Instant Pot Spicy Pepper Chicken Curry
If you like peppercorn sauce or black pepper you are going to love this recipe. This is a fusion recipe that I created mixing ingredients that are typically used in North Indian and South Indian cooking. Curry leaves are used a lot in South India and ground fennel (saunf powder), and ground ginger (sonth powder) are typically used in Kashmiri cuisine.I attempted to make this recipe when we had a few guests at our house for dinner. This recipe was a big success! People loved it. I have made it several times after that.If you like pepper this recipe is for you. It doesn’t require tomatoes and is super easy to make. It has a nice gravy, a pungent aroma, and a unique flavor.Even more - It is made in the instant pot, which means it is fast and easy!
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp oil of choice
- 7 curry leaves
- 1/2 onion finely chopped (white, yellow, or red)
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1.5 pounds chicken (chopped into medium sized 2 to 3 inch pieces)
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder (cayenne pepper)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp ground fennel (saunf powder)
- 1 tsp ground ginger (sonth)
- 4 tsp black pepper (kaalee mirch)
- 1 and 3/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Prep
- Wash and chop the chicken and onions.
Cook
- Select sauté on the instant pot and adjust to normal.
- Add oil to the pot. When oil is hot, add curry leaves. When they splutter, add onions. Sauté until the onions are golden.
- Then add ginger garlic paste and chicken. Sauté for a few minutes, until the chicken forms a white crust. Keep stirring in between.
- Add red chili powder and 1/2 cup water instantly. Adding water is key in this step in order to prevent the red chili powder from burning. Stir constantly for 30 seconds.
- Add ground fennel, ground ginger, pepper, and salt.
- Stir and let it sauté for one to two minutes.
- 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 release to depressurize.
- If there is excess gravy and if you want to reduce the gravy then select sauté and let some gravy evaporate. It should take about 2 minutes. Keep stirring so that the chicken doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Transfer the chicken into a serving bowl immediately.
Serve
- Serve hot with naan (Indian flatbread), roti, or rice
Notes
- This recipe is quite spicy due to the black pepper. If you would like to tone the spice level down reduce the amount of pepper by one teaspoon.
- If you like less gravy, add 1/4 cup water instead of 1/2 cup. You could also select sauté after the chicken is cooked and adjust the gravy to the desired consistency.
- 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.