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c. Dutched cocoa
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 4 bananas, mashed
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 120g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. sugar

Directions

1. Grease and flour a loaf pan and preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, combine mashed bananas, brown sugar, butter, and eggs.
4. Stir dry ingredients into wet and mix until just combined.
5. Mix in chocolate.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan.
7. Sprinkle top with sugar.
8. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 70-80 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 30 minutes.
10. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack for another 30 minutes before slicing.

Garam Masala Murghi (Garam Masala Chicken)

I've been making a conscious effort to eat less meat, but there was a really good sale on just before Christmas, so I grabbed a few chicken thighs to stick in the freezer for later. There are a lot of good chicken curry recipes in Iyer's book. I picked this one because it looked pleasantly easy and is written specifically for skinless, boneless chicken thighs.

I'm pretty happy with how this came out. The sauce has a mild warmth to it and the cream gives it a lovely richness. The Kidlet has declared it a favourite and TF and I really liked as well!

Garam masala murghi (left), pictured with makkai nu shaak (bottom), vengayam mendium kozhumbu (upper right), and kala elaichi pulao (centre).

Garam Masala murghi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1/2 tsp. cloves (whole)
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 (3") cinnamon sticks
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 c. diced tomato (fresh or canned)
• 2 tsp. Punjabi Garam Masala
• 675g skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1/2 c. chicken broth or 1/2 c. water + 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add cloves, cardamom pods, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks and cook for 15-30 seconds.
3. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes and garam masala and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add chicken and broth (or water and salt) and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is cooked through (10-15 minutes).
7. Stir in cream and cook for another 2-4 minutes.
8. Sprinkle in cilantro and serve. (Remove the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cardamom pods before serving if you wish.)