This authentic and easy Instant Pot chicken curry is a delicious family recipe. The Instant Pot pressure cooker makes the chicken so tender and flavorful! Now you can skip the takeout and make this easy pressure cooker chicken curry recipe at home, from scratch, in no time.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the disclosure.
➡ If you’re new to Kerala cooking, start with my Kerala Cooking Basics guide for ingredient tips, shopping advice, and more authentic recipes.
Authentic chicken curry uses individual spices such as cumin, coriander, and turmeric, and not curry powder. This allows each recipe to have unique and custom flavors.
My mom’s chicken drumstick curry with potatoes was the first recipe I wanted to make when I got my Instant Pot. This delicious curry is from the South Indian state of Kerala, and it’s made with chicken and potatoes.
Sunil says ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have made this several times and it never fails. Love this recipe!
As much as I love the stovetop version (which is amazing!), I love making this chicken curry Instant Pot pressure cooker recipe because it’s so convenient.
Pressure cooking allows the chicken to cook quickly and retain its moisture, resulting in a flavorful and tender chicken curry dish. For another delicious curry-flavored recipe, try my chicken curry soup which can be made in the Instant Pot or stovetop.
Another family recipe (this one from my mother-in-law) is a pork vindaloo Instant Pot version.
❤️ WHY THIS IS THE BEST INSTANT POT CHICKEN CURRY RECIPE
- This is a family recipe, and it’s the real deal – an authentic Indian chicken curry. My recipe is made with potatoes.
- It’s customizable – you can use boneless skinless chicken, omit the potatoes, and add more veggies.
- This Indian chicken curry is healthy and suitable for most diets.
- This is a comforting, hearty recipe that is sure to please curry lovers.
- You can make this curry on a weeknight or for a special occasion.
➡ Serve this chicken curry Instant Pot recipe over Instant Pot Jasmine rice, Instant Pot brown basmati rice, and roasted cauliflower or Instant Pot aloo gobi on the side.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken Curry
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips
🧈 Fat: Ghee is ideal for authentic flavor. Substitute with butter, vegetable oil, or coconut oil. Try my Instant Pot ghee recipe for homemade!
🌶️ Whole Spices: Cook the cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and cumin seeds very briefly – don’t let them burn!
🥄 Ground Spices: Kashmiri chili powder is mild but colorful. Substitute with a smaller amount of cayenne pepper plus paprika for color. The recipe isn’t too spicy – feel free to add more chili powder to taste.
🥣 Garam Masala: Homemade garam masala smells divine and tastes incredible. If using store-bought, try and get a fresh batch if yours has been in the cabinet for a long time – it makes a difference.
🧅 Onions: Red onions provide authentic curry flavor. Yellow onions work as a good substitute. Take the time to get the onions nice and golden brown – it’s totally worth it! Learn about all the different ways to brown onions!
🍅 Tomatoes: Tomato paste works great (it’s a family tradition!). Fresh or canned tomatoes (drained) also work – pulse in a mini food processor or blender first.
🍗 Chicken: I use bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks for maximum flavor! For boneless whole thighs, pressure cook the chicken 4 minutes, release pressure, then add the potatoes for 6 minutes (10 total). For cubed chicken, add the chicken pieces and potatoes together and cook 5 minutes.
💧 Liquid: Chicken broth or stock adds more flavor than water. Deglaze the Instant Pot really well before adding the broth.
🥔 Potatoes: Yukon gold potatoes add heartiness. To omit, cook the chicken for the total time without adding the potatoes partway through.
🥛 Thickening: Thicken the gravy with cashew butter or cashews blended into a paste. Use cream, coconut milk, or coconut cream for a coconut chicken curry variation.
🥬 Spinach Variation: For chicken saag, add frozen spinach at the end and heat through on Sauté mode.
⏰ Time Saver: Make the onion mixture ahead and store it in the fridge up to 3 days until ready to use.
🌿 Garnish: Add plenty of fresh cilantro for an authentic finishing touch.
🔥 Burn Message: Some people report that they get the Burn Message with this recipe. Here are a few ways to avoid the burn message:
- Try using boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 2 inch pieces instead of bone in chicken. Pressure cook the chicken and potatoes together for 4 minutes. There’s no need to release pressure partway through to add the potatoes.
