Cooking beans can be a time-consuming process, but with an electric pressure cooker, you can have a delicious and nutritious bean stew ready in a fraction of the time. In this recipe, we’ll show how to make a delicious beans stew in an electric pressure cooker.
The Benefits of Using an Electric Pressure Cooker
Electric pressure cookers are a fantastic tool for cooking beans because they reduce the cooking time compared to traditional stove-top cooking or using a charcoal brazier (mbaula).
They work by creating a sealed, high-pressure environment that forces liquid and steam into the beans, resulting in a perfectly cooked, tender, and flavorful dish in a fraction of the time.
Additionally, using an electric pressure cooker retains more nutrients and flavor in your beans compared to boiling them on the stovetop.
Most Zambian households prefer to use a charcoal mbaula to cook recipes such as beans which consume a lot of electricity and take a long time to cook, however, an electric pressure cookers not only save time but also electricity by cooking in much less time.
Preparing Your Beans
Before you start cooking your beans in the pressure cooker, it is essential to sort and rinse them thoroughly. Sorting means removing any debris, stones, or damaged beans.
Rinsing means running them under cool water and removing any dirt or dust that may be on them.
You can also choose to soak your beans overnight to reduce cooking time and improve texture.
Soaking beans before cooking can help them cook evenly and soften faster, making them less likely to burst while cooking.
It also removes some of the natural sugars that can cause digestive discomfort.
Recipe for Dry Beans Stew in an Electric Pressure Cooker
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of dry beans (any type of beans, kabulangeti, solwezi etc)
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 medium diced tomatoes
- 3 cups of water or more
- Cooking oil
- 2 teaspoons of salt
Instructions:
- Rinse and sort your dry beans. Make sure to remove any debris or stones.
- Add the rinsed beans to the pot.
- Add 2 and 1/2 cups of water or just enough so that the water level is above the beans. Add 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil
- Close the lid and set the pressure cooker to cook on high pressure for 60 minutes. (if the beans was not soaked, it will take about 80 minutes for it to become tender and about 40 minutes if it was soaked overnight. Most pressure cooker’s manual setting only go up to 60 minutes so you have to set additional minutes after 60 minutes if your beans is not done.)
- Once the cooking time is up, let the pressure release completely.
- Add tomatoes, onions and salt
- Add a bit more cooking oil if you like and a bit of water
- Close with the lid and let it cook so that the tomatoes and onions can get cooked and make a thick gravy. Do not cook at high pressure this time around. You can also open the lid and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes
- Ready to serve
- You can serve it with nshima or rice
Electric pressure cookers are an excellent tool for cooking beans, and they are easy to use and a great alternative to charcoal as they cook in less time and use less electricity because they cook faster.
