Have you ever wanted to make authentic Indian Chicken Korma at home, but didn't really know where to start? If you're looking for a better-than restaurant-style Instant Pot Chicken Korma, this one is so easy that you can make it on a weeknight in less than an hour, start to finish.
What Makes this better than Indian Restaurant Chicken Korma?
- Taste. Restaurants add fillers and sugar. You don't need that in a good korma.
- Efficiency. This korma is done in under 30 minutes--you can't even order Indian food that fast!
- Control over ingredients. For those with nut allergies, kormas invariably have nuts. Making it at home allows you to control what goes into your homemade korma.
- Low Carb and Gluten-Free. No need for flour, cornstarch, thickeners, or sugar in a healthy korma recipe.
- Choice of low carb sides. Use riced cauliflower for a low carb side dish.
- Dairy-Free. Using coconut milk and cashews to give you a creamy korma keeps it dairy-free.
- Flexible. Make it in the Instant Pot when you're in a hurry, or use your slow cooker for a long, slow, and perfect korma.
- Inexpensive. Making this recipe at home for your family is more affordable than buying it at your favorite takeout spot. It will feed a family of four easily when combined with a side item.
Trust me, once you see how simple it is to make chicken korma at home using your Instant Pot, you'll be enjoying it a lot more often.
What Is Chicken Korma?
A korma sauce has come to mean a sauce that is creamy, slightly sweet and mild. I'm all for the creamy and mild, but I don't love the sweet that restaurant chicken korma can sometimes have.
I mean, there is zero need to add sugar to a curry!
So Indian Kormas typically get their creamy goodness in one of two ways.
- You can use nuts such as cashews and almonds for a creamy taste.
- Or you can use canned coconut milk for that signature creamy korma sauce.
But because I am so extra, I use BOTH.
What Does Chicken Korma Taste Like?
This Instant Pot chicken korma is a quick, dairy-free adaptation of the rich, aromatic curries known as korma. Cashews and coconut milk create a creamy sauce, while the pressure cooker delivers tender chicken without a long stovetop braise.
My chicken korma recipe is made with tomatoes, coconut milk, and plenty of my favorite essential Indian spices.
You can expect something truly authentic tasting to Indian cuisine with plenty of spice and a slight coconut undertone from the dairy-free milk included.
Is Chicken Korma The Same As Butter Chicken?
While Chicken Korma and Butter Chicken have many of the same ingredients and are both chicken curries, they are not the same dish. This chicken korma curry is a nutty, creamy sauce that is not spicy at all. Butter chicken is more of a tomatoey, creamy sauce that has a more prominent spice profile from the garam masala.
What Is The Difference Between Chicken Korma And Chicken Curry?
It makes it a lot easier to understand what the difference in the two is when you understand they're both the same thing.
Curry is any dish that uses water as a base. I talk more about it in my Curry Recipe and Indian curry types explained posts if you want a better explanation.
Will This Recipe Taste Like What I Get in My Local Indian Restaurant?
Depends on where the cook is from, whether they're trying to skimp on ingredients, whether, whether, whether.
This question is like asking me if my meatloaf recipe will taste just like what your mother makes. Maybe?
This is what kept me from posting a homemade korma recipe for the longest time.
The problem is that most people in the States have had chicken korma in a restaurant, and I was concerned my homemade Instant Pot Chicken Korma wouldn't be like what they were used to.
I decided to just make what I thought was a good chicken korma recipe, and not worry about whether it matched what you'd get in a restaurant.
The good news is, you can have a delicious dinner at half the price, and probably faster than you could make it to the restaurant too. If you're not feeling super confident in trying a new cuisine, read over my Indian Cooking for Beginners and Indian cooking techniques guides before getting started. If you don't nail it on your first try, no worries! I have a whole guide on How To Fix Indian Curry.
What Is Korma Sauce?
This easy chicken korma recipe worked for us. It was rich, creamy, and flavorful. The sauce was thick enough to pour over rice or eat with naan for those who can have carbs (not me, sadly) but not overly spicy.
I also have a secret to confess. There are days when I like this better than the Butter Chicken recipe. I know, I know. Crazy, right? I only made this dish with 1 pound of chicken, so once again, I had sauce leftover.
