South Indian style Channa Masala recipe with Preethi Electric Pressure Cooker Review !! - Cook with Smile (2024)

North Indian Curry/ PRODUCT REVIEW

Pressure cooker is probably one of the most important kitchen gadget in India . Most of us have multiple pressure cookers with different specifications and capacity which we use it in our day to day cooking . Be it for making rice / pulao / cooking veggies / legumes oe even steaming Idli Dokhla . Yes such handy they are making our life soeasy saving lot of time and energy .I recently received Preethi Electric Pressure Cooker and happy to review it here . The various pre set options already available in the cooker is really very helpful . I decided to make South Indian style Channa Masala using pre programmed Channa option in Preethi Electric pressure cooker. Making this Channa curry in one pot Preethi EPC was super easy and the end result was a well cooked delicious channa masala !!! I have attached a quick video for the recipe .. don’t miss !!!

About Preethi :

I am sure Preethi requires no introduction from me as it has been over the years the household brand name in India and pioneer in the kitchen appliance and utilities . Started in 1978 , Preethi is now India’s largest mixer grinder brand and a leading kitchen appliances company ..with its presence in over 10 million households across India and abroad.

About Preethi Electric Pressure Cooker :

In India Electric pressure cookers are still not very common in every households . But having recently used the product i am just loving it . The electric pressure cookers are more safer than the conventional ones . The various auto programs helps in easy cooking and keeps the food warm for hours . There are no more hassles in whistles .Having read manypositive reviews about Preethi EPC .. It was in my wishlist from long and happy to own one !!

If you ask me some highlight features of the product, here they are:

• Pre-programmed Indian cooking menus – Preethi Touch is a 8-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker. Using the pre set menus cooking Rice, Pulao/Briyani, Channa, Chicken, Gravies, Meat, Idly ,Pongal etc is as simple as pressing a button .Most Traditional, Modern and international recipes can be done within an hour . Switch on the EPC and carry on with your other work .. no need to monitor in between .. !!

• Adjustuable Cooking level setting : The EPC has 3 buttons..Coarse ,Medium and well done .. using which one can select the texture of food to be cooked . For ex.. if you are cooking veggies for sambar .. we don’t want it to be mushy .. so select medium . However .. if you are cooking for babies.. you can select well done .
• Keep-warm mode– Once the dish is cooked, it automatically comes to the keep-warm mode and it retains the temperature of the food.This keeps the food warm up to 4 hours. This is really helpful when we want to cook ahead for parties and get togethers.

• No whistle shouts and freedom to serve food instantly – The best part of the cooker is once you select the timer .. you can just forget about it and carry on with your other works . You needn’t worry about reducing flame after 1 whistle / switching off after 3 whistles etc … everything is taken care by Preethi EPC and that too without any noise . And importantly ..you can serve the dishes instantly.. no need to wait for pressure drop like a normal pressure cooker . This definitely saves lot of time .
• Non stick pan – The non stick pan that comes along with the EPC is very handy both for open cooking ( sauteing onions, etc ) and closed cooking . No sticking at the bottom even when i cooked Biryani .
• On-demand –The on demand pressure button helps in quick cooking with a quick pressure build up .Onecan adjust timer and texture too in it. Helps in quick cooking of veggies , potatoes , stir fry etc .

Seeing the advantages, you may now ask me… are there no flip sides to this wonder cooker . It has a few disadvantages which can always be side-lined to the positives:

• I would have liked if the whistle lock positions had some marking as lock – unlock / steam cooking etc. For beginners .. the whistle positions could be confusing ( or it could be just ME .. not sure .. !! )
• Recipe booklet is missing in the user manual . I would have wished if there was a recipe booklet which would help the user as in how to cook / what to cook / setting to choose etc . Well .. over the time with some trial and errors .. one can figure the time settings etc .

All in all i really loved the Preethi Electric Pressure cooker and wouldrecommend the product as one of the must in any kitchen .

Lets see now howto make South Indian Style Channa Masala in Preethi EPC .. Don’t miss the video .. it will help you a lot !!!

Ingredients :

1 cup Kabuli Channa
1 Big Onion , finely chopped
2 medium size tomatoes , finely chopped
1 tsp Coriander / dhania powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala Powder
1/2 tsp Chilli powder ( Optional .. for more spice )
1/4 tsp Turmeric / haldi
Coriander leaves – finely chopped
Lemon juice as prefered
To Grind :
1/2 cup fresh coconut grated
1 tsp Poppy seeds / khus khus
5 – 6 Cashew
1/2 onion – cut to slices
1 inch Ginger
6 – 7 pods Garlic
4 – 6 Red Chillies
To temper :

oil / ghee – 2-4 tbsp
2 – 1 inchs Cinnamon/ dalchini
3 – 4 Cloves/ Lavang
3cardamom elaichi
1 Star Anise
1 tsp Cumin Seeds Jeera
1 Bay leaf / tejpatta

Method :

• Soak overnight / for 5-6 hours kabuli channa in excess water .Later drain water and keep soaked channa aside .
• To prepare South Indian style channa masala .. first lets make the masala for the curry . In a mixer take grated coconut , soaked poppy seeds and cashews , onion , ginger and garlic . Add adequate water and grind smooth . Keep aside .
• Place the non-stick pan inside the preethi electric pressure cooker and switch it on. Select Channa program.
• Heat oil . Add all the ingredients mention under “to temper ” 1-1 .
• Once the cumin splutters add onion . Saute till translucent . Add tomatoes , salt and haldi . Saute till mushy
• Add the ground curry masala and saute masala nicely till raw smell goes .
• Add red chilli powder , dhania powder and garam masala. Fry for 1 minute
• Now add soaked channa , salt and mix .Add water as required .
• Now close the preethi EPC lid and set whistle to lock position . After a while you will see pressure is set and timer automatically sets to cooking time based on the quantity and food setting selected .( ie 25 mins in this case )
• After the cooking time is over , EPCautomatically switches to OH . This is when you can open the electric cooker .
• Squeese lime juice and add coriander leaves . Mix
• Serve South indian channa masala with chapathi / poori / rice .