My Popular Instant Pot Chicken Karahi

This Instant Pot Karahi has received rave reviews on my Instagram page and I’m excited to finally sit down and post this recipe.

Instant Pot curries are all the rage these days and for good reason. They make the cooking process more hands-off and keep the mess contained in the pot. My stove is looking extra clean these days. This Karahi recipe is loosely based on my popular Boneless Handi recipe you all have loved on the blog with a few tweaks. For one I rarely add yogurt at the start and especially since I’m pressure cooking the meat, I don’t want to risk curdling it. But that’s not the only reason I add yogurt towards the end of the curry cooking process. I find the taste slightly richer when added at the end. I talk more about this in detail in my Chicken Achari post.

How long do I need to pressure cook the chicken?

Only 6-7 minutes are needed to pressure cook chicken. I always set the pressure cooker to manual pressure on “high.” You have to be mindful of the fact that pressure cooking, while expediting the cooking process of the chicken, does take away some of the flavor that the meat absorbs when slow cooking on the stove. So it is really important that you “bhoon” the masala really well in the beginning when you add the chicken to the curry as well as towards the end right before adding the yogurt.

My Karahi/Curries are always watery after releasing pressure. How can I get a rich thick gravy?

The Instant Pots cooks everything really fast which means you do not need to add in the same quantity of water that you typically add while cooking on the stove top. This is key to ensuring that you aren’t left with a lot of water after releasing pressure. The biggest tip here is to add just enough water to keep things moist. I only add 1/4 cup of water (sometimes 1/3 cup if my masala is too thick). Once you release pressure (I like to do a quick release if the mixture won’t splatter), there will still be a bit of water left. This is okay because now we will be evaporating the water while “bhooning” the karahi. For this, I turn the “saute” mode on again and continue stirring until the water evaporates and the oil begins to separate.

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

My Popular Instant Pot Chicken Karahi

This recipe is seriously a keeper. It's quick, authentic and the perfect Karahi to make in a jiffy!

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian, Pakistani

Servings: 4

Author: Rookie With A Cookie

Equipment

• Instant Pot or Multi-Cooker

Ingredients

Instant pot Karahi

• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 2 tsp ginger and garlic paste
• 1 lb chicken thighs boneless, skinless and chopped in medium boti chunks
• 1/4 cup yogurt beaten
• 1/4 cup water

Instant Pot Karahi Spice Blend

• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp Kasmiri red chili
• 1/3 tsp regular red chili
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp coriander seeds crushed
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds crushed
• 1/4 tsp cumin ground
• 1/2 tsp salt

Garnishes

• coriander leaves
• green chili
• ginger "julienned"

Instructions

• Combine the spice blend and set aside.
• In your Instant Pot, turn the "saute" mode on and heat up oil followed by onion.
• Fry onion until golden brown, then add tomatoes. You can either fry on "saute" mode until tomatoes break down or pressure cook on high for 2 minutes.
• Once tomatoes, break down, add the spices and chicken on "Saute" mode and continue to stir until chicken changes color. The stirring will also help seal the chicken with the spices.
• Add only 1/4 cup of water to loosen the curry, give it a nice stir then pressure cook on "high" with the valve sealed for 5 minutes, then do quick release.
• Now on saute mode, allow the excess water to evaporate if there is any. You will notice the oil separate as you continue to bhoon the karahi.
• Once oil has separated, add in the beaten yogurt on "low" and let the curry simmer for 5-10 mins. Allow the oil to separate again at this point.
• Garnish with coriander, green chilis and julienned ginger and serve with Naan!