- Add an extra ¼ to ½ cup of broth or water and make sure the liquid gets to the bottom, below the chicken pieces.
- Deglaze really well, and make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot. Lower the Saute temperature if you need to.
- Don’t sauté the tomatoes. Instead, add them on top of the chicken, without stirring.
- Place a low trivet in the inner pot and put the chicken pieces on the trivet. This allows the liquid to have full contact with the pot. What is a trivet?
❓ FAQS
Yes, double the recipe without any change to the cooking time. To avoid the burn message, use boneless chicken cut up into 1 to 2 inch pieces. See tips for more details.
I don’t recommend reducing the quantity due to the minimal quantity of liquid in this recipe. If you halve the recipe, don’t decrease the quantity of liquid – keep it the same – and keep the cooking time the same. At the end you may need to heat the curry in Saute mode to reduce the curry sauce.
Prepare the chicken and potatoes on the stovetop and transfer to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or 3 to 4 hours on high.
How to Make Indian Chicken Curry
⏲️ Instant pot Instructions
- Melt ghee or butter and add cinnamon, cumin seeds, and bay leaves. Stir until fragrant, being careful not to burn, about 30 seconds.
- Add the chopped onions, garlic, and ginger. Saute the onion mixture until it’s a deep golden brown, about 7 to 10 minutes. If you find the onions sticking to the bottom, deglaze periodically with a couple of teaspoons of broth or water.
- Add tomato paste mixed with water to the Instant Pot.
- Saute until the tomato is cooked, about 3 minutes. The oil will separate from the tomatoes. If it sticks to the bottom, add a tablespoon of water.
- Press Cancel to turn off the Instant Pot. The spices will cook in the residual heat. Add coriander, turmeric, black pepper, chili powder, salt.
- Stir spices until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Deglaze the pot with a tablespoon of water or broth so there’s nothing stuck to the bottom of the inner pot.
- Add the chicken and stir to coat with the spice mixture.
- Add broth or water. Make sure the liquid reaches the bottom of the pot, and gets under the chicken. If needed, place the chicken on a trivet.
- Close the lid.
- Program the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure for 9 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 9:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a quick release of pressure. Once the float valve goes down, the lid can be opened.
Note: If you’re using boneless chicken, pressure cooking instructions will be different. See details in tips or recipe card.
- Stir in cubed potatoes and garam masala. Pressure cook for another 6 minutes. If you want the potatoes to be more firm, reduce the cook time to 4 minutes.
- Do another quick release of pressure and open the lid.
- Carefully stir in cashew paste or cashew butter to make the chicken curry creamy. Cook chicken curry in Saute mode, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency.
- Press Cancel and transfer the chicken to a serving dish. Garnish the pressure cooker curry chicken with cilantro. Serve with white rice, brown rice, naan, or cauliflower rice.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
♨️ Stovetop Instructions
- Saute whole spices.
- Saute onion, garlic, and ginger.
- Saute tomatoes.
- Saute powdered spices.
- Stir in broth, chicken, and potatoes.
- Simmer until the chicken is cooked through.
- Stir in cashew butter, if using.
- Garnish with cilantro.
See the stovetop version of chicken curry for detailed instructions
Instant Pot Chicken Curry Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon ghee or butter
- 1 bay leaf large
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 cups onions chopped fine
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 ½ tablespoon coriander powder
- ¾ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ¾ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder or cayenne (to taste)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 3 lbs chicken thighs or drumsticks bone-in, or 2 lbs boneless chicken thighs (whole)
- 2 cups potatoes cut into 2 inch cubes
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth or water [See Note 1]
- 1 ½ teaspoon garam masala preferably homemade
- 2 tablespoon cashew butter or ground cashews (cashew paste) [See Note 2]
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- In Saute mode, melt ghee or 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 deep golden brown, about 7 to 12 minutes. If you find the onions beginning to burn, deglaze with a teaspoon or two of broth.
- Mix tomato paste with 2 tablespoons of water and add to the onions.
- Saute until the tomato is cooked, about 3 minutes. You should notice that the oil starts to separate from the tomato. If it sticks to the bottom, add another tablespoon or two of water.
- Press Cancel to turn off Instant Pot. Otherwise, spices can burn when you add them.
- Add coriander, turmeric, black pepper, chili powder, salt and stir till fragrant.
