Press the saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add the oil and then add the chopped garlic, ginger, jalapeño and onion.
Saute for 2 to 3 minutes until onions are soft. Then add the water and de-glaze the pot. Make sure there's no brown bits stuck at the bottom.
Followed by the pasta, can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, cardamom powder, garam masala, red chili powder, kashmiri red chili powder and salt. Do not stir. You may spread the tomatoes over the pasta a bit using a spatula.
Close the pot with its lid. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then quick release the pressure.
Open the lid, stir everything and press the saute button.
Add the sugar, coconut milk, kasuri methi and let the pasta simmer for 2 minutes.
Add in chopped cilantro and sprinkle cardamom powder and garam masala on top before serving.Enjoy Makhani Pasta warm!
Stove-top Instructions
To make this pasta on stove-top, boil the pasta in a pan according to instructions on the package. Once boiled, set it aside. Reserve some pasta water from boiling.
Heat a pan on medium heat and once hot, add oil to it. Then add garlic, ginger, jalapeño and onion. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until softened.
Then add can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, cardamom powder, garam masala, red chili powder, kashmiri red chili powder and salt. Stir well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the sugar, coconut milk and mix. Add in the boiled pasta and mix well. You may also add some of the reserved pasta water if the sauce looks very thick. Taste test salt and sugar at this point. Let the pasta heat through. Add kasuri methi and turn off heat. Sprinkle cardamom powder, garam masala before serving and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro before serving!
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Notes
You can use an entire can of coconut milk if you want more saucy pasta. 1 cup was good enough for me.
The pasta thickens as it cools down. So when reheating, you might have to add little coconut milk.
If you don't care about this vegan, you can use heavy cream in place of coconut milk. I would probably add 1/2 cup at first and then see how much creamy it tastes and only then add more.
If using regular wheat pasta (& not whole wheat), pressure cook for 4 minutes at high pressure.
You may skip kashmiri red chili powder. It's only for color.
Do use Chaokoh brand coconut milk. I highly recommend it.
This recipe was tested in a 6qt. If you have a 8qt, you might need additional 1/2 cup water.