OPOS lessons(1-30)


All OPOS lessons

OPOS SUPPORT GROUP LESSONS (1-30) with YouTube links. Please go by lessons.
Lesson 1: In your pressure cooker, add 1/4C (60ml) of water. Close and fix the weight. Heat on high till you get the first whistle.
Lesson 2: Flash Cooking
In your cooker, add the following in the order given below: 1. 2tsp oil. 2. 1/4C water. 3. 2 cups finely chopped beans (around 250grams) 4. 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2tsp chilli powder Do not mix. Cook on high heat for 2 whistles. Release pressure immediately. Transfer to a colder vessel.
Lesson 3: Repeat lesson 2 with any vegetable of your choice except okra. Post the picture with your comments. Do not flashcook beyond 6 minutes. If pressure does not build up in the first 4 minutes, switch off, add more water and repeat.
Flashcooking video
Lesson 4: Convert flashcooked vegetables into a full meal.
OPOS Tava pulao
Lesson 5: Soups
Convert flashcooked vegetables into a soup.
OPOS worlds fastest tomato soup
If you have done all the lessons below, we can move to lesson 6. Do the lessons in the order given below to avoid burning. You can either listen and learn, or burn and learn. The choice is yours!
Lesson 6: Double Flash In your 2L cooker, add 1/4C water, 1tbsp oil. Add 1C chopped beans on one half of the cooker. Add 2C finely chopped carrots on the other half. Add 1/4tsp salt, 1/4tsp chilli powder over beans. Do the same for carrots. Cook on high for 2whistles/ 5 minutes. Release pressure. Remove each pile separately.
Lesson 7: Absorption cooking In a 2L cooker add 1tsp oil, 1C Indian macaroni, 1/2tsp salt. Add water just enough to cover macaroni. Mix all. Cook on high for 2 whistles. Release pressure. Mix in 1/4C grated cheddar cheese & keep closed for 5 minutes. If using imported macaroni ( Barilla/ Del Monte, soak in water for 5 mins before using).
Lesson 8: Kaara chutney
Please complete the lessons in the prescribed order.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhGn2kfgr7k
Lesson 9: Sooji halwa / Kesari
Lesson 11: Using cooked bases
Lesson 12: Attalysis
Lesson 13: Attalysis for gluten free flours ( rice flour, millet flour etc..)
Lesson 14 : Layering & Flashing a meal : Pasta Arrabiata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnjXYhqerWk
Lesson 16: Pepper Chicken
https://youtu.be/SEd8Ml8Tk44
Lesson 17: Dum Tea
Lesson 18: Key building blocks A whole cuisine in 50 words - That is the OPOS magic ! 
Lesson 19: Key building blocks #2
Lesson 20: Very Long Marination
https://youtu.be/uXOudCzjUmY for recipe https://youtu.be/fj32XwYgfKI for technique
Lesson 21: Waterless cooking
https://youtu.be/CsDGmzgwL2s
Lesson 22: Oil free Cooking:
Problem: How to minimise/ eliminate the use of oil. Solution: Understand why oil is needed and figure out alternatives. Logic: Make oil optional in all recipes by various techniques. Credit: Adapted from existing techniques.
We seek to minimise/ eliminate fats from all OPOS recipes for various reasons :
1. Members facing health issues wanted to have the option of going oil-free.
2. Refined oils are highly processed. Chemical solvents are used to extract oil, bleach it and clarify it. In OPOS, we try to eliminate the use of highly processed foodstuffs.
3. Refined oils contain preservatives. The intense refining makes many oils less stable and reduces their shelf life. Preservatives like BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) are mixed in to keep them from oxidising and becoming rancid. In OPOS, we try to avoid using chemical laden ingredients.
That said, contrary to popular perception, all oil is not evil. Oil is essential for a healthy diet. But oil is a very concentrated source of energy. Unless used in moderation, it leads to trouble. If you avoid refined oils, and use only cold pressed oils in moderation, you have nothing to worry, assuming you have a healthy lifestyle. Let us understand why oil is so prized in cooking, and then try to figure out ways to minimise/ eliminate it.
Oil/ Fat serves four purposes in traditional cooking.
