Chicken Korma – A mildly spiced chicken curry made with whole spices like cardamom, cloves, black pepper, and cumin simmered in a light, flavorful yogurt based sauce!
After publishing several Instant Pot recipes, I realized that not everyone enjoys spicy foods. Some children might like to try Indian food but will not because it could be too spicy! As much as I love spices, I do not like them overpowering my food. Just because it is Indian food, it does NOT have to be spicy!
This simple Chicken Korma recipe is a perfect dish if you enjoy mild curries without worrying about possible heart burn.
What is Korma?
Korma is a mildly spiced flavorful Indian curry with chicken, fish or vegetables braised in a mildly spiced yogurt, coconut or nut based sauce.
If you enjoy eating chicken drumsticks, this would be a perfect recipe for you to try. This curry can also be made with chicken thighs or breasts with or without bones, although I would recommend making this with thigh meat for a moist and flavorful curry. If you prefer a creamier curry, stir in a couple spoons of cashew cream (cashews soaked in warm milk and pureed) in the end.
Step by Step Chicken Korma Instant Pot recipe:
- Heat oil and saute whole spices (cardamom, cloves, black pepper and cumin) until aromatic. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes as the onions turn translucent.
- Add remaining spices, ginger, garlic and chicken
- Optional Step to make pot in pot rice – Carefully place a tall trivet in the main pot and place the rice pot over it. Close the Instant Pot and Pressure cook for 8 minutes.
- Open the Instant Pot and carefully take out the rice and the trivet
- Add few spoonfuls of the curry to the yogurt and mix well. Stir in the yogurt in the chicken korma and gently mix. PRO TIP – This step is very important to prevent curdling of the yogurt. Adding cold yogurt to hot curry can cause the curry to get curdled. By adding a few spoons of hot sauce to the yogurt brings up the temperature of the yogurt to prevent curdling.
- Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with hot steamed rice.
Chicken Korma Variations
Chicken Korma can be made in few different ways. Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy korma:
- Chicken Korma – Which is this recipe with a light yogurt based sauce with whole spices.
- Shahi Chicken Korma – Creamy chicken curry with a hint of sweetness studded with nuts and raisins.
- White Chicken Korma – Creamy chicken curry in a white nutty sauce. Similar to the Shahi Korma recipe, no tomatoes and substitute red chili powder with white pepper and green chiles.
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- 1.5 pounds chicken thighs cut into pieces I used 6 skinless drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 4 green cardamom whole
- 4 cloves
- 12 black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ - 1 teaspoon kashmiri chili powder or any mild red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ cup full fat or greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped, for garnish
- 1 cup basmati rice rinsed and drained
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Turn the Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat oil. Add whole spices (cardamom, cloves, black pepper and cumin). Saute for 30 secs.
Add onion and mix well. Saute for 2 minutes covered with glass lid.
Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and salt. Mix well.
Add chicken, mix well to evenly coat all the spices to the chicken.
- Add ¼ cup of water. Close Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Cook on Manual(Hi) for 8 mins followed by 5 min Natural release.
Open the Instant Pot, add a few spoonfuls of hot curry to the yogurt and mix well. This step is important to avoid the cold yogurt getting split in the curry.
- Cook on Saute mode to thicken the sauce. Garnish with chopped cilantro!
Recipe Video
Notes:
- We enjoy this curry a bit soupy. If you want a thick curry, reduce the ¼ cup water by adding only 2 tbsp of water and saute in the end for few extra minutes.
- For boneless chicken thighs or breasts - cook for 5 mins followed by 10 minute natural pressure release.
Pot in Pot Rice
- In step 5, before closing the Instant pot, add rice, water and salt to a stainless steel pot.
- Place a tall trivet in the Instant and place the rice pot over it.
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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
Are you sure about the nutrition facts? Unless those chicken thighs are pure fat, where does a solid the tablespoons of fat per serving come from?
You are right! I will double check it with nutrifox who provide me with the details. I surely overlooked that info. Thank you!!
Oh yes, love Chicken korma 🙂
Thank you Loretta! Me too!