The same thing happened with the butter chicken (this is getting to be a habit) so I can use the extra sauce for egg korma or lamb korma tomorrow.
Make Rice with Chicken Korma
- You can cook rice at the same time by using a pot in pot method.
- Place a steamer rack on top of your chicken and sauce.
- Into a 6-inch pan, add 1 cup rinsed and drained rice, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon ghee, and 1 teaspoon salt.
- Place the pan on the steamer rack and close the pressure cooker.
- Cook as directed below.
Can Chicken Korma be Frozen?
Yes! You can absolutely freeze and reheat Indian chicken korma. Just make sure you're packing in an airtight bag or container to prevent freezer burn.
Make busy nights easier with these Instant Pot freezer meal tips for freezing and reheating extra portions of your favorite recipes.
Is Korma Gluten-free?
Don't skip this recipe just because your family has a gluten allergy. Not only is it low carb, it's gluten-free as well.
While it is a gluten-free dinner option, this recipe isn't completely allergen-free. This recipe contains cashews and is not suitable for someone with a cashew or tree-nut allergy.
Can I Make This Dairy Free?
My recipe for Chicken Korma uses coconut milk, so you don't have to worry about dairy intolerances when you make this dish.
Ingredients To Make The BEST Korma Recipe
- Chicken thighs- Stay juicier under pressure than breast meat. Place them in the pot whole to help maintain the best texture.
- Onion- Provides body and savory sweetness. One medium onion will give the flavor and amount of liquid needed for this recipe to come to pressure.
- Tomatoes- This recipe was tested with fresh diced tomatoes. Using canned diced tomatoes with juice may result in a more watery sauce.
- Fresh chile- Serrano or jalapeños both work great in this recipe. Serranos are less spicy than jalapeños. For an even more mild flavor, scrape the seeds from the inside of the chiles before adding them to the sauce mixture.
- Garlic- Adds pungent aromatic flavor.
- Ginger- Freshly minced ginger gives the most vibrant flavor.
- Cashews- Thicken and enrich the sauce. Unsalted cashews make it easier to adjust the amount of sodium in the recipe.
- Turmeric- Adds earthiness and golden color.
- Garam masala- Adds aromatic spice to the sauce and again after cooking.
- Cumin and coriander- Build the warm, earthy foundation.
- Cayenne- Controls the background heat.
- Water- Helps the Instant Pot reach pressure. This amount of water is enough to bring a 6 quart Instant Pot to pressure along with the natural liquids from the other ingredients. If you have a larger Instant Pot, the curry sauce may not turn out as expected.
- Full-fat coconut milk- Adds richness without dairy.
- Cilantro: Adds freshness at serving.
How Do You Make Chicken Korma?
Step 1: Start by placing onions, tomatoes, serrano peppers, ginger, garlic, cashews, and all the spices in a blender. This is the blender I use.
Step 2: Pour the sauce into your Instant Pot. This recipe has only been tested in a 6 quart Instant Pot. Note that if you have an 8 quart or larger Instant Pot, the amount of liquid included in this recipe may not be enough to allow the pot to come to pressure. This can result in a burn warning. Add water to the blender and wash out that blender to get the last bit of goodness out of there. Pour that water into the sauce.
Step 3: Put the chicken into the sauce, and push it down a little so it is mostly covered with the sauce.
Step 4: Cook the chicken for 10 minutes on high pressure. Allow the pot to release pressure naturally, and then release all remaining pressure. If your Instant Pot has a tendency to produce a burn notice (iykyk) place the water and chicken thighs down first and add the blended sauce on top. This prevents most of the curry from touching the hottest part of the Instant Pot liner and helps prevent the burn notice.
Step 5: Remove the chicken, and cut into bite sized pieces. Do not shred! We aren't making tacos here!
Step 6: Add in coconut milk and additional garam masala here. You don't want to cook coconut milk under pressure as it can sometimes seperate, leaving a greasy slick on the food. Not attractive.
Step 7: Check out the creamy goodness of that homemade Chicken Korma!
How To Make Slow Cooker Chicken Korma
Making Chicken Korma in a slow cooker or Crock-Pot is just as easy as making it in the Instant Pot. However, as the name suggests, it's much slower. It does, however, make an amazingly creamy korma.
