Under 30 minutes to make this spicy and flavourful Indian Instant Pot Chicken Curry.
You can also try some of my other favourite Chicken Curries. Here are some of them – Achari Chicken, Chicken Masala, Kadai Chicken, Chicken Angara, Coriander Chicken Curry and Ginger Chicken Curry.

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About This Recipe
A simple Chicken Curry is an answer to your craving for something delicious yet easy to make, and what can be better than this Chicken Curry in Instant Pot.
Tender, juicy chicken in a creamy yogurt tomato-based curry, will definitely satisfy your taste buds. Serve it with any Indian Bread or Rice, it tastes great with both of them.
This Instant Pot Chicken Curry takes than less than 30 minutes, that too along with the prepping time. So if you are craving a Chicken Curry on a weekday, you can give this one a try.
This curry has a delicious base made with yogurt, onion, and tomatoes, which is spiced with some basic spice powders. You do not need any fancy ingredients to get this curry ready and serve on the table.
If you do not have an Instant Pot, don’t worry, you can make this in pressure cooker too.
This chicken curry is,
- Super easy to make
- Delicious
- Apt for everyday meals
- Made with everyday ingredients
Ingredients
Chicken – High in protein, include Chicken in your everyday meals. I will suggest you choose bone pieces for the best taste, but you can use boneless chicken too.
Yogurt – The base of this curry has yogurt, which is mixed with all-purpose flour. This gives the chicken a bit of tangy taste along with making it a little thick.
Tomato – I have used grated tomatoes, to get a little coarse texture in the curry, but you can use tomato puree too.
Spice Powders – Here, for this Chicken Curry, we will need coriander powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, and garam masala powder and salt.
Whole Spices – Along with spice powders, we will also add some whole spices such as cloves, peppercorns, green cardamom, bay leaf, and cinnamon. This gives the curry a perfect amount of heat and flavor.
Green Chillies – To add some more spiciness, we will also need some green chilies. But if you do not like it to be spicy, you can avoid it too.
Oil & Ghee – Here, I have used a combination of Oil and Ghee, but you can also use either of them.
Other Ingredients – We will also need some basic ingredients such as lemon juice, coriander leaves and ginger garlic paste.
Step By Step Recipe
Press SAUTE button of the Instant pot. Add oil and ghee in the pot. Once the oil is hot, add cloves, peppercorns, green cardamom and cinnamon and fry for a few seconds.

Add onion and fry until it turns light brown.

Add ginger garlic paste, green chillies, bay leaf and fry for another 2-3 minutes.

Now add coriander powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, and garam masala powder and salt and fry for a few seconds.

Add chicken.

Add tomato and yogurt whisked with 1 tablespoon all purpose flour and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Now add water and mix well.

Close the lid of the pot. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 6 minutes. Cook until the timer goes off.

Let the pressure release automatically and then open the lid. Add lemon juice and fresh coriander and mix well. Serve hot!

Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can make the same curry with Mutton. Just make sure that Mutton takes more time than Chicken to cook, so the cooking time will vary.
Follow the same recipe and pressure cook the chicken for about 2-3 whistles on high heat. Let the pressure release naturally. Serve hot.
Variations
Potato – In this curry, you can add in big pieces of potato along with Chicken.
Chicken Curry in Coconut Milk – In this Chicken Curry, you can add thin coconut milk instead of water to cook the chicken. Also, avoid adding curd in this one. Just cook the tomato-onion masala with spices and add coconut milk instead of water. Add some thick coconut once the curry is cooked.
Vegetable – Just like potatoes, you can add in other veggies such as carrot, Cauliflower, etc in the curry too.
With Marination – You can marinate the chicken with yogurt and everyday spices for about an hour and then add it into the onion-tomato masala and cook it.
Kerala Style Chicken Curry – Use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and ghee. Add some coconut paste and curry leaves along with onions before adding in the grated tomatoes. Curd is avoided in this curry.
Storage Suggestions
This chicken Curry stays good for about 3-4 days in the fridge. Store it in an air tight container. If you are storing in larger quantity, heat only the amount you want to serve.
Serving Suggestions
This Chicken Curry tastes great along with Indian Breads such as Roti, Tawa Paratha, Rumali Roti or Laccha Paratha.
You can also serve it with Steamed Rice, Jeera Rice with a side of sliced onions and lemon wedges.
Recipe Card

Instant Pot Chicken Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 2-3 Cloves
- 2 Green Cardamom
- 3-4 Black Peppercorns
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 1 cup Onion (chopped)
- 2 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 2-3 Green Chillies
- ½ cup Tomato (grated)
- 2 Bay Leaves
- ½ cup Yogurt
- 1 teaspoon All Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- 2 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- Salt (to taste)
- 500 gram Chicken
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 2 tablespoon Cilantro (chopped)
Instructions
- Press SAUTE button of the Instant pot.
- Add oil and ghee in the pot.
- Once the oil is hot, add cloves, green cardamom, black pepeprcorns, cinnamon and bay leaves and fry for a few seconds.
- Add onion and fry until it turns light brown.
- Add ginger garlic paste and green chillies and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
- Now add coriander powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and garam masala powder and salt and fry for a few seconds.
- Add chicken.
- Add tomato and yogurt whisked with 1 tablespoon all purpose flour and cook for 2-3 minutes
- Now add ½ cup water and close the lid of the pot.
- Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 6 minutes.
- Cook until the timer goes off.
- Let the pressure release automatically and then open the lid.
- Add lemon juice and fresh coriander and mix well.
- Serve.
Beau
Yet another amazing recipe Neha! We tried this tonight after having great success with your saag paneer this week and of course we were not disappointed. This was so simple and I still cannot believe it takes just a matter of minutes in the pressure cooker to enjoy tender and delicious chicken curry! And what do we have for dessert? Your shrikhand of course! Thanks so much for sharing.
Neha Mathur
Happy to hear 🙂
Zandile
This is the yummiest, simple curry I’ve ever made. My family loved it. Thanks for sharing 😍
Shri
I’ve made this recipe twice, and it is probably the best chicken curry recipe I’ve come across. Makes me feel like I’m at home 🙂
Sheryl
I just tried this chicken curry in my newly bought Instant Pot. It was my first recipe to make in the Instant Pot and came out delicious. Can’t believe it doesn’t take time at all to cook in Instant Pot. Will try more recipes for sure!