Instant Pot (or not) Butter Chicken (or Chickpeas)

Before I begin, I would like to note this is not an authentic recipe for butter chicken, a classic creamy Indian curry. I adapted this recipe from Urvashi Pitre’s recipe on Food52 and you can find many more authentic Indian recipes on Urvashi’s blog, Two Sleevers.

Let’s start from the top: My friend Michelle has been telling me about this Instant Pot butter chicken recipe for years. For reasons I will get to, I only just got around to making it last month and instantly understood her enthusiasm. The meal takes no time to throw together, and it is very, very tasty. Five-sixths of my family inhaled it.

Why is it so tasty? Well, there are spices and aromatics, tomatoes, flavorful chicken thighs (you could use breasts, of course), and, ahem, a stick of butter and a quarter cup of heavy cream. This — the quantity of butter and cream — is what deterred me all these years.

But upon making the recipe for the first time, I realized the sauce yields enough for double the amount of chicken. Urvashi calls the recipe “Now & Later” Butter Chicken because the recipe makes too much sauce, half of which she instructs you to save for your next meal.

When I did the math, the amount of butter and cream didn’t seem so bad. For eight chicken thighs or about 3.25 lbs. of meat, which yields ten servings, that’s less than a tablespoon of butter and less than a half tablespoon of cream per serving — that’s nothing! Phew. And besides, as Julia Child says: “Fat gives things flavor.”

Can I tell you what else astounds me about the recipe? Nearly all of the ingredients enter the pot and cook at the same time. You don’t need to sauté the garlic and the ginger first. You don’t need to toast the spices. You don’t need to marinate the chicken. You don’t need to methodically add the ingredients one after another. You simply place everything (with the exception of the butter and cream) into the Instant Pot at once; then set it.

Once the chicken is cooked, you remove it and chop it up; then you add the butter, heavy cream, and finally the chopped-up chicken. Start to finish the meal takes about 40 minutes to make — 20 minutes for the pot to come to pressure, 10 minutes of cooking time, 10 minutes of cooling — but the active time is very minimal. This meal has been a welcomed addition to the weeknight rotation. I hope it proves the same for you.

A Few Notes:

• In place of all of the spices, I use 2 tablespoons of Madras curry powder. If you wish to use the spices called for in the original recipe, go for it, but I find this substitution works really well and simplies the process.
• If you don’t have an Instant Pot, don’t despair! This method works equally well on the stovetop.
• For a vegetarian version, simply swap in 4.5 cups of cooked chickpeas (or three drained 15-oz cans) and add 1/2 cup of water.
• To make this more of a meal, I wilt in spinach at the end. My children prefer it without the spinach, so I don’t always do this, but I like the addition.
• If cooking 8 chicken thighs feels like too much, know that you can freeze the finished dish or you can simply halve the recipe.
• When I have time, I’ll make homemade naan, but often I buy those mini packs of Stonefire naan, the ones that say “perfect for the toaster.” My children love them.

How to Make Instant Butter Chicken, Step by Step

Gather your ingredients. Incidentally: these Colavita crushed tomatoes are a recent discovery for me, and I really really like them — they’re the perfect combination of puréed + chopped tomatoes for my liking. The box is 13.76 ounces but I use it anytime a recipe calls for a 15-oz can of tomatoes.

You’ll need about a tablespoon each of minced garlic and ginger. I’ve been doing this in the food processor. I find the food processor can get a finer mince on ginger than I can with my knife, and I hate mincing ginger, so it feels worth dirtying a machine. Also, I find if I remove the garlic and ginger immediately and give the food processor a quick rinse right away, dirtying the machine doesn’t feel like such a big deal.

Add the crushed tomatoes, 2 tablespoons curry powder, minced garlic and ginger, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt to the Instant Pot.

Stir to combine.

Then add the chicken (or chickpeas, see below) and stir to combine. This is 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 3.25 lbs.

Cover the Instant Pot, set the valve to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.

Let the valve release naturally for 10 minutes; then uncover and remove the chicken.

Add a stick of butter and 1/4 cup heavy cream to the pot.

While the butter melts, chop up the chicken.

Add it to the pot. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust as needed with more salt if necessary. You can stop right here or…

… add a heap of spinach. You can cover the pot to speed along the wilting process.

I’ve been serving this with basmati rice …

… and sometimes naan, too.

This recipe will yield 2 quarts, which you can refrigerate or freeze for a later date.

How to Make Stovetop Butter Chicken, Step by Step

The stovetop version comes together in the same manner. Start by stirring together the sauce ingredients: crushed tomatoes, minced garlic and ginger, curry powder, and salt.

Add the chicken and stir to coat. This is 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 3.25 lbs. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once the mixture is simmering, lower the heat to medium-low. Cook covered for 40 minutes.

Uncover. Remove the chicken.

Then add a stick of butter and 1/4 cup heavy cream to the pot.

Add the chopped chicken back to the pan.

Stir to combine. You can add spinach here if you like.

Serve with rice and/or naan.

How to Make Butter Chickpeas, Instant Pot or Stovetop

To make butter chickpeas, simply swap in 4.5 cups cooked chickpeas — this slow cooker recipe has been my method of choice recently but I love this stovetop method as well — or 3 drained 15-oz cans. Follow either of the methods outlined in the recipe box adding 1/2 cup water. Urvashi notes you can use coconut oil and milk in place of the butter and cream if you’re looking to make the recipe dairy-free.

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