Instant Pot has been one of our more recent acquisitions. We have always used the pressure cooker so we were excited to see what Instant Pot would bring to our kitchen. Given our love for chicken and curry, it was natural that one of the first recipes we tried was the Instant Pot Chicken Curry and we were not disappointed! The best reasons to use the instant pot? Fall off the bone chicken cooked in under 20 minutes with minimal mess in the kitchen!!
The Chicken
For a curry, I normally use whole chicken cut into pieces. However, this time I decided to use bone-in, skinless chicken thighs that were cut into small pieces. Bone-in pieces stand well to pressure cooking. Since this was my first time using the instant pot to cook the chicken curry, I decided to use only one part of the chicken to ensure even cooking! Whenever you handle chicken, ensure that any surface the chicken touches is thoroughly cleaned. Wash your hands with soap before handling anything else to minimize cross-contamination.
The Curry
This chicken curry uses onions and tomatoes as a base and simple spices such as turmeric, garam masala and red chili powder to enhance the flavor. What makes this curry different is the use of a lot of cilantro (kothimbir) leaves while cooking. I have realized the potential of the flavor the cilantro stems hold! Add them while cooking your onions and see the difference! I love the fact that I can use the cilantro fully. Just make sure you clean the stems well before use. I add them before adding the tomatoes and any other spices.
The best way of infusing flavor in the oil is to add whole garam masala to the hot oil. Then saute your onions, tomatoes and anything else that goes in the chicken curry. One thing to remember while using the instant pot is to deglaze the pot with a liquid (water, stock, whatever you happen to be using) before you seal it. This helps to avoid the “Burn” notice. Be careful of the steam while releasing the pressure from the instant pot.
A simple chicken curry that goes perfectly with rice and rotis alike, is a definite crowd pleaser. This is a perfect dish for when guests arrive on short notice. This one pot, no fuss curry is a definite winner. Here is the Recipe:
INSTANT POT CHICKEN CURRY
Ingredients
- 2 lbs bone-in skinless chicken thighs cut into small pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 4 green chilies sliced
- 4 large cloves of garlic minced
- 1 inch piece of ginger minced
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 cup cilantro leaves finely chopped
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp garam masala powder
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- 5 tbsp oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Start the Instant pot on sauté mode and add oil to it.
- Add the bay leaves, cinnamon, green chilies and ginger-garlic and sauté for a minute.
- Add the onions and sauté for 6 minutes.
- Once the onions are cooked, add the tomatoes and cilantro and sauté for 4 more minutes.
- Add the powdered spices, sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the cleaned chicken pieces and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Cancel sauté mode.
- Add 1 cup of water, seal the instant pot and set the instant pot on high pressure.
- Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- Release the pressure when done.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve hot with steamed rice or rotis!