If you want a make-ahead meal, I've included the instructions for making it in the slow cooker below.
- Blend together the ingredients for the sauce.
- Add chicken.
- Cook on low heat for 6 hours OR
- Cook on high heat for 3-4 hours.
- Finish with coconut milk.
Check out my guide on how to freeze and reheat curry for more tips and tricks.
You're going to laugh when you see how simple this Instant Pot Chicken Korma recipe is, and you'll be skeptical, and you'll tell me it's not how your Mama made korma.
Well, mine neither, but make it anyway. It's worth it.
Find the perfect bread to serve with your meal in this guide to 10 types of Indian bread, from soft naan to flaky paratha.
Tips and Tricks
The method that I use is not at all traditional. But the taste is very traditional. I made this Indian Chicken Korma recipe by blending together all the ingredients for the sauce. Next, I placed the chicken in the sauce and cooked it in the Instant Pot.
Once that was done cooking, I added coconut milk for creaminess. You can also add heavy whipping cream to thicken it, and some people add a little sugar to it.
- Add pan-fried cashews or raisins as garnish before serving.
- Variations.
- I have an egg korma recipe that will show you how to make egg korma with the leftover chicken korma sauce.
- Vegetable Korma: I'd actually cook the sauce and the veggies separately. Add ¼ cup water to the sauce and cook as directed. Meanwhile, steam vegetables in the microwave or stovetop. Use a combination of cauliflower, green beans, and green peas to make an Instant Pot Vegetable Korma.
- Vegetarian Options - Paneer, Mixed Veggies, or Cooked Chickpeas. In this case, add ¼ cup of water to the sauce. To the cooked sauce, add your paneer, or chickpeas and heat through.
- Substitute heavy cream or half and half for coconut milk if you prefer.
- You could use chicken breasts instead, just butterfly them sideways so you have thinner pieces of chicken and cook for 6 mins. Keep in mind chicken breasts can become dryer under pressure than chicken thighs.
- I ask you to add the coconut milk at the end since sometimes it can separate under pressure, leaving a greasy slick on top of the food.
- For a slow cooker version, cook on low for 3-4 hours, or high 7-8 hours
- That last spoon of garam masala is getting added at the end for fragrance.
- You can hard cook some eggs and add them to any leftover korma sauce you may have for egg korma.
- Make weeknight cooking easier with these practical Indian meal prep tips for preparing flavorful meals ahead of time.
Want to adapt another favorite meal for pressure cooking? Learn how to convert a slow cooker recipe to an Instant Pot with practical tips for adjusting liquid, cooking time, and pressure release.
Chicken, onion, and tomatoes release liquid under pressure. If you notice that your curry sauce is more watery than you prefer, you can reduce it after cooking under pressure. Simply press the Sauté button and allow it to reduce for 3-4 minutes. Press the cancel button once it reaches the desired texture. Add the coconut milk after reducing to prevent separation.
Possible causes include incompletely blended cashews, using coarse nuts, or insufficient blending liquid. This can also be caused by adding the coconut milk before reducing the curry sauce (if you choose to reduce it. This step is completely optional).
Generally, the coconut milk will separate if it is added at the incorrect time in the recipe. If it is added before cooking the chicken under pressure, it can cause it to separate and change texture. Ensure it is only added after pressure cooking the chicken and recuducing the sauce (if needed).
Chicken Korma can be a spicy dish if using peppers you are unfamiliar with. If you're sensitive to heat, opt for serrano peppers over jalapeño peppers. If you need the flavor to be even milder, scrape the seeds out of the peppers before adding them to the blender and creating the sauce.
More Great Chicken Recipes
- If you're looking for other great Instant Pot chicken recipes, check out my French Garlic Chicken.
- Slow Cooker Safed Korma - yet another creamy korma recipe
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken - This is easily one of my favorite recipes and you can make it in under 30 minutes
- Instant Pot Chicken Biryani- Flavorful pour and cook chicken and rice.
- Chicken Vindaloo - make it fresh at home.
- Chicken Adobo - Filipino version of yummy chicken
- Easy Instant Pot Curries - a collection of curries from around the world.
And if you still want more easy meal ideas, check out this list of my best Instant Pot Chicken recipes!
