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.
Jonathan Ward says
Hi I do a similar dish but add yogurt to marinate the chicken, would the yogurt survive the pressure cooking? Thank you!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Jonathan - Sure, it will be fine. Once you add the marinated chicken to the instant pot, stir it and cook on sauté for 2-3 minutes while stirring frequently. Then pressure cook the curry. Hope you enjoy it!
Ray says
Going to try this at weekend.
We love green peppers, if we add a chopped green pepper to this at what stage would you recommend?
Meeta Arora says
Hi Ray - Yes, I do add green chili pepper to this curry. Right after adding oil the instant pot in step 3. Hope you enjoy it!
Shivani says
Amazing recipe!! One quick question : if I want to use the same amount of chicken, but increase the amount of curry I get out of this, what adjustments should I make?
Meeta Arora says
Hi Shivani - You can double the ingredients such as onions, tomatoes, etc, and adjust the amount of spices to 1.5x.
Akshay Padhye says
I followed this recipe but also added a few tbsp of ground coconut. I really loved how it ended up turning out.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Akshay - Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Ground coconut is a great addition.
Melissa says
This curry is so simple yet SO tasty!!! Loved it and will be adding to my go to recipes.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Melissa - Gald to hear you enjoyed the curry!
Brigitte says
My 10 year old daughter was just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and her previous diet was very heavy in carbs. She’s an extremely picky eater so this is an extra burden along with the diagnosis. And a big hurdle in adjusting her diet has been that she has always refused to eat any kind of meat or fish. In the past I tried giving her lentils and other legumes that she also refused. But she now knows she must start to change her eating habits for the sake of her health. I made this curry for her - I cut the chicken into tiny pieces - and it’s now her favourite dish. Along with a lentil bake I make for her. And the recipe is so simple my husband can make it. Thank you for this recipe.
Meeta Arora says
Hello Brigitte - I am so happy that your daughter liked this curry. It is truly the most simple homecooked chicken curry that my mom used to make for us. Thank you for sharing back!
Shruti says
Hi, I have a traditional pressure cooker that whistles. For how many whistles do you suggest I cook the chicken? Thanks!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Shruti - I would suggest to cook for 2 whistles in a traditional pressure cooker. Hope you enjoy it!
Freda Marie says
I only have tomato puree. How much should I use?
Meeta Arora says
Hi Freda - I would suggest to add about 3/4 cup of tomato puree (1/2 a can). Hope you enjoy the curry!
Akshul Khanijo says
Great and super easy recipe, The curry tastes amazing.
This would be a perfect home cooked recipe for a student haha.
Cheers
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi Akshul- So happy to hear that. 🙂
Suman says
Hi! If I want to triple this recipe, should I increase everything x3? I know it will tend to have more liquid in this quantity, and the spices don’t always multiply well. Would appreciate your thoughts!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Suman - I would suggest to 3x the spices and all other ingredients, but only 2x the water. Hope you enjoy the curry!
Radhika says
I’m Indian. been cooking since I was 15 and am now over 50. Without question, this is the simplest and best version of chicken curry Ive had. I’m always trying to improve and I find this to be perfection. only wish my Pappa was arline to have him taste it today. He was a foodie and I am proud to be in his image. Thank you so much for this simple and fantastic recipe. xoxo
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi - So happy to hear that you liked the recipe. Thank you for sharing it 🙂