1. Browning. Fats can be heated to higher temperatures than water. This high temperature promotes the browning reactions, filling food with flavour.
2. Absorb and redistribute flavour. Fat absorbs fat soluble flavours from spices and distributes them throughout the dish. This is the reason most Indian dishes rely on tadka to infuse flavour.
3. A rich, creamy mouth feel.. Food cooked without fat tastes dry and 'poor'
4. Lubrication In many traditional recipes, fat is used to preventing food from sticking to the pan.
Because of all these factors, fat is an indispensable part of Indian cuisine and many chefs firmly believe that an overdose of fat is essential for taste. Not true at all.
Fats/ Oils are completely optional in almost all OPOS dishes. Let us see the hacks that made it possible:
1. Oil helps in browning Both caramelisation and Maillard reactions do not require oil - Just heat. Anyone who has cooked sugar into caramel knows this. The same principle was applied in caramelising onions without using a drop of oil. We found that there was no compromise in taste, texture or flavour. Using the principle of controlled evaporation, recipes were structured so that the heating continued after most of the water had evaporated away. This accelerated the Maillard reaction, promoting browning and eliminating shallow frying with lots of oil. In some recipes where browning was not possible, fried onions/ OPOS caramelised onion paste was added, to simulate the caramelised flavour.
2. Oil absorbs & redistributes flavour from spices Using the bottled tadka hack, an intensely flavoured, infused oil was stored. We found that tiny quantities of this infused oil was enough to add flavour. Just a drop or two made a big difference unlike traditional cooking where a few teaspoons of oil was mandatory for any tadka!
3. Oil gives a creamy mouthfeel. The emulsification technique guaranteed an extra creamy mouthfeel using a fraction of the oil. As the oil droplets get dispersed into a liquid medium, they convert it into 'cream'. Using infused oils makes the 'cream' a lot more flavourful too!
Nut paste/ Yogurt/ coconut milk were included in recipes to make oil optional. Even recipes like Dum biriyani were cooked with no added oil. Yogurt/ coconut milk/ caramelised onions were added as a substitute to ensure the moistness & richness were not lost by skipping oil.
4. Oil serves as a lubricant, preventing food from sticking. In traditional cooking, we either need to use non stick pans/ cook with constant stirring and a continuous addition of water, if we choose to skip oil. We do not have that luxury in OPOS and so had to figure out an alternative way. We found that by adding a thin layer of water at the bottom prevented food from sticking. All OPOS recipes (except ones that call for watery vegetables as the bottom layer) were restandardised with a thin layer ( 1 -3Tbsp) of water.
By starting the layering with water, the food sticking problem was minimised. As we do not stir in OPOS, the layers remained intact and food susceptible to sticking/ burning never came into contact directly with the hot base. This thin water layer stayed as a buffer till pressure built up. Once pressure builds, the temperature drops to 120 degrees and the threat of food burning/ sticking minimises greatly.
The difference is remarkable in recipes like halwas, thokkus and many curry bases, which call for a huge amount of oil/ fat in traditional recipes. They could now be made completely oil free, if desired ! The ingredients, cooking times and layering were so balanced that cooking just stopped short of burning/ sticking.
Today's #lesson 22 illustrates this principle with a recipe - Mutton Dum Biriyani.
Lesson 23: Boiled Eggs
Lesson 24:Chicken Dum Biriyani
****Edited to Add on 03/07/2017****
Lesson 26: Pyrolysis (Paneer butter masala)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnfEgkn9afc
Lesson 29: Controlled evaporation (Ghee)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwqA1xDyZIw
Lesson 30: Sugar syrup hack(Mysore pak)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcUWcS6XN5M

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