- Add the chicken pieces to the pot and stir to coat with the spice mixture. Make sure there's nothing stuck on the bottom of the inner pot. This is very important!
- Add chicken broth or water.
- Close the lid and Pressure Cook on High Pressure for 9 minutes. If using boneless chicken thighs, pressure cook on high pressure for 4 minutes.
- Do a Quick Release of pressure. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods].
- Open the lid and carefully stir in the cubed potatoes and garam masala. [See Note 3]
- Close the lid and Pressure Cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes. [See Note 4]
- Do a Quick Release of pressure. Press Cancel.
- Open the lid and add cashew butter, stir the chicken curry and heat through in Saute mode, until thickened. Stir occasionally to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom.
- Press Cancel, sprinkle chicken curry with cilantro and serve with Instant Pot basmati rice, brown rice, bread or naan.
Notes
- Note 1: Some people get the Burn message with bone-in chicken, and others don’t. If making the recipe with bone-in chicken, add an extra ¼ cup of broth if you’re prone to getting the burn notice. Another option is to use boneless skinless chicken cut into 2-inch pieces, pressure cook both the chicken and potatoes together for 4 to 5 minutes on high pressure and do a quick release of pressure. There’s no need to cook the chicken and potatoes in two stages.
- Note 2: Cashew paste is used to thicken the curry. To make cashew paste, blend ¼ to ⅓ cup of cashews with very little water to make a thick paste similar to peanut butter. You can substitute cashew paste with cashew butter. If you prefer a thin curry, omit the thickeners altogether. You could also thicken the curry by cooking down the liquid at the end, in Saute mode or adding heavy cream or coconut cream (See below).
- Note 3: The garam masala can also be added at the very end when you’re heating through on Saute mode. This makes the flavors bolder. Try my homemade garam masala.
- Note 4: At 6 minutes, the potatoes cook very well. Reduce the cooking time to 3 minutes for firmer potatoes.
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. chopped onions, minced garlic, diced chicken, etc.
- To make coconut curry chicken, add ¼ to ½ cup of coconut milk at the very end and heat through.
- To make a rich and creamy curry like butter chicken, add ¼ cup of heavy cream and 1 tablespoon of butter at the very end and heat through.
Nutrition
Thank you for visiting Paint the Kitchen Red. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please don’t use any content without prior written permission. If you’ve made this recipe and would like to share it with your friends, please link back to this recipe. Thank you!
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.
Did you know that the best way to support your favorite bloggers is to comment and rate recipes, and share on social media? If you loved this recipe, please comment and give it a five ⭐ rating in the comment section below. If you’re a pinner, pin this post using the Pin buttons at the top and bottom of this post and in the recipe card above. Thank you for your support!
Lori says
This recipe looks fabulous! I’m very new to the Instant Pot so appreciate such detail with how to use it. I’m finding there’s quite a learning curve. One question: Do you have an idea about how long I would cook it with boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into smaller pieces? Thanks! I’ll be following you for sure for Instant Pot recipes.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Lori – I’m glad you found me! If you’re using boneless skinless chicken cut into bite size pieces, 4 to 5 minutes high pressure should be enough.
JJ says
Tried this last night. Good. Wasn’t knock your socks off or anything but was good for dinner. I got the overheat error so I ended up needing to add a heavy 1/4 cup more stock to get it to come to pressure. So at the end I boiled a bit to get the liquid to reduce then stirred in some half & half w/tapioca flour to thicken and added a bit more garam marsala, salt & lemon juice to wake it up.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi JJ – thanks for sharing your experience. The extra liquid might have caused the spices to be dulled. Hope you get to try it again, without any overheat errors 🙂
Pei says
I tried it and I LOVED IT!!! (Oh and my husband loved it too!!!)
We halved the recipe (so yields 3 servings) cos there were only two of us but we ended up eating everything anyway!
Thanks so much for your DETAILED recipe. Makes first-time instant pot users like me so much easier!!!
:> Looking forward to trying more of your stuff!!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Pei, I’m really glad you liked it. I hope you get to try out more recipes, and please keep the comments coming – I always like feedback. You could reduce the quantity of chicken but keep the spices at the same level too if you wanted it to be more flavorful and/or spicy. Enjoy your new Instant Pot!
