Instant Pot Chicken Korma - Rich , Aromatic North Indian Chicken Curry made Cashews,Poppy Seeds and whole Spices.A quick Instant Pot recipe and slow stove top recipe included.
Chicken Korma apart from the famous Butter Chicken,is probably the most sought after Indian dish in the world.
What is Chicken Korma?
The word "Korma" in Instant Pot Chicken Korma, is synonymous with opulent, rich creamy aromatic gravy made with nuts, yogurt,cream and khoya.It's the food of the kings and the queens. At least it was before Monarchy was abolished in India. Nevertheless, Korma has a very rich history in India.
The more elaborate the korma recipe- the richer the curry!But in this modern day, we don't have the luxury nor the want to spend that amount of time in the kitchen so with this recipe, I hope to show you some quick fixes and steps which make this instant pot korma more achievable in an everyday kitchen.
The deep flavour from browned onions, the hit of whole spices and the tang from the yogurt, the richness from the cashew and the poppy seeds! Ah this chicken curry is a pure indulgence.
Why Make Chicken Korma in Instant Pot?
Instant Pot is a much more controlled environment for pressure cooking.Which makes it safer and repeatable.
The other and more crucial factors are - Washing only 1 pot and No Baby Sitting.
How to make the Instant Pot Chicken Korma
Step 1 - Cook the chicken
Heat the ghee in a pan.Add the whole spices. Sauté the paste of raw onion till it's brown.Add the aromatics- ginger garlic and chilli.Add the chicken with 1 cup of yogurt and cook.(scroll down for detailed step by step picture)
You can speed this process by pressure cooking it, either in an Instant Pot or a traditional pressure cooker.
Step 2- Prepare the Gravy
Brown the onions
You can either deep fry or shallow fry them.Recently, I have been air frying the onions with half a teaspoon of oil and the result is pretty awesome.You could also bake them till they are brown.This reduces both effort and calories!
Make the Gravy
Grind the brown onions, soaked cashews and poppy seeds together with ¼ cup of yogurt.
Step 3-Combine all together
Once the chicken is cooked, add the gravy to it.
Tips & Tricks to Cook Chicken Korma in Instant Pot
- For a richer Instant Pot Chicken Korma- buy chicken with the skin on and finish the curry with some cream.
- You can replace cashews with almonds or melon seeds too.
- This delicious instant pot Korma can be frozen for upto a month and refrigerated for 3 days.It tastes the best the day after it's made.
- You can slow cook this if you want but if you want to speed up the whole process and cut the time to half then follow the following steps
- Brown the onions in an air frier for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.
- To speed up the process of browning the raw onion puree- Let the puree sit for about 10 minutes, discard the water that it releases and then start the browning.
If you are new to instant poting- then I suggest you read my review on instant pot for indian food here.
Here are some more Instant Pot Indian Chicken Curry recipes for you
Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Instant Pot Chicken Curry
Instant Pot Chicken Korma
Instant Pot Chicken Vindaloo
Instant Pot Tamil Pepper Chicken
Instant Pot Rajasthani Laal Maans
Also, Here is a kick ass Instant Pot Chicken Biryani Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken
- 500 gms Chicken on the bone
- 1 tablespoon Ghee or oil
- 3 Green cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Fennel seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- ½ Cup Onion - ground into a paste
- 1 cm ginger minced
- 4-5 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 Green Chilli Slit
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri Chilli or Paprika
- ½ Cup Yogurt
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala optional
Gravy
- 1 Cup Onions sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon Oil or more if you are deep frying or shallow frying
- ¼ Cup Cashews soaked in boiling water
- 1 teaspoon Poppy Seeds white
- ½ Cup Yogurt
Instructions
To make the Gravy
- Soak the poppy seeds and cashews together in boiling water.
- Instant Pot Brown Onions- Using the saute mode,Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the instant pot.Add the onions and saute till they turn brown- about 17-18 minutes.
- Stove Top Brown onions - Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and add onions, shallow fry them in a flat pan.Or you could deep fry them if you want.
