Mom's authentic Chicken Curry recipe made in Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker. This chicken curry instant pot recipe is made in a simple onion-tomato gravy with the aroma of whole spices. This is the best Chicken Curry you will ever have!
I wanted to recreate my mom's chicken curry in the instant pot and tried it multiple times. But I was not getting the exact favor that comes when she cooks the curry....something was missing! But guess what, mom is visiting and shared her secret tips for the chicken curry.
Mom's Chicken Curry Tips
- Sauté the onions for longer, about 4 mins until the oil starts separating .
- Add the tomatoes and sauté the onion-tomato mixture for longer, again about 4 mins until the oil separates.
- Add the chicken and cook it on sauté for 2-3 mins, before you pressure cook.
You get the idea, basically sauté the ingredients perfectly, to get the perfect chicken curry. Another great thing about this curry is, there is no marination required. So no pre-prep for this recipe.
Step-by-step Chicken Curry Instant Pot Instructions
Start with getting the main ingredients ready.
- The whole spices in one bowl. If you want to make this recipe simpler, you can skip the whole spices. What you lose with that is the aroma, but trust me, it will still be as flavorful.
- The ground spices in one bowl.
- Chicken cut into pieces. I used boneless chicken breasts in this recipe, but mom says bone-in chicken tastes even better. This is next to try, but I do like the convenience of boneless chicken.
Now we are ready to start cooking! Start the instant pot in Sauté mode, and heat ghee or oil in it. I prefer ghee to get the richer taste, especially homemade ghee in the instant pot. Add the whole spices and sauté for 30 seconds to get the aroma. Add the green chili, onions, ginger and garlic to the pot. Sauté for about 4 minutes until the onions turn brown and the oil separates. Now add the tomatoes and ground spices. Sauté for another 4 minutes until oil separates. Remember mom's tips, this sautéing of onions and tomatoes is what gives a great taste to the chicken curry. Keep stirring at about 1-2 minute interval, so the onions and tomato don't get stuck to the bottom of the pot.
Let's add the chicken pieces to the pot. Stir it well, so the chicken is coated with the onion-tomato masala. Sauté the chicken for a couple of minutes. Now add water to the pot and deglaze well. The trick is to add less water, as the chicken also releases water.
Change the instant pot setting to pressure cook mode and cook for 5 minutes on high pressure. Quick release the pressure, as we don't want to overcook the chicken. Stir in the lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.
Look at the end result, doesn't it look appetizing? I had this chicken curry for three meals at a stretch, first with roti (Indian flatbread), then with rice and finally with naan.
Don't have an instant pot or pressure cooker, use the same steps to cook chicken curry in a pan. After adding chicken to the pan, cover pan with a lid and cook for about 15 minutes. Stir every 3-4 minutes, so the chicken does not stick to the pan. You would need to double the amount of water (1 cup) when cooking in a pan.
Try this Chicken Curry instant pot recipe and let me know how you like it.
- Recipe posted 3 months ago: Bell Pepper and Potato Stir Fry
- Recipe posted 6 months ago: Vegan Spinach Tofu Curry
- Recipe posted 9 months later: Potato Curry in Tomato Gravy
Want to find other easy Instant Pot Indian Recipes? Here are 23 Best Instant Pot Indian Recipes for you to try!
Mom's Chicken Curry - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 pound Chicken boneless, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 3 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
- 1 Green Chili Pepper small, chopped (optional)
- 1 inch Ginger finely chopped
- 5 cloves Garlic finely chopped
- 1 Onion medium sized, finely chopped
- 2 Tomato medium sized, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- ¼ cup Cilantro to garnish
Whole Spices
Spices
- 2 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Cut the boneless chicken into small pieces, about 1-2 inch in size.
- Heat the instant pot in Sauté mode and add oil to it. Add the whole spices and sauté for 30 seconds to get the aroma.
- Add the chopped green chili, onions, ginger and garlic to the pot and sauté for 4 minutes until they turn golden brown. Keep stirring at regular intervals.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and spices. Sauté for another 4 minutes, while stirring at regular intervals.
- Add the chicken and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Do not skip this step, as it adds lots of flavor to the curry.
- Then add the water and stir it with the chicken. Deglaze and scrape off anything stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Change the instant pot setting to manual/pressure cook mode on high for 5 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually. Stir in the lemon juice.
- Garnish with cilantro and chicken curry is ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
If you are looking for more chicken recipes, check out Chicken Korma, Keema Matar, Chicken Chettinad, Saag Chicken and the famous Butter Chicken. Like goat meat, check out our Mutton Curry recipe.
Ketan P says
I have cooked this today. I used coconut oil and a little olive oil. The rest of the recipe and quantity similar. I used one Jalapenos. It came out good and just right amount of spice as I like it a little more on the spicey side vs bland.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Ketan - Happy to hear you enjoyed the curry. Thanks for sharing back!
Kitchenhutt Spices says
Your blog is impressive, thanks to the quality of your recipes & other content...
Phoebe Rohrbacher says
Hello! I have made this recipe many times in the instant pot and it’s always perfect! B it right now we don’t have an instant pot. How should I adapt the cooking time to do in regular stove top pot? Thanks!!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Phoebe - You can follow the same method on the stovetop. In place of pressure cooking, cover with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in between at regular intervals.
Parul Patel says
Turned out great. I used coconut oil and did add coconut milk when it was done. Whole family loved it. Thank you for posting
Piping Pot Curry says
That’s great everyone enjoyed it, Parul! I appreciate your review
Amina says
Hi,
if I use bone-in chicken pieces, what would be the cooking time?
thank you.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Amina - For bone-in chicken, I would add 2 minutes to the cook time. Hope you enjoy the curry!
Rich says
If I use whole spices in a recipe like this, do I remove them at some point - or do you just avoid them as you're eating?
Also, if I were to make this with the make-ahead onion-tomato bhuna masala, would I just add any spices that weren't included in that other recipe, and then add in the chicken?
Meeta Arora says
Hi Rich - You are right, we just avoid the whole spices while eating. However if do not like that, you can use a spice pouch and add the whole spices to it. Then remove the spice piouch after pressure cooking is done.
I would suggest to add the spices mentioned in this curry as is, because I add very less spices in the bhuna masala recipe. Hope you enjoy the chicken curry!
Deepti Shaw says
Absolutely loved this recipe! It's been a hit in our house since. Even used it for a dinner party with friends. Remember to be heavy handed with spices, etc if you are multiplying the recipe. Thank you for sharing!! 🙂
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi Deepti - So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing back 🙂
Alan says
wow... amazing. easy to follow and whole family loved it. thank you so much for this recipe. I will be doing this more often from now on.
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi Alan - That makes me really happy. Thank you for sharing it back 🙂
DC123 says
Incredibly authentic and easy! I used chicken tenderloins cut into 1 inch pieces. My only regret is that I should have triple the recipe!
Meeta Arora says
Hi - So glad that you enjoyed the curry. Thanks for sharing back.
Ekta says
Hi, I made the curry step by step but as soon as the pin came up, I got the food burn notice so cancelled it and let it sit for 5 mins and took all pressure out after 5. Why would that happen, any suggestions?
Meeta Arora says
Hi Ekta - Sorry to hear that happened. Before you close the pot, make sure to deglaze anything stuck to the bottom of the pot. Typically 1/3 cup water is enough as chicken also releases liquid as it cooks. But you can increase the amount of liquid to 1/2 cup if you got a burn message. Hope that helps!