Instant Pot Pepper Chicken Curry – Instant Pot Indian Recipes

Instant Pot Pepper Chicken Curry – Instant Pot Indian Recipes – How to make Spicy Pepper Chicken Curry in an Instant Pot -South Indian Pepper Chicken Curry

Lately Instant Pot addiction i would say…lol trying out all Indian recipes in it…taming it actually 😛 So was tempted to try our chicken curry, in pressure cooker mode. Let see how to cook southindian style spicy pepper chicken curry in an instant pot.

Here is stove top version of    PEPPER CHICKEN CURRY

What is an Instant Pot ? – Its a programmable counter-top electric pressure cooker…. You must have heard or read about this magic machine in the past few months… people rave about. I was so skeptical in using one as i am pretty old school and totally love my traditional pressure cooker.  There are many models and capacity to choose from, i got 3 quart Instant Pot Duo Mini as a gift this christmas and will be trying my hand on taming it to make Indian recipes.  Its basically an electric pressure cooker where you don’t have to babysit, count whistle or time everything is done with a touch of a button.

Check our INSTANT POT TOMATO RICE RECIPE

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Instant Pot Pepper Chicken Curry

Instant Pot Pepper Chicken Curry - Learn how to make south indian spicy pepper chicken curry in an instant pot.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian, southindian

Keyword: chicken, chickencurry, instantpot, pepperchicken

Servings: 4

Author: Mullai Madavan

Ingredients

Ingredients - Pepper Chicken Masala Powder

• 4 each Dry Red Chilli
• 1 tablespoon Coriander seeds
• 3 teaspoon Black peppercorn
• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon Fennel seeds
• 1 each Cardamom
• 1 1/2 inch Cinnamon
• 3 each Cloves

Ingredients for the Curry

• 1 kg Chicken boneless or whole cut
• 20 each Pearl onion / Shallots / Chinna vengayam or use 1& 1/2 cups chopped
• 2 each Green Chilli
• 1 tablespoon Ginger crushed
• 5 cloves Garlic crushed
• 1/2 cup Tomato chopped
• 2 tablespoon Pepper Chicken Masala Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
• 1& 1/2 teaspoon Salt kosher /kallu uppu
• 3 tablespoons Oil
• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
• 6 each Curry leaves (for seasoning)
• 1 tablespoon Heavy Cream optional
• 2 tablespoons Coriander leaves chopped, for garnish
• 5 each Curry leaves chopped, for garnish

Instructions

To make Pepper Chicken Masala Powder

• Dry roast dry red chillies, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cardamom & cloves until nice aroma comes.
• Let cool and grind to a fine powder and keep aside.

To make Pepper Chicken Curry

• Plug in the Instant pot and press saute mode.
• Heat oil and season with cumin seeds and curry leaves.
• Saute onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic until lightly browned.
• Add in the chicken along with turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt. Saute for few minutes.
• Add in the Pepper Chicken Masala Powder and saute well until the mixture turns dark brown in color. Add in the chopped tomatoes and saute lightly.
• Add 1 cup of water. Press cancel to stop saute mode. Put the lid on and turn the steam release handle to sealing position.
• Cook for 10 minutes  PRESSURE COOK MODE (high pressure) and do a natural steam release.
• Carefully open the lid, garnish with coriander and curry leaves.
• Adding heavy cream adds nice creamy finish to the gravy which is optional.

Learn how to cook TOOR DAL IN AN INSTANT POT

Lets see how to make this spicy Pepper Chicken Curry… Dry roast all the spices from table-1 (dry red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin,fennel, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom) until it release nice aroma.. give it a few minutes. Let this cool completely, then grind to a fine powder and keep it ready!

Plug in the Instant pot which will show OFF on the screen.

Now choose saute mode which will run about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in the pot… which may probably take a few minutes.

Season with cumin seeds and curry leaves.

Saute onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic until lightly browned. (The reason why i am adding all at once is that pearl onion /chinna vengayam cooks fast…if adding regular chopped onions make sure you saute that first for few minutes and then add the rest)

Add in the chicken along with turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt. Saute for few minutes…. you may use whole cut chicken or boneless, aim using boneless for  this gravy.

Now add in the prepared Pepper Chicken Masala Powder and saute well until the mixture turns dark brown in color.

Time to add the chopped tomatoes and saute a bit.

The mixture will look dry and dark brown in color.

Add 1 cup of water.  Try our PEPPER CHICKEN KUZHAMBU

It will kind of look like this under cooked with thin consistency.

Put the lid on, press cancel to stop saute mode.

Choose pressure cook mode which will automatically show 10 minutes.

Turn the steam release handle to sealing position. The pressure will built up and then cook for 10 minutes. Once done, do the natural steam release. Carefully twist the lid open.

The curry turns to intense dark brown color separating oil over the top. The chicken will be cooked to tender… almost falling apart texture.

Garnish with coriander and curry leaves.

So the pepper chicken curry is all done with this step. You may serve as it is or…

Add some heavy cream to it to make it more creamy and tastier. This step is optional but you may wanna try if making for a party or get together.. 😉 your guests will go wild and nosy for the recipe!

Notes

• The masala powder may make a little over 2 tablespoons, you may either add all of it or use as needed.
• Cut down on the green chillies and red chilli powder to make it less spicy.
• Whole cut chicken will be much tastier than boneless.. but boneless works out great too.
• Adding cream purely optional…it makes the gravy shiny, creamier, also balances the heat from the pepper.
• Try making this dish with chinna vengayam/ pearl onion which adds ton of taste to the gravy.