2 Recipes You Can’t Believe You Can Make With OPOS

Cooking has always been a stress buster for me. I enjoy trying out new things in the kitchen and creating yum food. But I don’t always enjoy spending hours slow cooking my biryani or the dal. As a mom who’s always busy, one of the things that I have been meaning to try out is OPOS style of cooking. This is something all moms will want to try out.

What Is OPOS?

OPOS® stands for One Pot One Shot. This style of cooking was pioneered by Mr Rama Krishnan who needed to learn how to cook staying in a foreign country and did not have the time or the skills to cook up a storm for every meal. He invented his own style of cooking. With a support group of over 80,000 followers on Facebook who help every new ‘OPOSer’ through the recipes & techniques, the community is growing every day. This is kind of an ideal option given our crazy fast-paced lives.

We normally just dump ingredients with water to cook in a pressure cooker. But if you’re cooking OPOS style then minimal/no water and layering technique enabling the natural juices of vegetables to cook the dish for us. OPOS is all about techniques. Each recipe has been tested in different kitchens and the result is exactly the same if you follow the recipe exactly – cooking is a science after all.

Why Has OPOS Become Popular?

• The principle of OPOS is cooking at a very high temperature in the shortest time possible with least amount of water and maximizing retention of its nutritional content.
• It’s a cleaner, greener, healthier, tastier way to cook almost any food.
• Less oil is used and it’s all done in one utensil, so cleaning and washing up is so much easier. 

How Do I Start?

Follow the same heat settings for all your OPOS recipes. You will first need to standardize the pressure cooker since every cooker and stove/induction top has its own quirks. So how do you set your standard?

• In your pressure cooker, add 1/4 cup water. Close, put the whistle and start the heat at the highest setting. Don’t forget to start the timer!
• Highest heat setting refers to 1200W on induction cooktop or if you are using gas ensure that the flame covers the entire bottom of the pressure cooker (should not come up the sides).
• You should hear the first whistle between 1 and 2 minutes. It should be a strong and long whistle and not just steam splutter.
• That is the heat setting you must stick to. (This is more important if you are using a gas stove. With induction, it is simpler to keep the heat uniform).
• If the whistle comes before 1 minute, it means that the heat is high and you need to reduce the flame. If it comes after 2 minutes you have applied less heat and must increase it.
• Repeat this exercise until you get it right.

Mr Rama Krishnan has also written a number of OPOS e-cookbooks. You can buy them here.

We’ve put together two recipes for you to try which would otherwise take time to cook using the traditional cooking method. Try them out using the OPOS style of cooking and tell us how they turned out!

Kadai Paneer

Image Source: https://chefinyou.com/

Ingredients

• 250g Paneer, chopped into medium sized chunks
• 1 large Onion, chopped into chunks
• 1 large Tomato, deseeded and chopped into chunks
• 1 large Bell Pepper (Green/Red), chopped into chunks
• 1-2 Chillies, sliced or to taste (optional)
• 1-1/2 Tbsp Oil

Spices (can be adjusted according to taste)

• 1-1/4 Tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
• 3/4 Tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder
• 3/4 Tsp Kasuri Methi
• 3/4 Tsp Cumin-Coriander Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Garam Masala
• 1/4 Tsp Turmeric Powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tsp Oil

Method

• Put the paneer in a bowl and mix it with all the spices and 1 tsp of oil.
• Take a 3-litre cooker and start layering in this exact order.
• Add 3 Tbsp Water
• Next 1 Tbsp Oil
• Spread the onions to cover the base of the cooker.
• Next layer will be the tomatoes.
• Add the bell peppers on top of this.
• Finally the paneer pieces.
• Close the lid and cook on high. The flame should cover the bottom of the cooker.
• Set the timer to 6 minutes.
• You should get2 whistles within this time.
• You should start getting your first whistle around the 5-minute mark.  If you start getting a burning smell,immediately switch off the cooker, release pressure and open it. You may have added less water. Add some more water and cook again. 
• The total cooking time should not exceed 6 minutes.
• Release the pressure immediately using a fork/spatula.  This helps in retaining the vibrant colour of the veggies.
• Mix it well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Gajar Ka Halwa 

Image source: https://chefinyou.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups /250g grated Carrots (use the small holed size to grate)
• 2/3 cup/145 grams Cane Sugar/ Jaggery
• 2-3 tbsp Ghee
• 2 tbsp Non-Fat Dry Milk Powder (unsweetened)/ Khoya/ Condensed milk

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
• Roasted Cashews
• Pistachio Nuts for garnish

Method

• Take a 2litre pressure cookerand layer ingredients in this order.
• Add 3 tbsp water to it.
• Add grated carrots next. 
• Follow it up with sugar. You can increase the sugar if you like it sweeter.
• Add the ghee
• Top with the unsweetened milk powder or whatever alternative you are using.
• Close the lid with the weight on.The flame should cover the bottom of the cooker.  Make sure it does not extend to the sides. Will cause the handles to burn. 
• Set your mobile timer to 10 minutes. The cooking time can be anywhere from 6-10 minutes. Make sure not to extend 10 minutes.
• The number of whistles doesn’t matter in this recipe since it will depend on the amount of moisture in your carrots. 
• Stay around the cooker to make sure no burning smell comes. Give it a good mix.
• If you think it seems watery, cook for a few minutes more in the open cooker.
• Garnish with nuts of choice and serve warm.

So spend less time in the kitchen and more time with the family having fun!