Instant Pot Murg Palak -Creamy Chicken and Spinach Curry

Instant Pot Murg Palak -Creamy Chicken and Spinach Curry is an easy recipe and definitely one for a quick week day meal. I use chicken breasts as they are easy to chop and work with, plus they stay tender and moist. 

Also, traditionally, in this dish chicken is supposed to be marinated for a few hours and then cooked in onions and spices. However, my goal is to simplify recipes and reduce the cooking time.

This dish tastes great and is easily made in the Instant Pot. 

The beautiful green color and the great flavor makes this chicken one of our favorite go to meal.

What gadgets will you need to make Instant Pot Murg Palak – Creamy Chicken and Spinach Curry ?

An instant pot of course! And either an immersion blender or a regular blender to blend the spinach. I used the Instant Pot ace blender but you can use whatever you have. I prefer a regular blender because the spinach doesn’t splutter around. I noticed that with the immersion blender the spinach tends to splutter when you blend it in the Instant Pot. You could try holding the lid on one side while using an immersion blender. 

What Ingredients do I need to make this chicken recipe in the instant pot?

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I have used chicken breasts but boneless chicken thighs work great too. Whatever you prefer!

Tried this recipe yet? Give us a rating, comment below in the reply section and let us know what you think.

Try some of our other recipes:

Instant Pot Kashmiri Goat Yakhni / Instant Pot Yogurt Goat Curry

Instant Pot Authentic Kashmiri Rogan Josh / Instant Pot Quick Kashmiri Goat Curry

Instant Pot Mughlai Gosht / Instant Pot Quick Mughlai Goat Curry

Instant Pot Methi Chicken

Instant Pot Sabudana Kheer

Instant Pot Gobi Aloo

Instant Pot Murg Palak – Creamy Chicken and Spinach Curry

Shilpa

Here is the recipe:

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 3 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 medium sized finely chopped red onion (roughly 1.5 cups when chopped)
• 1.5 pounds chicken (2 chicken breasts chopped into 2 to 3 inch pieces) (Approximately 2 cups chopped)
• 1.5 tsp ginger garlic paste (freshly minced or packaged)
• 3/4 tsp red chili powder (ground cayenne pepper)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground coriander (dhaniya powder)
• 1 tsp ground cumin (jeera powder)
• 1 and 3/4 tsp salt
• 5 cups baby spinach (palak)
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt whisked with a fork
• 2 whole black cardamom pods (badi elaichi)
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)

Instructions

 

Prep

• Wash and chop the chicken into 2 to 3 inch pieces.
• Wash and finely chop the onion.
• Whisk the yogurt with a fork and keep it in a bowl at room temperature.

Cook

• Select sauté on the instant pot and adjust to normal.
• Add ghee to the pot. 
• When the ghee is hot add the finely chopped onions. Keep stirring.
• When the onions turn golden in roughly 2 to 4 minutes add the chopped chicken and stir. 
• Add the ginger garlic paste.
• Sauté the chicken for a few minutes (roughly 3 to 4 minutes) until a white crust forms on the chicken.
• Then add the red chili powder, water, white pepper, garam masala, coriander, cumin, and salt. Stir and sauté for one minute.
• Then add the spinach. Stir well. Make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot and scrape the bottom of the pot well.
• Press cancel.
• Secure the lid on the pot and close the pressure-release valve.
  
• Select manual and cook at high pressure for 7 minutes.
• When cooking is complete, use quick pressure release to depressurize.
• Open the lid and take out the chicken in a bowl.
• Transfer the spinach in a blender and blend for a few seconds. I use the instant pot ace smoothie setting. You could also use an immersion blender to blend the spinach directly in the pot. However, I personally feel the spinach splutters all over the place with the 2nd option. If you do use an immersion blender hold the lid with one hand on the other side to prevent the spinach from spluttering.
• Add the pureed spinach from the blender back into the pot. Add the chicken back into the pot as well. Stir
• Select sauté and add the beaten yogurt slowly (one spoon at a time) to the pot. Mix it continuously.
• Add the black cardamom pods.
• Then add the heavy whipping cream and keep stirring.
• Let the chicken sauté for 1 to 2 minutes and let the gravy thicken. Keep stirring.
• Add the dried fenugreek leaves, stir, and press cancel.
• Transfer the cooked murg palak malai into a serving bowl.

Serve

• Serve with roti, naan (Indian flatbread), or steamed rice.

Notes

• This recipe has been tried on a 6-quart instant pot. The proportions may vary depending on the size of the instant pot you choose to use.
• Ground cayenne pepper and red chili powder can be used interchangeably as both of them make the dish spicy. So if you don’t have red chili powder you can use cayenne pepper instead.
• The whole spices (cardamom pods can be discarded, they don’t need to be consumed).

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