Easy & healthy Coconut Chicken Curry made in an Instant Pot in just 30 minutes! This is simple Indian chicken curry recipe is made with ginger, garlic, onions alongside flavorful spices, and finished with creamy coconut milk. Pair this dairy-free & gluten-free curry with fragrant basmati rice.
This is the best coconut and chicken curry that you’ll ever make. Personally, I love curries because they are quick, full of flavor and tastes just as good the following days. This curry is also incredible because it uses basic ingredients,similar to my mom’s chicken curry and chicken curry with potatoes, that you most likely have in your kitchen right now.
It’s so healthy because it’s made from scratch and also very quick to make (thanks to the instant pot), you have control over the ingredients in this curry and the most important part is that this curry is mild, therefore perfect for kids (even picky eaters). Your family will love this recipe!
How to make Coconut Chicken Curry?
Before you start making this coconut chicken curry make sure you have all the ingredients prepped and on hand. Dice your onions and cut your chicken thighs into pieces. Keep the spices ready. Now let’s start making this delicious curry.
- Set the Instant Pot on sauté mode and let it heat.
- Add ghee or oil along with the cumin seeds. Saute for 30 seconds until they release their aroma. Cumin seeds are optional but do add a wonderful flavor to the curry. If you have ghee, I highly recommend to use it, as it adds so much more flavor to this curry.
- Now add the diced onions, garlic, ginger, and sauté them for a few minutes.
- When the onions turn golden brown, add the tomato puree along with the spices and saute for an additional 2-3 minutes. I used canned tomato puree, you can also use fresh tomato puree in this recipe. Blend 2 tomatoes to make a puree.
- Add the chicken pieces to the pot. Stir and sauté for 3-4 more minutes. Do not skip this step, as it adds lots of flavor to the curry.
- Then add the water and mix well. Deglaze well and make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Switch the Instant Pot to manual or pressure cook on high pressure for 4 minutes with the vent in sealing position.
- As soon as the Instant Pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually and open the lid.
- Now stir in the coconut milk, garam masala and let it simmer on sauté mode for 4-5 minutes until the sauce is thickened to your preference. Use full-fat canned unsweetened coconut milk.
- You are almost ready! Stir in the lime juice and garnish with cilantro.
- The coconut chicken curry is ready to be served with flavorful rice or Indian flatbreads. Enjoy!
How to serve this Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk?
You can whip up some basmati rice or cumin rice to soak up all that saucy goodness. This curry goes also very well with Indian flatbreads like roti, naan or paratha with a side of yogurt.
Leftovers and Reheating Tips
Seal any leftover curry in an airtight container, it should last up to 3 days in the refrigerator. But if you’d like to make more for the week or month ahead, I suggest you freeze it. Make sure it’s fully cooled down before sealing. Once the curry is frozen it will keep well for 3-4 months.
You can reheat the curry in the microwave or on the stovetop while stirring well.
Tips & Variations for making the best coconut chicken curry
- You can use skinless chicken breast or chicken thighs to make this curry.
- Add all the veggies! You can add roasted cauliflower, broccoli florets, green peas and even baby spinach at the end! If you want to add potatoes or sweet potatoes, cut them in large pieces and add them just before pressure cooking.
- You don’t want chicken? No problem! You can still make a delicious curry using shrimps like in this Coconut Shrimp Curry.
- For a plant-based version of curry, try this Vegetable Korma with coconut milk which is also made in an instant pot.
Looking for more quick & delicious instant pot recipes? I’ve got you covered!
- Chickpea Curry with Spinach (Chana Saag) – A healthy vegan and gluten-free curry with chickpeas and spinach.
- Creamy Mushroom Pasta – Spaghetti tossed in a creamy cheese sauce loaded with mushrooms.
- Vegetable Biryani – Fragrant basmati rice cooked with lots of vegetables, and aromatic whole spices and herbs.
- Madras Lentils – Restaurant-style Dal Makhani made in the pressure cooker, it’s rich, creamy, and flavorful.
Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera), optional
- 1 cup Onions, yellow diced
- 1/2 tablespoon Ginger, paste or grated
- 1/2 tablespoon Garlic, paste or minced
- 1 cup Tomato puree, canned or blend 2 tomatoes to make a puree *
- 1 pound Chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, cut into 1-1.5 inch pieces.
