Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala is easy to make, delicious Indian dinner recipe. This is a simple recipe you can make with everyday ingredients from the pantry. This recipe can be served as a quick, delicious dinner for busy weeknights. This is a healthy recipe made with no fattening agents, gravy is made thick with cashew and yogurt paste.
Here I am back again posting a new recipe after a long gap. Where was I missing? I was busy as all of you, life happens as we say. What was I doing? If you are interested, I was taking some time off to rethink and prioritize things which are important to me. I have been busy juggling work, life and blog since January this year. Weekends were blocked for blog pictures and other personal work. Working on a blog is a lot of work and commitment when we see someone post a recipe we just do not realize it. When I actually started this blog, taking pictures, posting recipes is when this realization struck me.
My blog pictures are taken in natural light, so on weekends part of the day is blocked for taking pictures. Then editing, writing and sharing the post all of these activities needed more time. I wanted to do other things as well and restrictions on time were not going well with me. I was way too firm on myself on what needed to be done and when it had to happen. Slowly I realized the fun part in this blog just went missing. It became all about deadlines and more recipe trails.
I had to stop myself, take stock of where I was headed. This blog is not my primary job, it’s my creative outlet. So why do I need to post every week? I am not competing with anyone here,so why not post when I can. I decided to take it slow and enjoy the process. So that’s what I did, I paused and adjusted to the idea that I don’t need to post every week. I will post when I can if it’s every week great. If not, its fine with me.
That was my brief update. Now back to Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala recipe. I have tried many recipes and I was not happy with them. The reason was every recipe required fattening agents like heavy cream, which I wanted to avoid. The main flavor in this recipe comes from its rich gravy. I have made the gravy thick by grinding cashews in yogurt. This recipe is made from start to end in Instant Pot. This was our weeknight dinner. We were very tired after a long day at work and to grill chicken in the back yard was a big no for both of us. The recipe turned out perfect in Instant Pot and now I make this once in few weeks for dinner.
We paired Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala with the side of rice, vegetable raita and salad. Perfect weeknight dinner!
Try my other easy Instant Pot dinner recipes: Instant Pot Dal Makhani or Instant Pot Palak Chicken.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you give this recipe a try, do let me know. Leave a comment, Pin it, or take a picture and tag it #cookingyoulove on Instagram. I would love to know how it turned out for you.
- For Marination
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 big lemon- squeezed for juice
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- Dry Spices
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 small bay leaves
- 6 small green cardamoms
- For Onion Puree
- 1 big onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ inch ginger root
- Other Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless chicken breast
- 1 cup tomato puree
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 5 cashews
- 4 tbsp greek yogurt
- ½ capsicum chopped
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 tbsp kasoori methi( fenugreek powder)
- Marinate chicken pieces in the items listed under marination overnight or for 6 hours.
- Switch Instant Pot to saute mode, add 1 tbsp oil and then add cumin seeds, bay leaves and green cardamoms to the pan and stir fry
- After 2 minutes, add marinated chicken pieces and stir fry till chicken pieces are well cooked.
- Press the "keep warm/cancel" button and take out the chicken pieces. Leave the whole spices in the pot.
- Switch on the "saute" button and add onion puree. Fry the onion puree in the leftover chicken juice and spices.
- Saute until golden brown, then add tomato puree. Cook for 3-4 minutes till puree reduces to half and has mixed evenly with onion puree. Now add tomato paste and mix.
- Now add salt, coriander powder, paprika and 1 tbsp oil. Mix the spices in the puree.
- In a blender blend cashews and yogurt together and add it to the pot.
- Stir and mix the ingredients and let it cook for 3-4 minutes
- Add the cooked chicken pieces and 1 cup water to the mixture.
- Mix well, close the lid and cancel saute mode.
- Select Manual mode for 5 minutes.
- When done , open the lid and add chopped capsicum and onion pieces.
- Sprinkle half fenugreek powder on top and mix, add rest of the powder on top as garnish.
2. I have used store bought organic tomato puree and organic tomato paste as it gives a thick consistency
3. Blending cashews and yogurt adds as a great thickening agent for the gravy
Once you add the capsicum and onion in step 13, how long do you sauté or cook them for? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer, I cook them for 5 mins max, see that it becomes little soft. Capsicum is not fully cooked and gives a crunch to the recipe. Let me know how it turns up, or if you have any question.
For the onion purée, do you blend the onion, ginger and garlic and then put in IP? Or just sautee the chopped onion garlic and ginger in IP till it softens?
Thanks!
I have blended onions, ginger and garlic and then added them to IP.
Hi Himani
Did you use low or high pressure with manual mode?
Thanks!
Hi Tejas, I used high pressure in Manual mode.
Thanks!
Also when you adjust the pressure like high to low cooking time also changes. So select cooking time accordingly. Let me know if you have more questions.
Hi Himani, thank you for this recipe! I wanted to ask, if I can’t eat cashews, can I use another nut which I can eat, for example almond, to thicken the gravy?
Hi Pamela, Try soaked and peeled almonds paste as a substitute for cashew paste. Let me know your recipe turns out.
hi-can I substitute tofu for chicken in this recipe? Any advice on how to alter the recipe? Thanks!
Hi, Try this make the tikka masala sauce as per the recipe. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on tofu (extra firm) and grill it. When your sauce is ready add the tofu. Put IP on saute mode and cover it with a glass lid for 5 mins. Switch IP off and let the tofu stay in sauce for ten minutes and then serve. Let me know how this turns out. I will create a blog post based on your feedback.