This authentic Indian Instant Pot chicken curry is a delicious family recipe. Made with bone-in chicken, it cooks up tender and has lots of flavor.
If I had to pick my favorite Instant Pot Indian recipe, this is it! For those of you who’ve been following my blog, you might remember my mom’s Indian chicken curry (stovetop) recipe. As much as I love that recipe, I also love Instant Pot version of Indian chicken curry and so does everyone I share it with – it’s comfort food; just add some rice or naan and that’s a meal right there. One of the first dishes I wanted to try out when I first got my Instant Pot was my mom’s Indian chicken curry. If you’re looking for a delicious Instant Pot Indian recipe that’s sure to please, you’ve found it!
Adapting family favorite recipes to the Instant Pot
One of the changes I made with the Instant Pot version is to use bone-in chicken. I feel bone-in chicken just cooks so well in the Instant Pot, is so flavorful and so quick. If you’d like to use boneless chicken, you can reduce the chicken cooking time to 10 minutes.
The other change I made was that I added a thickener at the end, because the curry was not thick enough for my taste. The Instant Pot allows dishes to cook with hardly any water loss, so the end result is not as thick as when cooked on the stove. You might like it just fine, so feel free to omit this step. You can thicken the curry in one of two ways: either by cooking down the liquid in saute mode at the end, or by adding a thickener. I chose to add ground up cashew nuts, which I do with the stove-top version also. This is a trick my mom taught me. You can add cream or purchased cashew butter, if you prefer.
If you enjoy Indian food, you can try my other Instant Pot Indian recipes like Instant Pot Indian Beef Curry and Instant Pot Aloo Gobi | Indian Cauliflower with Potatoes.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, do try and read the Instant Pot Manual / Beginner’s Quick Start Guide blog post first and then come back here to learn how to make Instant Pot chicken curry.
Instant Pot Chicken Curry Ingredients
Instant Pot Chicken Curry Step-by-Step guide
- Press ‘Saute’.
- Melt butter and add cinnamon, cumin seeds and bay leaves and stir till fragrant, being careful not to burn.
- Add onions, garlic and ginger, and saute till golden brown, about 7 minutes.
- Add tomato paste mixture to the Instant Pot and stir.
- Saute until tomato paste is cooked, about 3 minutes. If it sticks to the bottom, add a tablespoon or two of water.
- Press ‘Keep Warm/Cancel’ to turn Instant Pot off, otherwise spices can burn.
- Add coriander, turmeric, black pepper, cayenne, salt and stir till fragrant.
- Press Saute again to turn on Instant Pot.
- Add chicken pieces, stir to coat with spice mixture.
- Add 1/2 cup water.
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Press Poultry and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ’15’ (15 minutes).
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 15 to 0; it will switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0;00’.
- Do a Quick Release: move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’ by placing a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it the venting position.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press ‘Keep Warm/Cancel’ and open the Instant Pot.
- Add cubed potatoes and garam masala to Instant Pot.
- Close Instant Pot Lid and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Press ‘Manual’ and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘6’ (6 minutes).
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 6 to 0; it will switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0;00’.
- Do a Quick Release of steam.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Open Instant Pot and add cashew paste to the Instant Pot chicken curry and stir to combine.
- Press ‘Saute’ and heat through .
- Turn off Instant Pot, sprinkle Instant Pot Indian chicken curry with cilantro and serve with rice, bread or naan.
Instant Pot Chicken Curry
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 6
This Indian Instant Pot chicken curry is flavorful and creamy and is sure to please any Indian Curry lover.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter or ghee
- 1 large bay leaf
- 2 inch piece of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 cups onions, chopped fine
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tbsp coriander powder
- 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 3/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 3/4 tsp Indian chili powder or cayenne (or to taste)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 3 lbs chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone-in
- 2 cups potato, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup water or chicken broth
- 1 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 2 Tbsp cashew paste **
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In 'Saute' mode, melt butter. Add cinnamon, cumin seeds and bay leaf and stir till fragrant, being careful not to burn.
- Add onions, garlic and ginger, and saute till golden brown, about 7 minutes.
- Add tomato paste mixed with 2 Tbsp water and stir.
- Saute until tomato paste is cooked, about 3 minutes. If it sticks to the bottom, add another tablespoon or two of water.
- Turn off Instant Pot, otherwise spices can burn when you add them.
- Add coriander, turmeric, black pepper, cayenne, salt and stir till fragrant.
- In 'Saute' mode, add chicken pieces and stir to coat with spice mixture.
- Add 1/2 cup water or chicken broth and cook in 'Poultry' mode for 15 minutes. (Make sure steam release handle is in Sealing position)
- Do a Quick Release.
- Add cubed potatoes and garam masala to chicken and stir gently.
- Cook in 'Manual' mode for 6 minutes. (Make sure steam release handle is in Sealing position)
- Do a Quick Release.
- Add cashew paste, stir the chicken curry and heat through in 'Saute' mode.
- Turn off Instant Pot, sprinkle chicken curry with cilantro and serve with Instant Pot basmati rice, bread or naan.
Notes
** To make cashew paste, blend 1/4 to 1/3 cup cashews with water to make a thick (like peanut butter) paste. Substitute cashew paste with cashew butter or heavy cream or coconut cream. You can also thicken the curry by cooking down the liquid at the end, in 'Saute' mode. If you prefer a thin curry, you can omit the thickener altogether.
Courses Main Dish
Cuisine Indian
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 chicken piece with gravy
Amount Per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|
Calories 321 | ||
% Daily Value | ||
Total Fat 22 g | 34% | |
Saturated Fat 8 g | 40% | |
Unsaturated Fat 3 g | ||
Cholesterol 125 mg | 42% | |
Sodium 670 mg | 28% | |
Total Carbohydrates 14 g | 5% | |
Dietary Fiber 2 g | 8% | |
Sugars 3 g | ||
Protein 19 g | 38% | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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