Lisa says
Would this recipe taste just as good if I used yams instead of potatoes, or would it make it too sweet?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I have used sweet potatoes before when we were on a low-carb kick 🙂 and it was good but yes, a bit sweet (not too much). I really like to use spinach too instead of potatoes sometimes if you’d like to try that. Of course, adjust cooking time as needed. Good luck!
Susan Brown says
My instant put lux80 doesn’t have poultry. Should I just use meat/stew??
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Susan – Just use the ‘Manual’ button for the same amount of time. Hope you enjoy it.
Sandra says
We tried this once and it was delicous, but we had omitted cashew pastebecause we didn’t have any. Can we substitute with Almond butter because that is something we readily have in the house.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Sandra, you can definitely substitute almond butter. The taste will be different, but good. Sometimes I use cashew and sometimes I just use thick coconut milk or cream. You’re mainly adding these to thicken. So the curry is very versatile.
TE says
This was delicious! Thank you! I’ve been a non cook my whole life but got the instant pot 2 months ago and have been inspired. Found your recipie and gave it a try based on all the excellent reviews. Outstanding! My 2 year old loved this too. I used chicken legs and those worked well. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Thanks again for your clarity and good taste.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks so much for you comment! I’m really glad you liked the recipe. My kids love it when I make it with chicken legs too – and they’re NOT 2 years old 🙂
Aruna says
Neena – I recently discovered your site and I am OBSESSED. I made this today and the red curry chicken a few days ago and both were insanely amazing.
Thank you for this site! Can I request a lamb biryani instapot recipe in the future???
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Aruna! Thank you so much for the kind words. When I get comments like your’s, it makes my day! I will add your request to my list. I don’t dash out recipes on this site – I can barely manage a recipe a week; it takes me time to find something I and my family love, and then post it. There are many epic fails before a winner recipe 🙂 So I will work on the lamb biryani recipe and hope you’ll see it sometime this fall.
Marilyn says
This was great! I used frozen chicken breasts and increased the time as a previous reader had done. Also, I have a sweet tooth, so we always put crema de coco (as is used in pina coladas) to make it tastier. Water chestnuts, California blend veggies, and cashews made the whole thing wonderful. Thanks again for your recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Marilyn, I’m glad you enjoyed the curry. You are so welcome – you made some very interesting adaptations to the recipe!
Tom says
I made the recipe this evening, with the only change being that I substituted natural peanut butter (all ground peanuts, no added fat) for the cashew paste. It was very good! The chicken was very tender and flavorful, as were the potatoes and other ingredients in the sauce. However, I never did get the sauce to thicken, even after boiling it on the Sautee setting for 20 minutes. Perhaps next time I’ll use slightly less water and corn starch as a thickener. Also, the curry flavor was not as infused into the chicken as I am used to from enjoying curry chicken in authentic Indian restaurants. Is the curry infusion into the chicken that Indian restaurants achieve only possible with slow cooking rather than the faster cooking that the Instant Pot allows? Again, it’s a great recipe, but I would like to learn how to make it even better!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Tom, thanks for your comment – no worries, I always like feedback! I think you should try and use less water next time, because it should not have been that liquidy. It’s a fine balance having enough water to reach pressure but not so much that it’s too watery. Having too much liquid is one of the top reasons for having a dish taste insipid. Maybe your chicken released a lot of liquid – was it frozen beforehand? Having a thicker sauce while pressure cooking would infuse more flavor into the chicken. Your tastes might also call for upping the spices. Also, this curry tastes really great the next day. Hope that helps and I’d love for you to try it again!
Tom says
The chicken I used (4 large bone-in thighs) was fresh, not frozen. I will definitely add less liquid next time. We enjoyed it tonight, and I bet next time we’ll enjoy it even more. Thanks so much for the recipe and especially the very clear directions in it!
lorna says
I’ve just bought an instant pot and came across your chicken curry recipe. I’m using a 1kg of chicken boneless thighs , could you please tell me how much of the other ingredients to use to the weight of chicken because your recipe uses 1 and half kg of chicken. I’m going to cook this today . Thankyou.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Lorna – You can keep the measurements the same. My recipe is for bone-in chicken and you’re using boneless so I think it will work just fine. I make this recipe with boneless thighs and use the same quantities. Just reduce the cooking time. Good luck!