- Air Fried Brown Onions - Toss the onions in 1 teaspoon oil.Fry them in the airfryer for 10-12 minutes at 180 degrees till them are brown.
- Grind toghether the brown onions,strained poppy seeds and cashews & yogurt into a smooth paste.
To make the Chicken- Instant Pot Method*
- Heat the instant pot in the SAUTE mode.Once hot,add the oil.
- To this add the whole spices- green cardamom,cumin,fennel,bay leaf,peppercorns & nutmeg.Let the spices steep in the oil for 20-30 seconds.
- Add the raw onions paste.(do not confuse with the fried onion gravy).Cook this till it starts to change color and turn brown.
- Deglaze the pot with 1 tablespoon of water.Add the ginger garlic and green chillies,coriander and turmeric powder.
- Add the Chicken,½ cup yogurt and ½ cup water.Cancel the SAUTE mode.
- Select the PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL MODE. Pressure cook on HIGH,in sealed position for 6 minutes.Let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid,add the prepared gravy and garam masala.Give it a mix.Cancel PRESSURE COOK mode and select SAUTE mode and bring to boil.If you want to thicken the gravy,boil the chicken in SAUTE mode till you get your desired consistency.
- Serve hot with rice or parathas or naans.
To make the Chicken- Stove Top Method
- Heat a deep pot.Once hot,add the oil.
- To this add the whole spices- green cardamom,cumin,fennel,bay leaf,peppercorns & nutmeg.Let the spices steep in the oil for 20-30 seconds.
- Add the raw onions paste.(do not confuse with the fried onion gravy).Cook this till it starts to change color and turn brown.
- Deglaze the pot with 1 tablespoon of water.Add the ginger garlic and green chillies,coriander and turmeric powder.
- Add the Chicken,½ cup yogurt and ¼ cup water.Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Open the lid,add the prepared gravy and garam masala.Give it a mix and bring to boil.If you want to thicken the gravy,cook the curry without a lid on high flame, till you get the desired consistency.
- Serve hot with rice or parathas or naans.
Notes
Nutrition
Read about how to make indian food in Instant Pot in detail here
Part 1: Instant Pot for Indian Cooking
Part 2: Which Instant Pot Model to buy
Part 3: Making Indian Food in Instant Pot
Part 4: Instant Pot Frequently Asked Questions
About Indian Spices and Herbs
Spices
Indian food relies heavily on spices. While Spices are an important part of the recipe, you can skip them if you are new to Indian cuisine or just do not have them at hand.
Curry Powder
Coriander powder, Turmeric Powder ,Cumin and Chili Powder are 4 pillars of Indian cooking. Usually, store bought Curry Powder is a pre of these 4 spice powders. You can make Simple recipes like – Dal, Basic Chicken Curry, khichadi, with just curry powder.
Garam Masala & other Spice Mixes
Garam Masala is usually a mix of other spices like black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, Cumin etc. You could buy a ready made garam masala and use instead of making a mix for every recipe.
Whole Spices
In addition to the 3 pillars and Garam Masala, we also use whole spices in elaborate Indian recipes like Chicken Korma,Laal Maas and Chicken Biryani.These add an unmistakable aroma and flavor to these dishes.They are easily available online or on big retail stores. Buy small quanities of these and keep refrigerated if not using often.
Herbs
Main Indian herb which is used across almost all recipes is coriander or cilantro. It is used as a garnish on almost all Indian recipes. It adds a much-needed freshness to otherwise spice heavy stewed food. The other Herb that is used while cooking is Curry Leaves.
Akash Jayaprakash says
Was really happy with how this recipe turned out. The cashew and poppy seed paste made it thick and rich, and the flavor was lovely. My family loved it so much they literally just ate the masala gravy over rice the next day. Have added this to my list of favorites! Thanks!
chhavi says
Thank you for writing in! I am so glad you and your family enjoyed it!
Vijay Kalivarapu says
Hello, thank you for the wonderful recipe. It came out great! One suggestion, though - the printable recipe does not have adding salt listed anywhere. Perhaps, you forgot it?
chhavi says
Thankyou Vijay..
Let me check on the salt..😊