Instant Pot masala pasta
Penne cooked in a spiced tomato and onion masala with peas and peppers, the Indian street-food favorite that’s tangy, warm and a little spicy.
- 30 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.39 a serving
- 450 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1½ tsp garam masala
- 1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz
- 12 oz penne
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- ½ lemon, cut into wedges (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 450 calories, 15 g protein, 81 g carbs and 8 g fat, and costs about $1.39 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No penne? Rigatoni or elbow macaroni works.
- No frozen peas? Frozen mixed vegetables work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion and pepper, the tomatoes, the ginger and the garlic.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Set the Instant Pot to , the butter, and cook the onion and pepper 4 minutes, stirring, until soft. Add the ginger and garlic for 1 minute.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Timer: 5 min
Stir in the garam masala, cumin, paprika, turmeric and cayenne for 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Timer: 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Warming spices in butter wakes them up. Keep stirring so they don’t scorch.Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce and cook 2 minutes, until the tomatoes .
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Timer: 2 min
Pour in the water and salt, scrape the bottom well so nothing is stuck, and press Cancel. Add the penne and peas and press them under the liquid.
Lock the lid, set the valve to Sealing, and pressure cook on high for 4 minutes.
Timer: 4 min
Dolly’s tip: It takes about 10 minutes to come up to pressure before the countdown starts. That’s normal.When it beeps, carefully turn the valve to Venting with a long spoon, keeping your hand and face away from the steam.
Stir well and let it sit 2 minutes to . Serve with cilantro and lemon wedges for squeezing.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Timer: 2 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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