1 tblsp cooking oil plus the rendered fat of the skin of of 1.5 lbs chix tights, 27.9 gr of fat (about an ounce), sounds about right 🙂
Great recipe BTW 🙂
Thank you Hans! I am working with the nutrifox software support to make sure I have the fat info accurate.
Archana the korma looks yummy. No coconut in the gravy and why korma?? Just curious.
I think south Indian Korma dishes usually have coconut in it. North Indian korma will have yogurt and sometimes cashew paste. I love the south indian veggie korma with fresh coconut.
Now its clear. Thanks for the clarification. Being a South Indian I have a picture of korma as a gravy with coconut. Yes try making the South Indian version in your Insta pot. Want roti and your korma – am drooling here.
Thank you! I love south indian food, so yes cannot wait to try the veg korma with coconut.
Looks amazing and yummy. Your dishes look so vibrant and appealing. I will try this one in the weekend for sure.
Thank you for your kind words. This is a very easy chicken curry without too many spices. Kids enjoy it too! Let me know how your family likes it.
Absolutely ADORED your korma! Chicken is infused with deep flavour, spices are enhanced without being overpowering. Thank you (AND we are extremely demanding food wise) for this wonderful recipe!
Thank you Louise. So glad that your family enjoyed the korma! As you said it has so much flavor without overpowering. I try to put minimal spices in most of my recipes so that the flavor and nutrition of the main ingredients stands out. Making in Instant Pot make them all even simple and healthy!
Hello,
Can you please guide me in making beef korma please?
Hi Hina! I have not tried this recipe with beef. But if the cook time for beef is similar to chicken you can just follow the recipe?
Thanks for the recipe. I made in last night and it was delicious. Your video was very helpful. I love InstantPot recipes!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the feed back. It is always exciting to know that the readers are enjoying the recipes. Do try rest of the recipes and let me know how you like them. I try to post simple recipes with few ingredients.
I also made your spinach dal last night – very good.
Thank you VK Shah! Your feedback is really appreciated. I am so glad that you are enjoying these recipes.
I just made this and it was absolutely delicious and so easy. I can’t believe it is such a full flavored curry in less than 30 minutes. Thank you so much for the recipe.
SO glad you enjoyed this. Thank you for letting me know!
I never comment on websites, but had to let you know that I made this last night and it came out amazing! My husband said it was the best dish I have ever made! Thank you! As an american-born Indian with no one to ask for recipes (my mother has passed away), you made the recipe easy to follow with the perfect spice mix! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Any chance you have a good kichdi recipe (with onions, potatoes, peas)- it’s the dish I crave most but I just cannot replicate the way my mother made it when I was little.
Hi Anamika! Thank you for such a lovely note! You made my day. SO glad you an your husband enjoyed this dish. I have a few other easy Indian recipes on my blog. Do give them a try. Also if you send me your email address and I will send you the khichadi recipe. Or I might be able to post it in a few weeks, I have a bunch of recipes i want to post, just not enough time.
Easy, breezy, and tasty! The recipe is spot on! This dish was a hit and loved by all.
If one has the time a little suggested variation– marinate chicken pieces for 1-3 hrs in juice of 1 lime along with the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric and red chilli powder. Makes for a tasty chicken meat in every bite.
Thank you Kalyani, so glad you liked it. This dish also tastes amazing the next day, so doubling it is also a good idea. And great suggestion to marinate for few hours, if planned ahead of time!
Looks great..instant pot really saves time and dont have to compromise in taste
You are so right!!
Looks wonderful, I’d like to try this tonight but would like to increase the recipe to 10 skinless bone-in chicken thighs. How long should I cook them for?
Hi Sheila!! You can follow the recipe exact! The cook time will work well for bone in thighs!
Thanks for the quick response!
Can you use frozen chicken thighs (boneless) for this? What would be the change in the recipe (guessing cooking time?) Thank you!
Hi Ketki, You can add extra 2-3 mins assuming you will have them cut into small pieces.
My 1 year old loved this! Finally something that she’ll eat other than cheese and crackers 🙂 . Thanks for sharing.