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1 cup Coconut Milk, canned, full-fat, unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1 tablespoon Lime juice
- Cilantro , to garnish
Spices
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin (Jeera powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, or paprika, adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in Sauté mode and let it heat. Add ghee (or oil), and then add cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 30 seconds.
- Add onions, ginger and garlic paste. Sauté for about 3 minutes until the onions turn golden brown.
- Add tomato puree and spices. Mix and let it sauté for 2-3 minutes. (If your instant pot is prone to burn, then skip this step and add the tomato puree after sautéing the chicken and adding water. Do not stir.)
- Add chicken pieces to the pot. Stir and saute the chicken for about 3-4 minutes. Do not skip this step, as it adds lots of flavor to the curry.
- Add the water and stir. Press cancel and close lid with the vent in sealing position.
- Start the instant pot in Manual or Pressure cook mode on high pressure for 4 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually and open the lid.
- Stir in the coconut milk, garam masala and let it simmer on sauté mode for 4-5 minutes or until the sauce is thickened (see notes to thicken sauce).
- Stir in the lime juice and garnish with cilantro. Coconut Chicken Curry is ready to be served. Enjoy over basmati rice or with naan.
How roasted should the cauliflower be? Any tips on getting the potatoes right?
Hello – Here is how I typically roast the cauliflower to add to the curry – https://pipingpotcurry.com/air-fryer-cauliflower/
If adding potatoes, cut them in large pieces about 1.5 inches in size. Add them just before pressure cooking. Hope you enjoy the curry!
We made this tonight for the first time. I was skeptical as I’d never had curry before, but hubby really wanted to try it. It was fantastic! We are already planning to add this to our regular rotation. 2 out of 3 picky eater kiddos even liked it! Thank you for sharing!
Hello – So happy to hear you all enjoyed it, especially the kids. Thanks for sharing back!
I made this in the instapot and it does stick to the bottom for some reason. I then made this exact recipe, except for the timing of course in my dutch oven, and it turned out excellent.
Hi Nikki – Thanks for sharing. Somehow I feel this is an issue with the new versions of instant pot. I have tested this recipe multiple times, and don’t get a burn. I will add some suggestions in the recipe to avoid the burn. Thank you!
This is the first recipe I made in my instapot AND my first attempt at curry. I love this recipe. So easy and so flavorfull. I’ve made it a number of times — I usually add roasted cauliflower to it and it is great every time!
Hello Christine – So happy to hear you have been enjoying this curry. Thank you for sharing back!
Very tasty and relatively easy to make. My only real complaint and why only 3 stars is becuase I’ve made twice and each time I’ve gotten a burn warning on my instapot! I’ve had to finish on the stovetop. I see from comments I’m not the only one this has happened to. I would love for the author to adjust the recipie to fix this issue.
Hi Kristin – Thank you for sharing your feedback. I will soon be making a video of this recipe to make sure this is not an issue. One workaround is to add tomatoes on the top after adding chicken, but before pressure cooking. I hope that helps!
Oh my, I can’t imagine a whole cup of tomato paste in any recipe, I hope you tried this recipe again with the puree.
Not a super fan of this one. Too much tomato paste which burns. I think it needs more curry flavor somewhere. And less paste.
It does not say Tomato paste but tomato purée. There is a. If difference between these two.
Correction, there is a big difference.
Hello – Tomato paste won’t work well in this recipe. You want to use tomato puree, or fresh tomatoes for this curry. As you said, the paste is too thick and will cause a burn and also not taste that great, as it will make the curry too tangy and tart!
Wow, I made this last night exactly as written and added chucks of sweet potato and Yukon gold potatoes before pressurizing. I added sliced yellow bell pepper during the last 5 minutes sautéing at the very end. This was delicious! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Hi Ashley – Happy to hear you enjoyed the curry!
Is the chicken cooked ahead?
Hi Jen – No, the chicken is not cooked ahead. It will cook perfectly in the suggested pressure cooking time. Hope you enjoy the curry!
Made this tonite and it was fabulous. Want to make it next week for my book club of 12 ladies. Are there adjustments that need to be made on the instant pot cook times?
Hi Cheryl – Glad to hear you enjoyed the curry. You can double/triple all the ingredients, except the water. Pressure cooking time remains the same as in the recipe.
My boyfriend and I loved this recipe. The Jeera seeds were a nice touch. I also marinated the chicken pieces in some chicken masala and oil since I didn’t have any garam masala to add at the end. Will be making again and again.
Hi – So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing back 🙂