Achari chicken curry is an aromatic, flavorful and tangy North Indian dish made with the same spices that are typically used to make Indian pickles, also known as achar.
Out of all Indian chicken curries, I’d say achari chicken curry (also known as achari murgh) is the most flavorful. Bold statement, I know. But this pickled chicken curry is incredibly flavorful and only gets better with time. Trust me, you will absolutely love the leftovers!
If you’ve ever tried achar (an Indian pickle) before, then you’ll immediately note that this curry has a similar flavorful profile. That’s because achar and achari chicken have a lot of the same spices.
This achari chicken curry is well spiced but not necessarily spicy. You can easily adjust the level of heat by adjusting the amount of cayenne or red chili powder that you use.
Serve this tangy pickled chicken curry with a side of yogurt/raita, a side (like aloo gobi and/or langar dal) and basmati rice. And then after you eat it, come back and leave me a comment to let me know what you think!
Instant Pot Achari Chicken Curry
Instant Pot Achari Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil of choice
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 onion diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
Spices
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon amchur dried mango powder
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek methi seeds
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon kalonji (nigella seeds) Indian onion seeds/nigella seeds
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 2 pounds skinless and boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup fresh tomato puree approx. ½ pound tomatoes
- ½ cup water
- Cilantro garnish
Instructions
- Press the sauté button, add the oil and allow it to heat up for a minute. Add the cumin seeds and once they brown, add the bay leaf and onions. Stir-fry for 6-7 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown.
- Add garlic, ginger, spices and stir briefly. Add the chicken and give everything a good mix so that the chicken is well coated with the spices.
- Add the pureed tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the water.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 5 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure.
- Garnish with cilantro.
Florence says
Very good, easy, had all the ingredients on hand. Love that I can cook it in the Instant Pot
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how much you like this 🙂
Jenita says
Made Achari chicken tonight. I’ve made this a couple of times before…so easy.. so delicious… I even recommended it my brother, who made it and loved it too.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Jenita, that’s awesome! I’m so glad you like this recipe. 🙂 And thanks for sharing it with your brother – glad he likes it too!
Michael says
We’ve been making your Butter Chicken recipe for a couple of months now, and we recently started making this Achari Chicken Curry, which is also incredible. You basically introducing us to making Indian cuisine AND getting more use out of our Instant Pot. Your directions are always clear and helpful, and your recommendations for spices have been on point every time. We now purchase our supplies from a local Indian grocery and save a ton of money by grinding our own spices and not shipping hard-to-find ingredients. Thank you so much!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Michael, this is so great to hear! Love that you’re making Indian dishes :). Can’t wait to hear what you think of any other recipes you try!
Marianne says
I know you say this is a North Indian dish, but somehow it tastes exactly like the chicken curry my mom (from Kerala) used to make when I was a kid. Full disclosure: I did NOT like eating her chicken curry as a kid! But this year, not being able to see family and eat food that my mom or aunties prepare, it made me really long for some home cooked Indian food. This was perfect, even though I messed up and used a little too much water and a little extra chicken. It was the chicken curry of my childhood – thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
My Heart Beets says
Marianne, that is so awesome to hear! Love that it’s the curry from your childhood! Achar is universal, so perhaps it’s not just a north Indian dish after all 🙂 Thank you for the comment and review!
Aisha says
Delicious recipe! Thank you for translating traditional Indian recipes, that often take such long time to cook, into quick and easy Instant Pot versions! Your page is my go-to destination whenever I want to make desi food, and I haven’t been disappointed!
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Aisha! I really appreciate the kind words 🙂
Vicki says
Absolutely gorgeous, we buy this from our local take away and this version has all of the flavour with a lot less oil.
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Vicki! I’m so glad you liked this 🙂
Shreyas Nair says
Loved this recipe, Ashley. Amazing flavours. I kind of tweaked it a bit to suit my spice level. For someone who loves spicy food, I added a half a teaspoon of Bhoot Jolokia pickle, Turned out to be nice and hot, and tangy.
My Heart Beets says
Shreyas, that’s really great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Ann Wheeldon says
Oh my goodness this was amazing. Not sure whether it was even better than the instant pot chicken biryani and I did not think that was possible! I have a long list of other things to try from your website. Greetings from Norway.
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Ann! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 Look forward to hearing what you think of other recipes you try from my blog!
Sanjana says
My boyfriend is from north india and i am from kerala and i love my instant pot , which makes your website my favorite recipe place . Its like a perfect blend of the recipes I have always been looking for 😉 I am not an eager cook and had almost given up trying my luck in cooking tasty food , until I found myheartbeets.com . Tried chikar chole , achari chicken , sardine thoran and achari kabab till now and I must say – Thank you so much for restroring my faith in cooking myself ..They were all so tasty and easy and am almost addicted to to the achari flavor . 😄
My Heart Beets says
Hi Sanjana, I’m so glad you found and like my site! I love that you’ve tried so many recipes! Thanks for leaving this comment and for the kind words 🙂
Fatima Mun says
This was really good! I had lamb that I needed to cook and this was actually really good with it. I cooked it in IP for 40 mins high pressure. The meat was as tender as butter. Definitely making it again! Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Fatima, I’m so happy to hear that! Great to know it turned out well with lamb. Thanks for letting me know how much you liked this 🙂
Lisa says
If I want to double this recipe,how much time is it in the instant pot?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Lisa, to double this recipe, double the ingredients but keep the cook time the same.
