PressureBaking is an OPOS technique of cooking food in its own juices at the highest possible heat for the lowest possible time. This produces dramatic results. It heightens flavours, colours, textures, tastes and promises greater nutrition. It is just too good to be true.
Techniques like stir frying, tandoori cooking, barbecuing, grilling rely on the same principle, but they all need an expert. PressureBaking deskills this type of cooking, unlocking it for all.
Pressure cooking food in its own juices, without water, without using inner vessel, over the highest possible heat, for the shortest possible time were all techniques rarely used, if at all, before we developed them step by step. Each refinement took us years and needed hundreds of validations. Every step of this journey has been documented and validated.
This technique evolved in multiple steps.
Step 1 was to choose the right sized pot (2L & 3L) and eliminate the inner vessel. The high temperature & ultra short cooking times needed for PressureBaking cannot be produced in a larger pot or with an inner vessel.
Step 2 was to get comfortable with no water cooking. PressureBaking requires little or no water.
Step 3 was to get comfortable with pressure cooking at the highest heat.
Normal pressure cookers are not designed to be used without water or over high heat. So we partnered with India’s top pressure cooker manufacturers to develop a line of OPOS cookware, especially designed for high heat, no water cooking that PressureBaking demands.
Step 4 was to release pressure immediately to stop cooking. This was a lot tougher than expected as most people believed it will blow up the cooker!
PressureBaking simulates and deskills stir frying. Let’s see what happens to food when it is PressureBaked.
Stage 1: Loading.
Food is cut into thin bits and loaded inside the pressure cooker, in a particular order, starting with a buffer (usually oil/ water or a combination of both). Thick chunks cannot be PressureBaked.
Stage 2: Roasting.
Food is heated at the highest possible heat. Till the pressure builds up, food gets roasted, producing complex flavours unlike boiled or steamed food.
Stage 3: Steam buildup.
The high heat soon causes the pot to fill up with steam – all produced from food’s own juices. As one part of water becomes 1700 parts of steam, very little water is required to build up pressure. This steam buildup needs to happen as fast as possible, to prevent the food getting burnt.
Stage 4: Steam saturation.
As the steam saturates the pot, the temperature drops – because the steam is at around 120 degrees – not as hot as the bottom surface of the cooker. The roasting action is minimised and pressure steaming begins. All regions are at the same temperature and get heated evenly, unlike stir-frying, where the bottom is heated more than the top.
Stage 5: Pressure Baking.
The food is completely enveloped in pressurised steam. This hot steam permeates food, cooking it instantly. Now, the conditions inside the pot perfectly replicate the condition inside an oven, with an important difference. This cooking condition can be replicated anywhere across the world. All our pots behave almost the same way, whether you are on a mountain top or in a submarine. The temperature difference caused by atmospheric pressure ceases to matter. This is the step which deskills the recipe, as you do not need to exercise your judgement to see if food is cooked or not. All you need to do is to count whistles or go by time once the vessel is pressurised. The absence of water ensures over 5 times as much heat is transferred to food as compared to pressure cooking. This is the key reason why pressure baking is ultra fast and makes food come alive.
Stage 6: Quick release.
Once food is cooked, any further heating has to stop immediately. Even after the heat is turned off, the pressurised steam continues to cook food. This steam is released manually to prevent it from overcooking food.Each second matters as overcooking makes food lose its colour, texture and flavour.
Stage 7: Shocking.
The cooked food & the pot still retain heat. This heat continues to cook food and again causes overcooking. This heat needs to be removed by transferring the contents to a colder vessel.
All these steps need to happen in the order specified for PressureBaking to work.
Like most OPOS recipes, all this science is hidden behind a deceptively simple recipe
In a 2L pressure cooker layer as below:
Layer 1: 2tbsp oil
Layer 2: 2C chopped beans
Layer 3: 1 chopped green chilli, 1/4tsp salt
Cook on high for 2 whistles/4 minutes. Release pressure. Mix all.
“This technique opened up a million possibilities! We ended up PressureBaking a huge range of recipes across cuisines from starters, to desserts. The bulk of the world’s cuisine has been suddenly demystified.”
Now the road was clear. We just needed to figure out ways to PressureBake everything. We soon learnt how to:
1. PressureBake veggies/ meat into dry curries or sides.
2. PressureBake vegetables and blend them into soups or mash them into sauces.
3. PressureBake & mix in a liquid to make gravies.
4. PressureBake vegetables with processed starch (rice, bulgur, couscous, oats etc) into a meal.
5. PressureBake non-watery vegetables/ meats/ seafood with cheese or a dip into appetizers.
6. PressureBake fruits and vegetables with sugar to make puddings/ jams.
7. PressureBake vegetables/ meats with a spice paste into innumerable gravies, across cuisines.
8. PressureBake rice/ pasta/ noodles sandwiched between vegetables/ meats into no-water biriyanis/ pasta/ noodles.
9. PressureBake eggs by layering them over vegetables/ meats.
10. PressureBake lentils without water after soaking them overnight.
And finally, we learnt to PressureBake all these together into a full thali or three to four course meal.
It was not easy. At first, we were spooked by the unreal colours and the very different flavours, textures and tastes. Some of us liked it. Many did not. It took almost an year of validations before this technique was accepted. People used to mushy, overcooked food fought it the most. Then the children stepped in with their validations. In home after home members reported their children preferred PressureBaked vegetables and refused to eat vegetables cooked the traditional way. The bright colours, firm textures and clean flavours of PressureBaked vegetables appealed to their heightened senses. It was children who validated this technique and made PressureBaking happen.
One Pot One Shot® 