Coffee Flan| Easy Dessert Idea| My First Tryst With OPOS Cooking

If you are wondering what OPOS is, let me tell you that it stands for ‘One Pot One Shot’. It is a very simple and specific technique of cooking, in a 2- or 3-litre pressure cooker, using just the right amount of water, so that the dish you are preparing doesn’t turn into a slushy goop and all the flavours and nutrients stay intact. OPOS is the brainchild of foodie Mr. Rama Krishna, who says it is different from ‘dumping ingredients into the pressure cooker, adding a whole lot of water, and cooking them to a slurry’. Apparently, there are hundreds of recipes that can be OPOSed, from the usual suspects like biryanis and kurmas to mysorepak and paneer makhani. (Want to read more about OPOS? Join the United By Food FB group, or check out this and this!)

I have been reading up a lot about OPOS lately, but the technique is still very new to me. I still have a lot to learn, a long way to go. I am still experimenting, trying to learn the basics so that I get just the right results. One of the first OPOS dishes that I tried out was a dessert, apparently from the Caribbean islands (who’d have thunk?!), called Coffee Flan. I followed the recipe to the T, as most OPOS recipes are supposed to be followed, and was richly rewarded with a beautiful dessert that I am sure I am going to make time and time again.

The beauty of this recipe is that you need just three ingredients. All you need to do is mix up the three ingredients, pour them into a greased vessel, and then let the pressure cooker work its magic. Sit back and relax while the cooker whistles, and get ready to win compliments for this unique but very simple dessert.

Ta da… here’s presenting to you OPOS Coffee Flan!

Without further ado, I will tell you how to make the flan.

Ingredients (for about 6 small servings):

1 cup sweetened condensed milk, about 240 ml (I used Amul)

3 teaspoons instant coffee powder

2 tablespoons of very hot milk (optional)

1 egg

Butter, to grease the vessel you will make the flan in

Method:

1. Beat the egg in a large mixing bowl. Keep aside.
2. Grease the vessel you will be using with butter, thoroughly. Keep aside.
3. Dissolve the coffee powder in the very hot milk, ensuring that no lumps remain. Keep aside.
4. Add the condensed milk and the coffee decoction to the beaten egg in the mixing bowl.
5. Whisk well, until everything is combined nicely together.
6. Pour this mixture into the greased vessel.
7. Take 1 cup of water in a 3-litre pressure cooker bottom and place a stand within (to ensure that water doesn’t get into the vessel as the flan is cooking). Put the greased vessel with the batter over the stand, in the pressure cooker. There is no need to cover the vessel.
8. Put the whistle on, and allow 15 whistles, keeping the flame on high. (Yes, 15 whistles. No compromising on that, please! Those many whistles are absolutely required for the flan to set properly.)
9. Let the pressure release naturally and the vessel come to room temperature.
10. At this stage, chill for a few minutes and invert the vessel over a serving plate. You should be able to slide the flan out on the plate, entirely. Cut the flan into pieces, and serve chilled.

Super easy, right? Super delicious, too! Do try this out, and let me know what you think of it, will you?

I hope to do a lot more experimenting with OPOS cooking in the times to come. I will keep you posted about them!

Notes:

1. The term OPOS and One Pot One Shot are registered trademarks owned by Mr.Rama Krishna. This recipe has been obtained from the United By Food FB page, and has been reproduced here with prior permission.
2. The original recipe suggests adding the coffee powder as is to the beaten egg, along with the condensed milk, whisking everything together and then placing the batter in a pressure cooker. I chose to dissolve the coffee powder in hot milk and then adding it to the rest of the ingredients, so that there are absolutely no lumps.
3. You could even make a chocolate flan, by substituting the 3 teaspoons of coffee powder with that of unsweetened cocoa powder. Or, if you so choose, you could use 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon of coffee powder. Play around – the options are endless!