Hi Christina! I love to hear when children enjoy healthy foods. This sure if a fav recipe in our home too. Thank you for letting me know.
How would the cooking times change if I use boneless chicken instead?
Hi Sonia, For boneless chicken I would cook for 5 mins with 5 min NPR. Let me know if you have any other questions 🙂
Hello! Can I use frozen thighs? If so, what should be the cook time?
Hi Lincy, Yes you can use frozen thighs, depending on the thickness 10-12 mins would be a good good time.
Hi, i have used your recipe for chicken kurma and it turned out really well. I cooked one whole chicken pieces and followed the time as you mentioned. If I double the recipe (2 whole chicken pieces) how much time should I use? Thanks
Hi Farhana! So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! You can totally double the chicken and the remaining ingredients. Pressure Cook time will be the same. The Instant Pot will take longer to come to pressure but you set it for the same cook time!
I made this today and it was a hit with the family! Thank you for this, and all your other delicious recipes. Quick question for you – can you please advise on how i would need to modify this recipe (amount of spices/yogurt and cooking time) to increase the portion to a whole chicken, around 4 pounds?
Hi Masooma! Thank you for the feedback. So glad you enjoyed this yummy korma.
I couldn’t find whole cardamom, can I use cardamom seeds? If so, how many?
You can ground cardamom seeds and add then to this recipe. Use 1/4 tsp.
Just made this tonight. Great recipe. Could you clarify why you first mention chicken in chunks and then in the bottom advise on 5 minutes cooling time if boneless
Skinless thighs are used? Deboned and skinned thighs myself and cur into chunks – worked out perfectly with 5 minutes and NPR.
Hi Charlotte! Happy to hear that you liked this recipe. Sorry if the instructions are confusing, basically 8 mins for bone in chicken and 5 mins for boneless. Both need 5 mins NPR.
What happens to the whole spices? Are they edible, or do they to be removed?
Hi Judith, we discard the whole spices while serving/eating
Hi Archana, I follow a lot of recipe to the T and they turn out to be really yummy except for this recipe till date. The chicken did not get cooked, it was raw. I used 6 chicken like you. Its going back on the manual mode for 5 minutes. Would you know why would that happen.
Hi Uma! The only reason I could think of is that the Instant Pot may not have come to pressure properly? Or may be the chicken was frozen in which case it would need longer time to cook.
Thank you for the reply Archana. The pressure did build up, there was enough liquid and no the chicken was not frozen. We will never know now I think. Nevertheless, after 5 min of more manual hi cooking, the chicken came out delicious. See you in another recipe Archana.
Glad you were able to fix the problem and enjoy the delicious chicken Korma.
Hi – if I want to make this meal for twice as many people, do I simply use twice as much of everything?
Hi Bob, You can double all the ingredients. Pressure cooking time will not change.
Hi, whole spices – would you recommend I ground them and then put them in while sauteing? Or keep them whole and try to dig them out later :D. I am asking because of my kids. I know they won’t like it if I accidentally miss taking it out. I remember as a child I used to hate biting into them when my mom cooked anything with whole spices. Q 2, would it be ok to use boneless thighs or breasts? How would the cook time differ? Thank you.
I simply pick them out before serving. This korma had milder spice flavors so whole spices work best.
HI,
I changed the “servings” and the ingredients changed proportionally. None of the other details changed – I was wondering what the default serving is? I assume there is a maximum we can fit in a 6 quart IP? Also it seems like the cooking time does not change for a larger amount?
Thanks,
Yes pressure cooking time will not change. You should be able to cook about 5 pounds of chicken in your 6 quart IP
Hello. If I want to use frozen chicken breast, what should my cook time be. I made this prior with thigh and it was amazing!
How long should I cook in IP if I use frozen/partly thawed chicken breast. I made this recipe with thighs last week and it was a hit!
I assume you will cut the chicken breasts into smaller 2 inch pieces, in which case pressure cook for 5 mins with 10 min NPR.
I tried your chicken Korma from your recipe book, it was a hit. Can’t wait to try more recipes.
Thank you for the feedback. Do write a review for the book on amazon when you get a chance and thank you for your support ❤️