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.
Table of Contents
Watch How to Make Mom’s 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
Video
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
- 1/3 cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Cilantro, to garnish
Whole Spices
Spices
- 2 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Garam masala
- 1/4 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.
Notes
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.
Is it just 1 whistle in the cooker? Should I release the pressure immediately afterwards?
Hi Jake – If you are using a regular stovetop pressure cooker, I would suggest 2 whistle and then let the steam release naturally.
My family loves this dish! It’s quick and super flavorful. The step-by-step pictures help a lot, thanks for posting those!
Hey Shabnam – Glad to hear your family loves the chicken curry. I made it just yesterday. Thank you for sharing back your review 🙂
Excellent recipe. Came out good in my first attempt !
However, taste being very subjective , made a few minor changes.
1. Instead of one small chilly, I chopped a whole jalapeno.
2. Almost doubled the chopped onion/tomato content ( since I wanted more gravy)
3. Instead of cooking for 5 minutes in Instant Pot, I cooked for 3 minutes. ( this on suggestion by my wife ! )
Hey Satish – Glad you enjoyed the Chicken Curry. Thank you for sharing the changes you made, it is very helpful to other readers 🙂
Hi do you leavethe top off when you saute?
Hey Alicia – Yes, I don’t use the lid when on sauté. Hope you enjoy the curry!
I tried this recipe last night since my husband loves Chicken. I have to say this was very easy and quick and delicious. Awesome Recipe!! I did marinate the chicken for like 15 mins in a ginger-garlic-green chili paste ( not sure how much difference that made but it was nice). Thank you!!
Hey Urvi – Glad you all enjoyed the chicken curry. Marinating chicken is always great. Thank you for sharing your review!
Hello Meeta, Most of the time I have frozen Bone-in Chicken thighs or drumsticks. At what stage do I need to cook it extra to give it enough time to thaw and then cook, without it being getting too dry, or not enough cooked?
Thanks in advance for putting up the receipe. Denver has plenty of Indian restaurants but all of them are substandard and the need to eat authentic Chicken Curry is prompting me to try it to cook myself.
Hey Deepak – You are very welcome. I suggest to thaw the chicken before using in this recipe and cook bone-in chicken for 7 mins at high pressure, with a 5 minutes NPR (release pressure 5 mins after beep). I hope you enjoy the curry!
Awesome recipie. Keep up the good work. Yummy.
Thanks Darren. Glad you enjoyed the chicken curry 🙂
Do you happen to know how long to cook this with drumstick chicken?
Sorry I didn’t mean to rate the recipe. I haven’t made it yet
Hey Annu – You can cook for 8 minutes with 5 minutes NPR for drumsticks. I know there is no way to take the rating out once you have clicked it. Hope you enjoy the curry.
I like potatoes in my chicken curry. What is the best way to add the potatoes with chicken?
Hello Jan – Potatoes are a great addition. As we are pressure cooking for just 5 minutes, you can add cubed potatoes just before pressure cooking. That time would be enough to cook the cubed potatoes. Hope you enjoy the chicken curry, this one is my favorite!
Hey Meeta,
If I double the recipe, would the cooking time remain the same?
Hey Kiara – Yes, the cooking time will remain the same even if you double the recipe. Instant pot will take longer to come to pressure. Hope you enjoy the chicken curry!