Instant Pot Chickpea Tikka Masala

5 from 2 votes

A vegetarian Indian curry with tender chickpeas in a luscious, aromatic tomato cream sauce. This recipe with Instant Pot and stovetop instructions makes it easy to enjoy restaurant-quality tikka masala at home.

Servings servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoon ghee or butter
2 tablespoon garlic minced
1 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
2 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon cumin powder
¾ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder or to taste
3 cups chickpeas 2 15-oz. (439 grams) cans [See Note 1]
1 cup plain yogurt (whole milk)
8 oz. tomato sauce [See Note 2]
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp honey or to taste
1 tsp garam masala
1 Tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
½ cup heavy cream [See Note 3]
¼ cup cilantro leaves chopped

Instructions

Instant Pot Instructions

Select the Saute function and pre-heat the Instant Pot inner pot.
Melt 2 tablespoon ghee or butter in the inner pot.
Stir in 2 tablespoon garlic and 1 tablespoon ginger and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add 2 tablespoon coriander powder, 1 tablespoon cumin powder, ¾ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp black pepper powder, and 1 ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder and cook until spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Press Cancel.
Add 3 cups chickpeas to the spices and stir to coat.
Add 1 cup plain yogurt, 8 oz. tomato sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp honey. Mix well.
Close the lid and pressure cook for 5 minutes on High Pressure.
Do a natural pressure release (NPR). [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
Open the Instant Pot and stir in 1 tsp garam masala, 1 Tbsp dried fenugreek leaves, and ½ cup heavy cream.
Select Saute mode and cook for 2 minutes, or until heated through and desired consistency.
Garnish with ¼ cup cilantro leaves.
Serve with rice or naan.

Stovetop Instructions

Heat butter or ghee in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
Add garlic and ginger to the pot. Saute for about 30 seconds to one minute.
Add coriander, cumin, turmeric, black pepper, and chili powder and cook until spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Reduce heat to medium. Add chickpeas, tomato sauce, salt, lemon juice, honey, and fenugreek leaves. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Add a couple of tablespoons of water or vegetable broth if needed, to deglaze.
Add the yogurt, a couple of tablespoons at a time, stirring well after each addition.
Simmer the chickpea tikka masala on medium low heat until the chickpeas have time to absorb the flavors, about 20 minutes. Add more water or broth as needed.
Stir in garam masala and cream.
Heat through, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens.
Garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired.
Serve over rice or with naan.

Notes

Note 1: To use dried chickpeas, pressure cook 1 cup of chickpeas separately until tender (about 50 minutes on high pressure with natural release), which will give you about 3 cups cooked chickpeas.
Note 2: American tomato sauce (called tomato passata in the UK), not tomato ketchup!
Note 3: Feel free to add more cream to make the dish richer and creamier!
I make the recipe as written with no sealing problems. If you regularly encounter the ‘burn’ message, you can add the tomato sauce on top of the other ingredients, without stirring. If you still have issues, add some more liquid, e.g. a few tablespoons of broth, with the yogurt. [Read more: Instant Pot Burn Message].

Nutrition