Chakalaka | South African Vegetable Relish | Instant Pot Chakalaka
A delicious South African vegetable relish popularly known as chakalaka made in Instant Pot! A perfect one-pot dish for those busy weekdays!
Servings: 6
Calories: 121kcal
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp oil
Vegetables
- 1 onion 250 grams approx, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves chopped. After chopped, I got about 1.5 tbsp
- 1 green chili chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger chopped
- 2 to matoes big, chopped. Approx 200 grams
- 2 cups green cabbage chopped. Approx 150 grams
- 1 carrot grated. Approx 100 grams
- 1 cup colored bell peppers chopped. Approx 100 grams
Spices and Condiments
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp brown sugar or to taste. Refer notes
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce. Refer notes
- ¾ tsp salt or to taste Refer notes
Beans & Broth
- 1 can cannellini beans
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
How to make Chakalaka in Instant Pot?
- Set the Instant Pot in saute mode. Add the 3 tbsp of oil and after 30 to 45 seconds, when the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, garlic, green chili, and ginger. Saute until the onion turns soft and tender or for about 3 to 4 minutes. Now turn off the Instant Pot. Turning it off after sauteing onion helps to prevent the burn signal in the newer Instant Pot models.
- Add the other veggies - tomatoes, cabbage, carrot, and bell peppers. Gently mix them all.
- Now add all the spices and condiments - curry powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, salt, ketchup, and the vegan Worcestershire sauce.
- Add the broth and mix all the ingredients.
- Now add the rinsed beans, and no need to mix the beans. Just leave as a top layer. As the canned beans were already soft, I did not mix them frequently.
- Close the Instant Pot. Make sure the vent is in the sealing position. Select manual/pressure cook and set the time to 2-minutes at high-pressure mode. When the cooking is complete, wait for 10 minutes, then quickly release the remaining pressure. Carefully open the lid after releasing the pressure and mix the chakalaka.
- Now add the cilantro and gently mix the chakalaka and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes in the saute mode. Check for seasoning and adjust at this stage. This simmering step is optional. But it helps the sauce to thicken a bit. Turn off the Instant Pot and serve it warm with rice or relish it as is.
Notes
- Adjust the vegetable amount as per your preference. I didn't go for any preferred cut for the vegetables. I just chopped them as per my preference.
- As we are using ketchup, broth, and canned beans, be cautious with the salt amount. You can check for the seasoning towards the end and adjust accordingly.
- If you like spicy relish, skip the brown sugar or reduce the amount. Or you can skip the green chili as well.
- As mentioned in the original recipe, you can use canned baked beans. In that case, you can skip the brown sugar and the vegan Worcestershire sauce.
- We only need 2 tsps of the Worcestershire sauce. If you can't or don't want to source it, add 1 tsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar. It just adds that umami/savory flavor. So adjust accordingly.
- You can use cannellini or navy or great northern beans for this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 121kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 655mg | Potassium: 289mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 3104IU | Vitamin C: 49mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg