FRASER ELISABETH TAN, PHD

Dave's Instant Pot Butter Chicken with Cumin Rice

This comes from our friend Dave, and is both quick and delicious! It will quickly become a staple in your rotation and might just be faster than takeout!

Serves 4-6 EF

Ingredients

  • Butter Chicken
  • 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 5-6 cloves garlic
  • 1-2 teaspoons minced ginger
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs (or use breast, bone-in, or whatever works for you. If frozen, add 1-2 minutes to total time)
  • 4 ounces (1 stick) butter cut into cubes (use coconut oil if dairy free)
  • 4 ounces (1/2 cup) heavy cream (use full-fat coconut milk if dairy free)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
  • Cumin Rice
  • 2 cups unwashed basmati rice
  • 1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 bay leaf

2 cups boiling water, mixed with:

  • 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon roasted chicken

Equipment

  • Instant Pot
  • immersion blender

Directions

For the butter chicken:

  1. Combine ingredients up to and including the chicken in the Instant pot. Cover and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release.
  2. Remove the chicken and shred it or cut it into bite size pieces; place in a serving bowl.
  3. In the IP pot, use an immersion blender to puree the sauce until smooth: pour into the bowl with the chicken. Do not wash the IP pot.
  4. Let the sauce cool for several minutes (7 to 15ish), then fold in the butter, the additional garam masala, and the cream.
  5. You’ll want to do this while the sauce is still warm enough to melt the butter, but not so hot that it separates.
  6. Serve sprinkled with cilantro.

For the cumin rice:

  1. Once the IP pot is empty (but not washed), add all the rice ingredients to the pot, using the hot water to wash down the lovely sauce remnants on the sides of the pot.
  2. Close the lid and cook on the automatic Rice setting (12 minutes, with instant release).
  3. You can do this while waiting for the sauce to cool in step 4 above.

Notes

  • This will be spicier or milder depending on your cayenne pepper - it was a bit hot for our tastes, so I’ll reduce that one next time.
  • I might try to double the chicken next time too.

Source: Dave