I bought an Instant Pot® about a month ago. I’d been flirting with the idea of a pressure cooker for ages. I recently read an article that says not only are they faster than other methods, they actually can do a better job. That’s what really got me interested. Time is not an issue for me. I’m fortunate to have all the time I want for cooking (well, the reason isn’t fortunate at all, but I’m a silver lining sort of gal). But better flavor? That made me sit up and take notice. Then a friend of mine got one for his birthday, and couldn’t praise it enough. They somehow came up in conversation with my niece, and she loves hers, too. So, why not? I took the plunge. 

My first few times, I wasn’t all that excited. I used recipes I usually make in the slow cooker, to see if they really were better. Nope. Well, the beef stew might be, if I don’t add the vegetables until later (they were kind of mushy when I added them with the beef), but then that’s more hands-on time, and waiting for it to come to pressure again. But it does use a lot less water than the slow cooker needs, so I could skip the kneaded butter thickening for the gravy. That’d save a couple of steps and a lot of saturated fat, so I might try stew again. 

I was actually starting to wonder if the thing was worth the counter or cabinet space, and which of my kids might want the pot when I realized the flaw in my approach. I needed to pick out those cooking tasks that even I consider tedious/time consuming/boring, and try those. Yup, kids, sorry — you’re going to have to go buy your own, I’m not ready to get rid of this gadget just yet!

I love beans. I don’t think I’ve met a variety I didn’t like. Well, except for the supermarket variety, because the quality tends to be sporadic at best. So often, they’re just old.  Yes, even though they’re dried, it matters how old they are. Ever try to cook with dried beans from the grocery store, and no matter what you did, they refused to soften at all? Old beans. The first time I realized the difference was many years ago when I used to have a huge, ‘real’ garden. I grew my own kidney beans, dried them, and then later made chili. Yum! Better bean flavor, better texture, a win all around. Circumstances intervened, and a decade of canned beans. But so much sodium and all that BPA they use in the can liners! Yuk.

I’ve been trying to use dried beans more often, what with all that time I have, but I can’t say I really enjoy hanging out in the kitchen just to stare at boiling beans and make sure they don’t boil over or boil dry. This weekend, I wanted to make Apple-Barley Chickpea Curry. I had some Rancho Gordo dried chickpeas and my new Instant Pot, so let’s see what it can do. Well, what it can do is cook dried chickpeas to perfection while I’m off doing something else! No boiled over gunk to scrape off the cooktop, no keeping vigil to make sure the pot doesn’t go dry. Bean cooking alone might be enough to justify keeping this gizmo around. Have I told you lately how much I love Rancho Gordo’s beans? The best beans I’ve ever had were those I grew myself, of course, all those years ago when I had my huge garden. Really, how much fresher can you get than picking them yourself? Rancho Gordo is the next best thing unless you have a local source. They’ll never sell you old beans. And no, I don’t get anything from Rancho Gordo for my glowing opinion. I just like to give credit where credit is due. 

So for now, the Instant Pot is safe. It does a great job on chickpeas. There are a couple of other things I’d like to try, too, like hard-boiled eggs. Lots of people swear by the risotto you can make in an Instant Pot. Now, I’ve only ever had risotto I liked once, homemade by a friend. Come to think of it, she just happens to be married to the friend who raved about his instant pot – I wonder if they’ve tried Instant Pot risotto yet? 

You’ll find a printer-friendly version of the recipe at the bottom of this page. Forgive me if you’re experienced with the Instant Pot, or you use another brand. I’m including the button-pushing directions so that those who are new to the device (including yours truly) don’t have to keep referring to the manual.

Ingredients:

1¼ pounds dried chickpeas (you can use just a pound if you want; this is just what I had)

3 tiny whole jalapeños or 1 large, stems removed (no, your chickpeas will NOT be spicy)

1 very small onion + 1 shallot (or 1 medium onion), quartered. Again, I just used what was handy.

3 large garlic cloves, smashed

1 tsp olive oil

7 cups water

Preparation:

1.) Pick over your dried chickpeas, plucking out any small dirt clumps or other debris. Rinse, and drain. Place the drained chickpeas in the inner pot. Add the remaining ingredients.

2.) Close and lock the lid, and turn the steam vent to “sealed.” Press the “manual” button, then the +/- buttons to set the pot for 35 minutes at high pressure. It should reach pressure within 15 minutes or so.

3.) After the 35 minutes is up, let it go to “keep warm,” for a natural pressure release of about 20 minutes, then quick-release any remaining pressure. Let cool. I like to freeze whatever I’m not using right away, 1- or 2-cups in ziptop freezer bags.