Chicken Korma is a mildly spiced Indian chicken curry made with whole aromatic spices like cardamom, cloves, black pepper, and cumin that are simmered in a light and flavorful yogurt-based sauce. This healthy curry along with pot in pot rice makes a delicious and healthy Indian Instant Pot Dinner in under 30 minutes.
This simple curry never fails to please adults and children. With delicate aromas from whole spices and a mild yogurt-based sauce, this chicken korma makes a yummy everyday meal. It is a great dish for someone who is new to Indian food or is looking for a mild yet flavorful take on Indian curries.
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. There are many variations of the Korma or Kurma as they call it in South India.
Variations
In addition to this light yogurt based Chicken Korma, here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy korma:
- Shahi Chicken Korma - Creamy chicken curry with a hint of sweetness studded with nuts and raisins
- Veg Kurma - South Indian vegetarian curry with a creamy coconut-based sauce.
- Navratan Korma - A Royal Mughlai dish with mixed vegetables and creamy cashew sauce. This recipe is in my The Essential Indian Instant Pot Cookbook
- 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. Recipe coming up!
If you enjoy eating chicken drumsticks or legs, this would be a perfect curry recipe for you to try. This korma 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.
Instructions
Here is my step by step recipe to make Chicken Korma in the Instant Pot:
Step 1: Heat oil and sauté cardamom, cloves, black pepper, and cumin for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes as the onions turn translucent. You may cover the pot with a non-locking glass lid to speed up the cooking of onions. Add remaining spices, ginger, garlic, and chicken, and give a quick stir. Turn the sauce mode off (photos 1 - 4).
Step 2: Optional step if you would like to make pot-in-pot rice at the same time. Rinse and drain white rice. Add rice, water, and salt to a stainless steel pot. Then place a tall trivet in the main pot over the chicken and place the rice container over it (photos 5 - 6).
Step 3: Close the Instant Pot with the pressure cooking valve to sealing and Pressure cook for 8 minutes. Allow 5-minute natural pressure release and then release the remaining pressure by moving the pressure release valve from sealing to venting. open the Instant Pot and carefully take out the rice and the trivet photos (7 - 8).
Step 4: Add a few spoonfuls of the curry to the yogurt and mix well. Stir in the yogurt in the chicken korma and gently mix. PRO TIP: Adding cold yogurt to the hot curry can cause it to curdle. To prevent curdling of the yogurt, add a few spoons of hot curry to the yogurt, and mix it well. This will bring up the temperature of the yogurt and make a creamy yogurt mix that can be added to the curry (photos 9 - 12).
Step 6: Garnish with cilantro
Serving
Serve chicken korma with hot steamed rice, parathas, and cucumber salad. For a low-carb meal, serve with cauliflower rice. Note: Be sure to pick out and discard the whole spices while you eat.
Do you Enjoy Indian curries? Here are some of my popular Instant Pot curry recipes:
- Healthy “Butter” Chicken
- Prawn Masala
- Restaurant Fav Chicken Tikka Masala
- Mom’s Authentic Chicken Curry
- Indian Fish Curry
- Quick and Easy Kheema Curry
- Royal Mughlai Chicken Korma
- Spicy Homestyle Chicken Karahi
Looking for vegetarian options or trying to include more plant-based meals in your diet? Then check out my easy vegetarian recipes for dinner.
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Instant Pot Chicken Korma
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds chicken thighs cut into pieces or 6 skinless drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 whole green cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 12 black peppercorns
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup full fat or Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
Pot in Pot Rice
- 1 cup basmati rice rinsed and drained
- 1½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat oil. Add whole spices - cardamom, cloves, black pepper, and cumin. Saute for 30 seconds.
- 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 and water. Mix well to evenly coat all the spices to the chicken.
- Close Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook for 8 minutes followed by 5-minute 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! Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with hot steamed rice and parathas. For a low-carb meal serve with cauliflower rice. Be sure to pick out and discard the whole spices while you eat.
Video
Notes
- We enjoy this curry a bit soupy. If you want a thick curry, reduce the ¼ cup water by adding only 2 tablespoons of water and saute in the end for a few extra minutes.
- For boneless chicken thighs or breasts - cook for 5 minutes followed by a 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.
Nutrition
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Judith Roff says
What happens to the whole spices? Are they edible, or do they to be removed?
