Letting off steam always produces more heat than light.

• Neal A. Maxwell

The essential of every Indian kitchen, the Pressure Cooker. Without it cooking would take twice as long, thrice in the case of some dishes.

It’s not surprising that most recipes read, “Pressure cook for Moonu (3) whistles” or “Rendu whistle vecha porum” ( 2 whistles will do) or similar.

Whats the “whistle”? Each time the pressure builds up, the safety valve helps push the “weight” that closes the Cooker to make sure pressure is built, and literally let off some steam. So this is the whistle !

And then there is “release pressure” after cooking, in case of foods that need to be somewhat al dente. And “let pressure settle” for those that need to be cooked to a mush, like in the case of Paruppu (lentils.)

The traditional TamBram kitchen starts off with perp in a Pressure Cooker. There is a stack of dishes – Cooker Patharam, and in this, generally, rice, dal and veggies are precooked before the spices are added and they are further modified and tempered. A pair of tongs, the Idiki is used to lift the hot food off the Cooker.

Rice in Pressure Cooker recipe
1 cup washed raw rice
2.5 cups water
3 whistles
Let pressure settle 🙃🙂