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Pressure Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken
![Pressure Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/09/25/dining/coconutcurrychicken/coconutcurrychicken-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 3 to 4ripe tomatoes, halved through their equators
- 3tablespoons ghee, unsalted butter or safflower oil
- 3tablespoons virgin coconut oil
- 2cups finely chopped onions
- 6garlic cloves, grated on a Microplane or minced
- 2tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds
- 13-inch cinnamon stick or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8cardamom pods, lightly crushed with the flat side of a knife, or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2teaspoons ground coriander
- 1tablespoon kosher salt
- 1teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼teaspoon black pepper
- 2½pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 to 2teaspoons garam masala, to taste
- ½cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
- Cooked basmati rice, for serving (optional)
- Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)
- 3tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
Preparation
- Step 1
Set a box grater over a bowl. Starting with their cut sides, grate the tomatoes through the large holes of the box grater so the tomato pulp falls into the bowl. Discard the skins. Measure out 2 cups of tomato purée.
- Step 2
Using the sauté function, heat the ghee and the coconut oil in the pressure cooker. Stir in the onions and cook, stirring often to encourage even browning, until they are caramelized, 12 to 18 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds; cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon and cardamom and cook for another minute. Then stir in the coriander, salt, turmeric, red pepper flakes, black pepper and finally the tomato purée.
- Step 3
Add the chicken to the sauce, cover and cook on low pressure for 4 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. If the sauce seems too thin, use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken to a bowl and then simmer the sauce on the sauté setting until it has thickened to taste. (Note that the coconut milk will thin the sauce down further.) Stir in the garam masala and the coconut milk, and let the curry sit for 20 minutes for the flavors to meld. Serve with the rice and yogurt, if desired. Garnish with cilantro.
- If you’d rather use a slow cooker, cook on high for 2 to 3 hours or on low for 4 to 5 hours, adding the coconut milk during the last hour.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Fantastic, and forgiving! In my haste & hangriness, I dumped in the whole can of coconut milk (triple the amount!) and it still turned out fantastic with no further finageling. Pro-tip: a good ole 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes is — as always — an awesome time-saver here, but make sure to stir in ~1/2 cup of water so that there's enough steam for the pot to come up to pressure. And have the can open at your side when the spices go in; they can scorch quickly.
It's worth noting that the "release pressure naturally" can take up to half an hour (in addition to the 4 min cook time). Would be good to spell that out up front so you don't start just 10 minutes before your guests show up!
Used an InstaPot. Followed exactly. Used 4 tomatoes, stick cinnamon and 1.5t of garam masala. This was the best Indian curry I've had outside of London or Mumbai! Well worth the prep. Mis en place.
Cooking everything together will work if you need to do other things while the dish is cooking. After all, that is what happens with the steam plate dishes in Indian restaurant lunch buffets. But, one of the attractive features of much of Indian cuisine is its focus on creating layers of flavors. Keeping the coconut milk and garam masala mix of herbs and spices to later in the process enables the flavors they create to have a fresh distinctiveness that is blurred by protracted cooking.
Wow! This can be done on the stove in HALF the time. The proportions and process is right but the ins and outs of timing is really unnecessary for such a simple dish. Pressure cooker is not required here at all. Large cuts fine but pieces of chicken? This is not a 1 hour dish, it’s 2 hours w prep. FYI
I cooked this according to the directions...4 minutes to cook 2 1/2 pounds of chicken? Mine was raw when I opened it! I put it back in for 10 minutes under high pressure! It was finally cooked! Has anyone else run into this?
I used the whole can of coconut milk instead of 1/2 cup, because what else am I going to with the rest of the can... also, used 28 oz canned diced tomato with 1/2 cup water added. This recipe was amazing - it was even better the next day. I wonder if adding some chopped potato along with the chicken might work here?
i was just rereading the instant pot instructions: "always add at least 2 cups of water so enough steam can be generated..." last night when i made this recipe, the pot indicated "burn" and did not get up to pressure. looking at the recipe there is no way there are 2 cups of liquid. where did i go wrong?
So...dont get the idea this is a quick dish...with prep, cooker warm up, cook time and pressure release "naturally" this dish can take the normal cook easily 1 to 1.5 hour...but dang it is worth it!!! Really good pot luck dish
I made this for the first time using an Instant Pot (borrowed from a friend), and then again on the stove with some amendments to make it work. While both were delicious, the Instant Pot version definitely resulted in more concentrated flavors. If you have the option, I would definitely recommend using the Instant Pot.