Katie says
This was the first recipe we made in our new Instant Pot. Used boneless chicken thighs and cooked them for 11 minutes. Thickened sauce at the end with about 2tbsp fat free plain Greek yogurt. Served chicken and sauce over white rice. Let me tell you – it was amazing!!!!!! The whole family loved every bite! Thank you for creating and sharing this recipe. We will definitely try your other Instant Pot recipes! 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m so glad you liked it, Katie! Thanks for commenting – it really makes my day to hear from people like you. Please check in again when you try another recipe. If you like Thai curry, check out the Instant Pot Thai Red Curry. It’s really yummy and one of my favorites.
Moni says
Best curry chicken I’ve every had. Boneless chicken thighs also works well.
Feel like I’m in India cooking with your mom when I make this recipe. Thank you for sharing your family recipe.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for the compliment – you’re welcome. I’m so glad you like the recipe!
Zona Gray-Blair says
I can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks SO good! I really appreciate the details on using the Instant Pot with this recipe. So many recipes are difficult for those of us who are newer to the pot, because we don’t know what the abbreviations are, or we don’t know what buttons to push. I had to do a lot of research to find out that on the Lux, the manual is always on high.
On the cilantro topic, my husband adores it! He asked me why I don’t like it. I said I don’t dislike it, but the only thing I can think of is that it reminds me a little of soap. I later read that 10% of people think it tastes like soap, and it’s genetic. I also wonder if there are other things the 10%ers have in common. Just a curiosity nerd!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I hope you like the recipe! I keep posting the step by step instructions on all my recipes because I know there are always new IP users out there. It’s a time-consuming process, but I feel it’s much appreciated by people like you – thank you for commenting! I hardly ever cook anything on Low pressure, so I don’t think you’re missing out with the Lux model. And yes, although I can’t imagine cilantro tasting like soap, I get that people actually feel that way!
Ika says
I really liked the recipe. I may have added too much spices but still liked it very much. Any reason you add garam massala after cooking? I am thinking of trying this as add all spices in beginning and see how it turns our after sauteing the spices and onion to make the recipe even simpler. Any recommendations for any chutneys that would go well with this that can be ordered from Amazong?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Ika – I somehow missed your comment! I’m glad you enjoyed the curry. We typically add garam masala closer to the end of cooking because it retains the flavors. Actually it would be even better to add it to this curry after cooking the potatoes, while it’s simmering. If you wish to add it with the other spices, you can do that, but sprinkle a little more towards the end of cooking. I don’t normally serve chutney with this curry but you could do a nice cucumber raita – a yogurt relish.
asa says
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. My husband got me an instant pot in February, but I was not able to find a good recipe until I found yours.
Your recipe was so easy to follow with step by step pictures. I had no trouble making this chicken curry. The chicken curry came out just perfect. I will definitely try your other recipe soon. Thank you so much!!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You’re so welcome. I’m glad you found a recipe you like, because the Instant Pot has changed my life (I use it every day) and I hope you’ll feel the same way soon! Please check back in when you try another recipe 🙂
Melissa says
This is a fabulous recipe. I have been making curries for years and with my instant pot, I’ve been struggling to get mine “authentic” enough — this one does the trick! I omit the potatoes in favor of other carbs, but this is the real deal. Well done!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
That’s fantastic Melissa! Thank you for the kind words. I sometimes add ‘saag’ (spinach) to the dish at the end and just let it cook through. Very tasty and healthy too. I also find that this curry tastes best the next day.
Rimmy says
I bought the new instant pot ultra and it doesn’t have a poultry button. Any suggestions what I should do?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Rimmy, on the Instant Pot Ultra, just use the ‘Pressure Cook’ button and high pressure. Good luck and enjoy your new IP – I can’t wait to get one!
Martina says
Just came across the site looking for a chicken curry recipe to try out in my new Instant Pot! Thank you so much for this step-by-step tutorial! Many put recipes outthere but don’t tell you which settings to use high or low pressure and that’s frustrating for a newbie!
Thank you 🙂
P.S. I actually did paint my kitchen walls tomato red in my first apartment! It was the best 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for your kind words! I’m so glad it was helpful. Tomato red kitchen walls – wow, that was bold of you!
Anastasia says
Fantastic recipe! I made this today with boneless chicken thighs and heavy cream in place of the cashew cream and it was amazing! I also added some frozen peas at the end during saute mode. Great recipe, thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I love the changes that you made and am really glad you liked it!