This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Curried Chickpea stuffed Acorn Squash, all made in a Pressure cooker. One Pot meal! Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free.
You know whats the fun part of using a pressure cooker? Everything is faster and energy efficient. As an Indian, I have my requisite set of stove top pressure cookers (read 4 or 5 per Indian household).Â
Pressure cookers have come a long way from the just the manual control and stove top, to highly programmable, safe, blue tooth controllable, electric, multi-functional, multi pressure Instant Pot!.Instant Pot is fast becoming a household name with innumerable options and ease. If you haven’t tried pressure cooking, let 2015 be the year to add that to the to do list!
Today, I cook up chickpeas and brown rice stew in a pressure cooker and also throw in the acorn squash in a steamer basket. So everything gets cooked up together and is ready in 25 minutes! The squash cooks up perfectly in the pressure cooker. No hours of baking needed. Stuff the squash with the cooked chickpea and brown rice stew and serve! One Pot meal with chickpeas, brown rice, greens and squash!
More pressure cooker recipes from the blog.
- Dal Makhani- Black Gram Lentils Soup
- Dal Baati – Pigeon Pea Soup with Stuffed Pastries.
- Bisi Bele Bath Pressure Cooker Split Pea Brown Rice Soup
- Sprouted Mung Bean Dal Soup. Sabut Hari Moong Dahl. Vegan…
- Chana Masala – Chickpea Curry with Red Bell Pepper
- Black Eyed Pea and Lentil Soup with Sriracha TadkaÂ
If using cooked chickpeas cook the stew for 12 to 14 minutes. You can also chop up the squash into chunks and cook with the stew.Â
The chickpeas need to be soaked because I am adjusting the cooking time depending on the squash and brown rice. If you use unsoaked chickpeas, the squash will become a mush in the 35 minute cooking time :).
I generally cook my beans and split peas in a Pressure cooker. It takes the guess work out of the time needed. Freshly cooked beans also produce less gas, if you know what I mean 🙂
Any of the split peas or chickpeas also do well in pressure cooker. Split peas are notorious for taking 3 to 4 times the cooking time mentioned for a saucepan, if they are old!Â
Â
Pressure Cooker Curried Chickpea stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients Â
- 3/4 cup dry chickpeas, about 1 3/4 cup when soaked
- 1/4 cup brown rice, washed and soaked for half an hour
- 2 cups water
- 1 small acorn squash, halved and seeds removed
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 inch ginger, minced
- 1 green chili, minced
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp dry mango powder, amchur or use 1/2 tsp more lime juice
- 2 small tomatoes chopped
- 1/2 tsp lime juice
- 1 cup loosely packed chopped greens , like rainbow chard or spinach
- 1/2 tsp or more salt
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne
- cilantro, paprika and black pepper for garnish
InstructionsÂ
- Soak the chickpeas overnight, soak the brown rice for atleast half an hour(about the time needed to prep).
- In a pressure cooker, add oil and heat over medium heat.
- Add cumin seeds and cook until they change color and get fragrant. about a minute.
- Add onions, garlic, ginger and chili and a good pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes or until translucent.
- Add spices and mix well for a few seconds. Add tomato, lime juice, and greens, cook until the tomatoes are saucy. 4 to 5 minutes. Add a splash of water to deglaze if needed in between. Add in salt, cayenne, chickpeas, rice and 2 cups water. Mix well.
- Depending on the size of the pressure cooker and squash, you can add one half or both halves of the squash to the cooker. Place squash in a steamer basket or steamer plate (or any kind of holder which has space to allow the steam to circulate) over the chickpea mixture. Close the lid and cook over medium high heat until the (high) pressure is reached. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid, Carefully remove the steamer basket. Taste and adjust the chickpea rice stew. Taste and adjust salt and spice. Generously fill the squash with the chickpea rice mixture, garnish with cilantro and black pepper and serve.
- Note: If the chickpeas are not cooked to preference. Cover the cooker (dont lock the lid) and cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes.
Notes
Bake the squash: Spray the squash halfs with oil. sprinkle with salt, pepper and garam masala and Bake at 400 degrees F for about an hour. Serve stuffed with chickpea stew. Nutritional values based on one serving
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Â
I’ve never used a pressure cooker, but the idea of being able to cook dried beans more quickly than on the stovetop or in the crockpot is attractive. I think I would eat more legumes if they were not something that needed a half-a-day of lead time.
I don’t have one now but I am very interested in it for the ability to buy dried beans, rice etc. and be able to make big batches of them to have on hand. Much cheaper and a bit healthier too 🙂
I have an Instant Pot and use it several times a week, and I often honestly wish I had a second one so I could cook two things at once! Also, my Instant Pot doesn’t have the yogurt feature so I would really love to try that out.
I use a pressure cooker to cook brown rice and beans and lentils. I like it because it’s so fast!
I would love to own an Instant Pot for the convenience factor. I am a big fan of 30 minutes meals especially since don’t get home from work until after 6 p.m. and then have to provide dinner for my kids. The chickpea stuffed acorn squash looks delicious by the way.
I don’t use one but I see them use them on food network and I’d love to be able to get more flavor from my food in a shorter time.
i don’t own a pressure cooker but would love one to start cooking with! i love that you can cook anything super fast & its convenience 🙂
It’s been over 25 years since I’ve used a pressure cooker! I had the misfortune of it blowing up on me and my lovely kitchen turned into a bath of veggies and stew meat ( I wasn’t vegan at the time). I’m sure they are a lot safer now and would love to own one again.
Love your site & all the recipes I’ve tried have been so good! Keep up the great work.
I don’t have a pressure cooker. In the past, I’ve always been a little bit afraid of them. I love the idea of cooking beans quickly. The Instant Pot looks amazing.
My aunt gave us a pressure cooker for our wedding! I’ve used it to make lobhiya, my absolute favorite bean dish. and we use it to make daal. A wifi enabled cooker like instant pot sounds awesome.