Butter Chicken is a favorite of mine, and this version of it is SO very easy, you simply won’t believe it. Everything for this dinner is cooked right in the Instant Pot.
A post from Carolyn. My Instant Pot sits on a shelf in my laundry room (mostly because I don’t have room in my kitchen for it), but it gets a pretty good workout even so. And this recipe is going to make your day. It’s so very easy, and dinner is ready in a flash – truly, under 30 minutes. This recipe came from Food52, from Urvashi Pitre. She’s known as “The Butter Chicken Lady,” and rightly so. She’s a celebrated author of numerous instant pot cookbooks, and let me just say, this recipe is a winner. I’ve followed her blog for several years (called twosleevers.com), and have made a few of her recipes in the past, but it’s for this one that she’s the most famous. She even got a write-up in the New York Times.
Her title for this recipe is “Now and Later Instant Pot Butter Chicken.” That’s because when you make this, you’ll end up with about 1 1/2 cups of extra sauce, which you’ll save (and freeze perhaps) to use with some other leftovers another night. What I love about this recipe is that into the instant pot you combine the canned tomatoes, ginger, garlic, turmeric, cayenne (or Kashmiri chile powder in my case), paprika, salt, cumin and garam masala. You stir it just a bit, add the chicken thighs, stir that just a bit so the chicken is coated in the flavorful sauce.
Meanwhile, you will use a small glass or ceramic bowl (that will fit into the Instant Pot) to which you’ll add basmati rice, water, butter and salt. After placing a trivet (I used the instant pot trivet that has the two handles) on top of the chicken, you place the rice bowl on top. Put the IP lid on top and pressure cook the chicken for 10 minutes. Then you let it sit for 10 minutes, undisturbed. Release the pressure, remove the bowl of rice (now fully cooked) with the trivet handles, remove the chicken to a bowl (large enough so you can pull apart the chicken easily). The sauce on the bottom of the Instant Pot gets smoothed out with an immersion blender, which takes about 20 seconds or so, then you add cream (or coconut milk), 4 T of butter and some chopped cilantro plus another teaspoon of garam masala. Your butter chicken is done. Put the chicken back in the pot and stir it around, and serve with the rice.
What’s GOOD: how absolutely simple this is. It’s genius, as they say at Food52. This is going to become my go-to butter chicken recipe henceforth! Only thing I might do differently is add some chopped up onion to the mixture. Not sure that’s authentic, but I’ll try it that way next time. I served it with some steamed broccoli on the side.
What’s NOT: nothing at all – such a simple dish, easy and flavorful.
printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook file (click link to open recipe)
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Instant Pot Butter Chicken with Rice
Recipe By: adapted very slightly from Food52
Serving Size: 5
RICE:
1 cup basmati rice — rinsed
1 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
BUTTER CHICKEN:
14 ounces diced tomatoes — undrained
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon kashmiri chile powder — or more to taste, or cayenne
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons garam masala — divided use
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 pound chicken thigh without skin — boneless, left whole
4 ounces butter — cut into cubes (use coconut oil, if making this dairy free)
4 ounces heavy cream — or use full-fat coconut milk
1/3 cup chopped cilantro — using some to garnish
NOTE: This recipe makes more sauce than is needed for the dish. Originally it was called “Now and Later Instant Pot Butter Chicken” because you serve it the first time for 4-5 people, then you have about a cup and a half of the sauce to freeze, or to use in some other dish for some other leftovers.
1. Combine all the ingredients for the rice, place in a 6 or 7-inch heat-safe pan or dish (that will fit in the Instant Pot, with room for the rice to expand), and set aside.
2. Place tomatoes, ginger, garlic, turmeric, cayenne, paprika, salt, 1 teaspoon of the garam masala, and cumin into the Instant Pot. Mix the sauce a bit, then place the chicken on top of the sauce and stir around a little to coat the chicken. You are putting in everything except the butter, cream, cilantro, and 1 remaining teaspoon of garam masala.
3. Place a steamer rack/trivet on top of the chicken mixture, and place the uncovered bowl of uncooked rice on the rack. Make it as level as possible.
4. Pressure cook for 10 minutes.
5. Once it is done cooking, allow the pot to cool for 10 minutes, undisturbed. Then, release all remaining pressure and open the pot. Remove and set the cooked rice aside (cover it if you want to keep it super-hot). Remove the chicken and set aside.
6. Using an immersion blender, blend together the sauce until it is smooth. Let the sauce cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the cut-up butter, cream, cilantro, and garam masala.
7. Remove half the sauce and freeze or refrigerate for later.
8. Break up the chicken into bite-size pieces, add it to the sauce. Serve with rice. Add more cilantro on top if desired.
Per Serving: 431 Calories; 33g Fat (68.4% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 163mg Cholesterol; 960mg Sodium; 3g Total Sugars; trace Vitamin D; 50mg Calcium; 2mg Iron; 480mg Potassium; 219mg Phosphorus.

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