Mom's Chicken Curry

So excited to share Mom's chicken curry that I grew up eating. A homestyle Maharashtrian chicken 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 Chicken Curry Pressure Cooker.

Family Recipe

This chicken curry is a family recipe that I grew up eating on many Sundays. Our family mostly ate vegetarian meals, while Sundays were special for non vegetarian 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 spices, a comfort food, and a treasured recipe packed with mom's love!

The best part of this recipe is cooking tender, juicy chicken in the Instant Pot. Although boneless cuts of chicken can be used in this recipe, the bone in chicken adds so much flavor with an authentic taste. If you enjoy chicken, you have to try my recipes for Chicken Biryani, Chicken Korma, and Chicken Karahi. They use an easy modern cooking method to achieve the authentic taste in much less time compared to the traditional stovetop methods.

You can also check out this authentic Dal recipe on the official website: https://ministryofcurry.com/recipes/main-dishes/dal/

How to Make Mom's Chicken Curry

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 the 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 splatter 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 the 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: Make the Curry Paste

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 the remaining spices, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, and 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

Gently fold the Curry Paste into the cooked chicken. Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode and bring the chicken curry to a full boil.

Turn the Instant Pot off. Garnish with cilantro.

For a quick and easy South Indian breakfast idea, check out this related recipe: https://hospitalitycareerprofile.com/food-recipes/indian-breakfast/semiya-upma-easy-vermicelli-upma-recipe

Serving

Serve hot Instant Pot Chicken Curry with parathas or roti, steamed basmati rice or jeera rice, and a glass of cooling mango lassi!

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 is 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 sauté function also works great for making curry paste.