If you love this Chicken Korma recipe as much as I do, make sure you share it with your friends on Facebook and Pinterest so they can try it too.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound (453.59 g) Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs, (adjust times for other cuts)
Blend together
- 1 (1) Onion, chopped
- ½ cup (74.5 g) Tomatoes, diced
- ½ (0.5) Serrano peppers, Jalapeño, or Thai chile pepper
- 5 cloves (5 cloves) Garlic
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Minced Ginger, minced
- 1 ounce (28.35 g) cashews, (or sub with almonds if you prefer)
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Garam Masala
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Ground Coriander
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper, (adjust to your preference)
- ½ cup (125 g) Water, ( I used this to slosh about in the blender jar and then poured it into the Instant Pot)
For Finishing
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Garam Masala
- ½ cup (120 g) Full-Fat Coconut Milk
- ¼ cup (4 g) Cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Blend together onion, tomatoes, serrano, ginger, garlic, cashews, turmeric, salt, cayenne, 1 teaspoon of garam masala, cumin, and coriander.
- Pour the sauce into the inner liner of your Instant Pot. Rinse out the blender container using the water, and pour water into the pressure cooker liner as well.
- Place the chicken on top and push it down into the sauce.
- Set it at High Pressure for 10 minutes, and let it release pressure naturally.
- Carefully take out the chicken and cut into bite size pieces.
- Add coconut milk and the additional 1 teaspoon garam masala. Put the chicken back in to combine.
- Garnish with cilantro if you'd like.
Watch The Video
- Add pan-fried cashews or raisins as garnish before serving.
- Variations.
- I have an egg korma recipe that will show you how to make egg korma with the leftover chicken korma sauce.
- Vegetable Korma: I'd actually cook the sauce and the veggies separately. Add ¼ cup water to the sauce and cook as directed. Meanwhile, steam vegetables in the microwave or stovetop. Use a combination of cauliflower, green beans, and green peas to make an Instant Pot Vegetable Korma.
- Vegetarian Options - Paneer, Mixed Veggies, or Cooked Chickpeas. In this case, add ¼ cup of water to the sauce. To the cooked sauce, add your paneer, or chickpeas and heat through.
- Substitute heavy cream or half and half for coconut milk if you prefer.
- You could use chicken breasts instead, just butterfly them sideways so you have thinner pieces of chicken and cook for 6 mins
- I ask you to add the coconut milk at the end since sometimes it can separate under pressure, leaving a greasy slick on top of the food.
- For a slow cooker version, cook on low for 3-4 hours, or high 7-8 hours
- That last spoon of garam masala is getting added at the end for fragrance.
- You can hard cook some eggs and add them to any leftover korma sauce you may have.
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Nutrition
Don't forget to check out my other Best-selling Instant Pot Cookbooks!
Indian Instant Pot, Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy, Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot.
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Tastes just as good, if not better than what I get at my local Indian restaurant. Love this recipe!
I rarely leave comments, but OMG this is FANTASTIC. Decent amount of sauce left over, and we'll eat it all because this chicken korma turned out beautifully. Followed recipe just as written. I used almonds. Will be making this again.
I have made this recipe as well as the chicken tikka masala and chicken curry many times now and love that I have finally found a way to make Indian Food at home that tastes as good as what I have in a restaurant! Also, I make Aloo Gobi but double the recipe (but use just one potato), use frozen cauliflower, and add a can of rinsed chickpeas... it is the best!
One question, though, for Korma and Tikka Masala... any recommendations out here on whether this recipe can be made using shrimp? Or are shrimp not something that really works in an Instant Pot. If that is the case, then what about just making the sauce... then adding shrimp on the sauce function after the sauce is done (but how long to cook sauce at high pressure?)
When cooking in an insta pot, it came up saying that the food was burning while still heating.
How much water are you adding to the instant pot? I used 1/2 cup to wash out the blender and put it in the pot, but I keep getting food burn error and it really does burn the bottom of the pot. But if I use any more water the curry gets super watery.
What size Instant Pot are you using? If it's an 8 quart, this could cause a burn error because 1/2 of a cup isn't enought to bring that size Pot to pressure. If you're using a 6 quart, you may try replacing your Instant Pot sealing ring. When mine starts to get stretched out, I tend to get more burn notices.