I would like to try recipes from Urvashi Pitre's Indian Instant Pot Cookbook: Traditional Indian Dishes Made Easy and Fast. However, buying the original Instant Pot pressure cooker does not seem to be straightforward or convenient for customers in Europe (outside Britain).
Has anybody tried these recipes with a pressure cooker that is more readily available in Europe (Germany)? I'm still used to old-fashioned models without any electronic controls, so I am wondering what could be a good alternative option to acquire.
UPDATE Here is a sample recipe from the book (linked from this article in The New Yorker).
Best Answer
I don't see anything "special" about that recipe that depends on the particular pressure cooker. I don't think you need anything fancier than an old-fashioned pressure cooker and a timer, assuming you know how to use an old-fashioned pressure cooker. If you already own one, why buy another?
Figure time on "high" to be time on 15 PSI (or 1 bar) steam, and cook away.
A brief glance at the link shows a thing that seeks to be everything (pressure cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker, really should have Ron Popeil do ads for it on late night TV...) some of which would be more difficult in a regular pressure cooker, though (for instance) we had a spot on the stove over a pilot light that could make any pot into a yogurt-maker if you set it there full of milk and culture. And you can certainly make rice in a pressure cooker under pressure, rather than trying to mimic a "rice cooker" at atmospheric pressure.