Russian Eggplant Caviar is a great side dish, spread, or a condiment. Perfect to add to a sandwich or eat on top of pasta. Delicious cold or hot. Can be made on the stove or in Instant Pot # imagelicious.com #instantpot #russian #vegan
Finely dice the onion. Mince the garlic. Grate the carrot. Chop the eggplant and sweet bell pepper into small cubes.
Instant Pot instructions
Add all the ingredients except for cilantro into your Instant Pot. (See note below about garlic and water)
Close the lid of your Instant Pot and turn the valve to Sealing.
Press Manual or Pressure Cooker button (depending on your model) and use the arrows to select 15 minutes.
It should take about 14-15 minutes to come to pressure. Might be a bit less depending on your model.
Once the Instant Pot beeps that the 15 minutes of cooking are done, do a quick release. This should take about 2 minutes.
Take the lid off, mix, turn the Instant Pot on sauté mode and cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally until most of the liquid evaporates.Alternatively, mix and then drain the liquid.
Add the garlic (if it was not added in the beginning), add the chopped cilantro, and mix.
Serve hot or cold.
Stove Top instructions
Heat up one tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven on medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook for about 7-9 minutes until very soft but not coloured.
Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil and cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. (See note below about garlic)
After 20 minutes, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for about 40 minutes.
Open the lid, check how much liquid is in the Eggplant Caviar. If it's too much then turn the heat to medium and cook until it evaporated. Alternatively, drain the liquid.
Add the garlic (if it was not added at the beginning), add the chopped cilantro, and mix.
Serve hot or cold.
Video
Notes
Garlic can be added either in the beginning with most of the vegetables or at the end when everything is already cooked, this will result in a more pronounced and pungent flavour.
If you are worried that your Instant Pot will display burn message, then add about 1/2 cup water. But in most cases, there should be enough liquid in all the vegetables for your Instant Pot to work correctly.
You can also start sautéing onions and carrots in Instant Pot first while chopping the rest of the vegetables. This will add a bit more flavour and will speed up the time it takes for Instant Pot to come to pressure.