Melissa says
I made this with lamb and paneer (since chicken was hard to find in quarantine), served with jeera rice, and it was delicious! I thought I would get the burn signal because I ALWAYS do with tomato based dishes, but to my surprise no burn. Great recipe
My Heart Beets says
Melissa, thanks for letting me know how it turned out with lamb and paneer! Glad you liked it 🙂
Charlotte says
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! We loved the different spice profile, and the chicken absorbed the spices really nicely. We’ll definitely be making this regularly from now on!
My Heart Beets says
Charlotte, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how much you liked the achari chicken curry 🙂
Preeti says
Can you use achar masala in place of some of the other masalas?
Priya says
great recipe and really simple – tried this today while stuck at home and a huge success with my family. Your website is literally my bible for Instapot cooking… Thanks a lot 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Priya! Glad you and your family liked this curry and happy to hear you like my blog 🙂
Suman says
As an Instant pot noob, stumbled across your website and fell in love! I have tried the 2 ingredient cheesecake, Dal Dhokli and Khaman Dhokla and they were amazing! I love Aachari dishes in general and so, super excited to try this! I wanna use chicken with bone instead of boneless chicken – will the cook times remain the same?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Suman, I’m so glad you found my site and are enjoying my recipes! Thank you for letting me know 🙂 As for this recipe, I haven’t tried with bone-in but I think the cook time should be the same. Are you using thigh bone-in meat because if so, thighs are forgiving and adding a couple extra minutes to the cook time won’t hurt a bit. Let me know what you think of the dish!
Shriti says
Hi Ashley,
Can I use use onion masala along with whole spices to make this curry?
Mary Ann Lynch says
This recipe was super delicious. Served it along with a number of your other recipes for a family gathering. Made it ahead of time, doubling the recipe and popped it in the freezer. Reheated in the microwave. Everyone loved it!
My Heart Beets says
Mary Ann, that’s so great to hear! Thank you for letting me know how much everyone liked this chicken curry 🙂 Really happy to hear that you served it along some of my other recipes too!
Rowzat says
hi.. the recipe looks so good and I want to make it tonight as soon as I go home.
But I don’t have boneless chicken, can I use bone in chicken instead?\
Thank you 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Bone-in works too 🙂
Stephen Dunn says
Do you leave the skin on the tomatoes? thank you 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Yup, I do 🙂
Afia says
Ok cool that sounds easy enough! You don’t take the skin off or anything first?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Afia! I use skinless chicken 🙂
Afia says
Do you have a specific recipe or method for the fresh tomato puree?
My Heart Beets says
I just blend fresh tomatoes 🙂
Cheryl says
Excellent dish! I think my family will just love it!
So tasty!
My Heart Beets says
Cheryl, I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
Alex says
Can i Use bone in chicken
T Fong says
Yum! I can’t wait for supper! I may have to taste test it a few more times before hubby gets home! I didn’t find the kalonji, so I subbed caraway.
My Heart Beets says
I’m so happy to hear that you like the achari chicken curry! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
Danielle says
We loved the slight tang to this curry. I used tamarind paste to replace the amchur and ground fenugreek in place of the seeds because that’s what I had on hand.
My Heart Beets says
Danielle, that’s so great to hear! And thanks for sharing those subs 🙂
Jenita says
I made this tonight for dinner. I had already made the butter chicken a few times and wanted to try soemthing new tonight. I was surprised that I had everything on hand, even the kalonji seeds!! This dish was so easy to make and was so delicious. Different taste from the regular chicken curry / masala etc but so yummy!! it has a slightly tangy taste to it and so flavorful. I would personally prefer more spice, but my american born desi kids cant handle, and so this was perfect from 6 & 2 year old.
My Heart Beets says
Jenita, I’m so happy to hear that you liked it!! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you and your kiddos 🙂 As for heat – you can always add extra cayenne/red chili to your bowl of curry – I do that for my hubby lol.
Jonathan says
To my surprise, my (Canadian, non-desi) two year old loved it as well (I left out the serrano pepper)! Thank you for the recipe, Ashley.
My Heart Beets says
Jonathan, wow that is awesome!! So happy to hear that your 2 year old loved it – best compliment ever!
Maneesha says
woohoo can’t wait to try this!
My Heart Beets says
Maneesha, I can’t wait to hear what you think of it 🙂
Maneesha says
Such a GREAT recipe! My family loved it!! I added 4 chopped serrano peppers as well, because my family likes spicy, and the dish turned out so well! Hubby gave it a two thumbs up! I love the blend of different spices! I’ll definitely this recipe again and also try it with just veggies, as a veggie alternative! Thanks again for a fabulous recipe!
My Heart Beets says
Maneesha, I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you and your family 🙂
Maneesha says
Hi Ashley! Just wanted to reiterate how much my family enjoys this recipe! Every time I make it, it’s such a winner. Thank you thank you thank you! Also, your green bean thoran has been a hit, and my family prefers it to our traditional Gujarati style of making green beans haha
My Heart Beets says
Hi Maneesha! I’m so glad you and your family like this recipe and the green bean thoran 🙂 thanks for the review!