Instant Pot Chicken Curry | Mom's Recipe

So excited to share Mom's chicken curry that I grew up eating. A homestyle curry with an earthy onion and coconut-based curry with warm flavors of fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric, and garam masala cooked in the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.

This chicken curry is a family recipe that I grew up eating many Sundays. Our family mostly ate vegetarian meals while Sundays were special for nonvegetarian meals. I might fall short of words trying to describe my mom's chicken curry. This is not your usual restaurant curry. It is a perfectly spiced curry with earthy flavors from the spices, a comfort food, and a treasured recipe packed with mom's love!

Tips

• This recipe uses mom's garam masala but I have made it using the simple 5-ingredient garam masala and it is equally good.
• The curry paste in this recipe has incredibly deep flavors, can be made ahead, and used as a base in many other curries. The curry paste also freezes well, so make a double batch.
• Although this recipe can be made on the stovetop I love cooking it in the Instant Pot as the chicken consistently cooks to perfection. The saute function also works great for making the curry paste.

Process

This is a 3-part recipe. All of the details are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a step-by-step recipe with photos:

Part 1: Pressure cook chicken in green spice paste

• In a small blender jar or food processor, make a fine paste of ginger, garlic, cilantro, and mint by adding 2 tablespoons of water. Keep aside.
• Turn the Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat the oil. Add asafetida and turmeric. Carefully add the ginger-garlic-cilantro-mint paste to the oil. Be careful as the oil can splutter out. Sauté for a minute. Add chicken, onions, and salt. Mix well, coating the chicken with the spices (photos 1 and 2).
• Add 1 cup of water and mix well. Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Set to Manual (Hi) for 8 minutes. Open the Instant Pot after 10 minutes of Natural Pressure Release (photos 3 and 4).

Part 2: Curry paste with onions, coconut & spices

• In a medium pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add diced onions and cook for 10 minutes, on medium-high heat, stirring frequently until the onions turn golden brown.
• Add coconut and cook for another 5 minutes on medium-low heat as the coconut browns very quickly. Turn the heat off and allow it to cool.

• Once the onions and coconut have cooled down, add them to the blender and make a smooth paste using 2 to 3 tablespoons of water or as needed.
• Next, add oil to the same pan that was used to roast the onions. Add the onion and coconut paste and cook it until the oil starts to separate from the sides, stirring frequently.
• Then add remaining spices - turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, garam masala and mix well. Cook for another minute and turn the heat off.

Note: This Masala Paste can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 5 days or can be frozen for extended shelf life.

Part 3: Cook curry paste and chicken together

• Gently fold in the Curry Paste to the cooked chicken. Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode and bring the chicken curry to a full boil.
• Turn Instant Pot off. Garnish with cilantro.

Serving

Serve hot chicken curry with parathas or roti,  steamed basmati rice or jeera rice, and a glass of cooling mango lassi!

FAQs

More Chicken Curry Recipes to try:

• Chicken Karahi - EASY homestyle curry with flavorful ginger & spices
• Chicken Kheema - Served sloppy Joe style or over rice, use any ground meat of your choice in this versatile Keema recipe
• Butter Chicken - Healthier version with same authentic taste
• Chicken Tikka Masala - Better than the restaurant and easy to make at home this chicken tikka masala is everyone's favorite
• Chicken Kofta Curry -  Homemade chicken kofta's perfectly spiced with ginger, garlic, spices and then steamed in a spicy curry sauce

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Recipe

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4.27 from 45 votes

Mom's Chicken Curry

Home style chicken curry with complex flavors from onions, coconut and earthy flavors from the turmeric, red chili powder and garam masala!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time45 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 10

Calories: 350kcal

Author: Archana Mundhe

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 tablespoons oil
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon asafetida
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ▢ 2 inch fresh ginger cut into 5-6 pieces
• ▢ 12 garlic cloves
• ▢ ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
• ▢ ½ cup fresh mint chopped
• ▢ 4 pounds whole bone-in skinless chicken pieces (3-4 inch pieces)
• ▢ ½ cup onion diced
• ▢ 4 teaspoons kosher salt

Ingredients for Curry Paste:

• ▢ 2 tablespoons oil divided
• ▢ 2 cups red onions diced
• ▢ ¾ cup dry unsweetened grated coconut
• ▢ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• ▢ 2 tablespoons kashmiri red chili powder
• ▢ 1 to 2 tablespoons Mom’s Garam Masala
• ▢ 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• ▢ 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Curry paste:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium pan. Add diced onions and cook for 10 minutes, on medium hight heat, stirring frequently until the onions turn golden brown. Add coconut and cook for another 5 minutes on medium low heat. Allow to cool down.
• Once cooled, add the mixture to a blender. Add half a cup of water and blend to make a smooth paste. Return the onion-coconut paste to the pan.
• Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook this paste on medium high heat until the oil starts to separate from the sides. Add the remaining spices - turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. Cook on low heat for a minute, stirring the curry paste frequently so it does not stick to the pan. Keep aside.

Cooking Chicken

• In a small blender jar or food processor, make a fine paste of ginger, garlic, cilantro and mint by adding 2 tablespoon of water. Keep aside.
• Turn Instant Pot to Saute(more) mode and heat oil. Add asafetida and turmeric.
• Carefully add the ginger-garlic-cilantro-mint paste to the oil. Be careful as the oil could splutter out. Saute for a minute.
• Add chicken, onions and salt. Mix well, coating the chicken with the spices. Add 1 cup of water and mix well.
• Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealingand Pressure Cook for 8 minutes.
• Open the Instant Pot after 10 minutes of Natural Pressure Release. Add the Curry Paste and gently fold it in the cooked chicken.
• Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode and bring the chicken curry to a full boil. Turn Instant Pot off. Garnish with more cilantro. Enjoy hot with chapati, naan and rice.

Video

Notes

Stovetop recipe:

Use a large pot instead of the Instant Pot. Follow the above recipe and instead of pressure cooking the chicken, simply cook it covered on the stovetop for 20-25 minutes on medium heat or under the chicken is fully cooked. Depending on the size of the chicken pieces and the type of chicken used, it may take more or less time. Add more water, ¼ cup at a time if needed. 

 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 1280mg | Potassium: 384mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 815IU | Vitamin C: 8.1mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 2.2mg

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