Archana says
Hi Judith, we discard the whole spices while serving/eating
Uma says
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.
Archana says
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.
Uma says
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.
Archana says
Glad you were able to fix the problem and enjoy the delicious chicken Korma.
Bob says
Hi - if I want to make this meal for twice as many people, do I simply use twice as much of everything?
Archana says
Hi Bob, You can double all the ingredients. Pressure cooking time will not change.
Anjuli says
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.
Archana says
I simply pick them out before serving. This korma had milder spice flavors so whole spices work best.
Piu Ghosh says
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,
Archana says
Yes pressure cooking time will not change. You should be able to cook about 5 pounds of chicken in your 6 quart IP
Niti says
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!
Niti says
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!
Archana says
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.
Priya Desai says
I tried your chicken Korma from your recipe book, it was a hit. Can’t wait to try more recipes.
Archana says
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 ❤️
Nisha says
Seriously good! Enjoy your instant pot recipes! Added soaked cashew to it! Should have read entire post and reduced the water but it was delicious!
Archana says
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. You can also try the Shahi Korma that has cashew paste in it and is a creamier version of this!
Jon Hernandez says
Made this yesterday in the instantpot. Doubles the ingredients and used a whole 3lb frozen cut up chicken and left it cooking for 45 min. Turned out delicious!
Liked it even more a few hours later 🙂
Rosemary says
Hi Archana, I am new to the instant pot and tried this but I kept getting the burn sign on my instant pot until I more than doubled the water quantity. I was using 6 rather large drumsticks. Is there anyway to stop that as I would have preferred it with less water.
I see you also recommend less than a 1/4 cup of water. Just wondering if this is possible without getting the burn sign?
Many thanks,
Rosemary
Archana says
I am so sorry that happened. I hope your sealing ring is secured and also make sure the pot is not browned from sautéing onions. Hope this helps.
Rosemary says
Oh Thankyou for your quick response. I am new to the instant pot so maybe I didn’t have the sealing ring on properly. I’ll try again.
Orma says
I want to make this tonight but only have chicken wings available. Would you suggest changing the cook time at all? Thanks!
Archana says
Reduce pressure cook time to 5 mins and they will be perfect! Follow remaining recipe as is 🙂
Naisha says
Best and easiest chicken korma recipe ever!
Tara says
One word: FANTASTIC! I added a 16 oz bag of frozen peas at the end, and it was a great way to sneak in more veggies. Great meal prep option. I made a pot, ate one serving for dinner and packaged up the remaining 3 for the rest of the week.
Sonya says
I would love to try this. If I have bone in chicken thighs, would you know the time for that please. Thank you and God bless 🙂
Archana says
same cook times will work for bine in chicken thighs too
Ayesha says
AMAZING!
I discovered your blog about a week ago and have tried 4 of your recipes. Each one was a BIG HIT. Just made this today...delicious!
Thank you for the great recipes.
Carolynne says
Hi, I made this last night for dinner and it went down well. We found there wasn't enough water and it was burning when we stopped the pressure. We added another 1/2 cup but then it was too liquidy. I added creme fresh instead of yoghurt and it was fine.
phil frosty says
This is super easy to make and is one of my go-to recipes for watching my weight. As others have pointed out, veggies are easy to sneak in with a trivet and a corel bowl or something similar; ditto rice. I would recommend only using chicken thighs; it makes a difference in taste. I prefer a slightly thicker sauce, but I don't like the hassle of reducing -- so I just use more non-fat yogurt. I often mate this with a curried lentil or black-eyed pea dish made and frozen earlier -- awesome. In fact, if you mate this with a curried bean recipe made with collard greens or swiss chard, you have a meal that is darned near 99% nutritionally complete.
Archana says
Thank you!
Aunt M Kitchen says
If you own a wire mesh tea ball, remove the chain, and place your whole spices into the ball and lock it shut. Then put it in the instant pot with the rest of the ingredients, and leave it in while you cook the meal. Then, when the food is done, use a pasta comb to fish it out, being careful not to open it, and you just removed all the whole spices so no child will chew down on a peppercorn or other hot thing in their mouth.
This works on the stovetop when making other meals as well. Cinnamon and allspice with clove into a pot of cider to mull it, bay leaf, allspice, peppercorns, and whole cloves in bean soup, etc. The tea ball lets you spice the meal and easily remove the whole spice pieces when it's done.