Ya know, anytime I’m using the pressure cooker I’m doing it to save time. The first round of making this recipe I was like, dang, this is a lot of work. Then I tried it and was like, dang, that was so worth it. It’s absolutely delicious. It’s fragrant, flavorful, savory, and comforting. Made a few changes based on what I had - used canned tomatoes (28oz because I love tomatoes in Indian dishes), and I didn’t have coriander (oops!). I think this recipe is pretty forgiving so you have flexibility!
I don't think Step 3 is going to work without adding water after Step 2. If you don't add water you're just going to burn the ingredients.
Used a 28 oz can of whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes which I crushed by hand. With this I did not need to add additional liquid to the pressure cooker. Rather than scooping out the chicken and reducing the sauce as described, I added a can of coconut cream (instead of milk) and let it all simmer in the instant pot on the "keep warm" function for about an hour after the natural release. This is a great dish to make ahead for guests, as the flavors meld and get better over time.
I'd like to rate this 10 stars. It does take time but so worth it.
Note on the salt. The recipe calls for kosher salt, likely referring to Diamond Crystal kosher salt which is NOT equivalent to Morton kosher salt or table salt. If using any salt other than Diamond Crystal, you will need less.
Using a can of crushed tomatoes will save you a lot of time.
Added one and a half tablespoons of tomato paste. Made it better. Next line used 1/4 cup Oko Lopez made it a little too sweet. Added ounces 4 ounces of coconut milk. Made it better
Added a tablespoon and a half of tomato paste. Made it better. Put in Coco Lopez quarter cup. Don’t know if it’s necessary. Put in the correct amount of coconut milk. Made it good. Perhaps if we want the Coco Lopez sweetness just add sugarinstead of Coco Lopez. It will bring out the coconut coconut in the coconut milk.
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste. Made it better. Used 4 ounces of coconut milk. Perhaps try and add some sugar to bring out the coconut. Instead of cocoa Lopez. M
Made this again the other night without using a pressure cooker or an instant pot, just a good old fashioned 5-quart pot, and the result was every bit as good — although, of course, it takes longer. Also, I simply chopped up the tomatoes, skin and all, and tossed them into the pot after the onions and spices were cooked (according to Epicurious, keeping your tomatoes unpeeled maximizes their nutritional value, and there's little if any difference in taste, so why bother?).
Wow this was delicious! Even my picky 2 year old ate bowls of this over basmati rice. I added cubed potato and cauliflower with the chicken, cooked for 4 minutes and the chicken and veggies came out perfectly cooked. Removed all the solids with a strainer ladle, and added halved mushrooms, red bell peppers and peas while the sauce simmered down. Will definitely be making this again!
Even with the pressure cooker, this is at least 90 minutes if not two hours. If the carmelizing takes 20 minutes, the pressure cooker takes 10-15 to cook (at least) and you're supposed to let the curry sit for an additional 30 minutes, the timing is way off. NYT cooking time strikes again!
Put the butter, coconut oil, garlic & ginger in the InstantPot (IP) on the sautée function, salt & pepper the chicken and then brown/sautée ~4 mins a side — then add the tomato, onion, coconut milk and spices (except for cilantro) cover & set the IP to manual cook for 8-10 mins. That’s all you need to do — the directions on this recipe are great if you have the time, but unnecessarily complicated.
Very very tasty, but it could have just simmered on the stove top. Oh, and Greek yogurt makes a very acceptable substitute for coconut milk, even if it separates a little bit.
Delicious recipe. The only changes I made were to melt the coconut oil then add SALTED butter and lower salt by half, because that’s all I had. I subbed Aleppo pepper for the red pepper flakes because my family prefers the more gentle heat. Full can of coconut milk because we love it. I added a half cup of water and had no issues with burning.
Can this be made with a crock-Pot versus instapot or pressure cooker?
Look at the last note- for a slow cooker
What can I substitute for tomatoes? Nightshade trigger my Graves disease
Made in my Le Creuset on stove top, delicious, loosely followed recipe and then let all simmer for a while. Topped with yogurt/cilantro/garlic/lemon sauce and toasted almonds...yum.
This took nearly an hour and half and honestly wasn't very good. Normally, Melissa Clark recipe are the best, but this wasn't it for me. The tomato sauce tasted almost bitter.
Maybe 6 min for chicken if big Less salt
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