Kali mirch chicken curry is a pour and cook recipe made by simmering chicken thighs in a spiced yogurt sauce.
We’re tossing chicken thighs and a spiced yogurt sauce in an instant pot, pressing the start button, and calling it a day. These crazy times call for low maintenance, fuss-free recipes. Thankfully this murgh kali mirch (black pepper chicken curry) is as simple as it gets.
This quarantine is physically and mentally exhausting. Figuring out what to cook is in itself stressful, especially when you have a million other things on your mind.
I think a lot of us want good food and we don’t want to spend a lot of time making it. In fact, it’d be nice if a meal just cooked itself. Is that too much to ask?
I’m here for you with a dish that requires very little effort. You just need to blend a few things together to make a sauce and then sit back and wait while the instant pot cooks dinner for you.
Kali mirch means black pepper and since that’s a featured ingredient in this dish, you’ll want to use freshly ground black pepper for the best flavor. While in normal (pre-covid19) circumstances, I’d tell you to wait to make this until you can get your hands on black peppercorns – given what’s going on, I actually think this will still be pretty good even with regular black pepper.
The other ingredients you’ll need are chicken thighs, yogurt and a few spices.
If you want to put in a bit more effort, you can stir some cashew flour into the curry after it’s done cooking. This makes the dish a little nuttier, creamier and thicker. My husband prefers this dish with cashew flour but I think it’s great either way, so if you’re nut-free, no worries.
You might wonder whether you can add cashews directly to the blender while making the sauce (the way I’ve done in previous recipes – my green chicken masala, for example) but the answer is no – I’ve tried a few times and have gotten the dreaded burn sign. Rather than adding more water to the recipe/blender, I think this dish turns out best if you stir ground nuts in at the end.
You can serve this chicken curry over plain basmati rice or jeera rice or pea pulao.
I’ll be sharing more simple pour and cook recipes over the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a few more ideas, try my coconut chicken curry, everyday dal, thai chicken, green chicken or salsa chicken.
Instant Pot Kali Mirch Chicken Curry
Yield: 4 1x
Cuisine: Indian
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless and skinless chicken thighs
Black Pepper Sauce:
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 green chili
- 1 tablespoon kasoori methi
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- 2 tablespoons cashew flour, optional
Instructions
- Blend the ingredients listed under “black pepper sauce” and pour this over the chicken thighs. Mix well.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 5 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure or wait 10 minutes then release pressure.
- You can either shred the chicken right in the pot or use kitchen shears/scissors to cut the chicken into cubes.
- Optional step: Press the sauté button, add cashew flour to the pot and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Garnish with additional black pepper and serve.
Notes
- *Adding cashew flour will make the sauce a bit nuttier, creamier and thicker.
This looks so yummy! Was looking at what to cook in the morning and I think I’ve found my answer! Can I use dried cilantro or something else as a substitute for kasoori methi, or is the methi not substitutable?
Thanks, Asha! Kasoori methi is hard to substitute but I think this will still be good even without it – you can garnish with cilantro or add some to the blender – it won’t quite replicate the flavor though. Let me know what you think if you make this!
I used curry leaves (could not get dried fenugreek) taste was different but delicious!
Thank you for a great and easy recipe.
Great to hear! I’ll have to try it with curry leaves sometime – yum 🙂
Can I substitute paneer in this dish? But then should I add the paneer at the start instead of the chicken? What else can I substitute in a vegetarian Verizon of this?
★★★★
Hi Vidya, I haven’t tried this with paneer so I’m not sure, sorry! Hopefully, another reader will chime in if they give it a try!
I made it with cauliflower instead of chicken. Turned out pretty good. I cannot really compare it to the chicken version because I have never had chicken. Used the exact same recipe, but cut the cooking time to 3 minutes instead of 5.
★★★★★
Hi Vidya, that’s great to know – thank you for sharing! 🙂
I made this and actually cooked the rice as well in the instant pot at the same time. The timing worked out perfectly. I added a pyrex glass bowl with one cup of white jasmin rice and one cup of water. It was very tasty, and the spice got my heart beeting!
The yogurt sauce before cooking was delicious too! I am wondering if I could use it as a dip or sauce by itself. Any ideas?
★★★★★
Hi Kim, I’m so glad you liked this! Great to know that you made rice with it at the same time! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂 And yes, you can certainly make this into a yogurt sauce – it’s similar to raita which is what I typically I serve with Indian food, though my sauce is much simpler – just mix yogurt, water, salt and roasted cumin powder together 🙂 I’ll sometimes add a veggie too – usually shredded cucumber or sometimes beets for beet raita.
This looks great! Im wondering if I could use greek yoghurt, as that is what I have. Do you think any adjustments would need to be made? Thank you! We LOVE all of your recipes!
Thanks, Laura! Yes, you can use greek yogurt – no need to make any other adjustments (I’ve made this with plain and greek and it’s nearly identical).
Is there no oil in this reciepe
Nope, no oil 🙂
Ohhh god !!!! Mind blowing… blew my socks off… really authentic flavour….. and the tender meat in the pot completes the trick. This does tickle the taste buds to perfection..
★★★★★
Karan, that’s awesome to hear! I’m so glad you liked this recipe 🙂
You have no idea what kind of a blessing you are by sharing such easy but insanely delicious desi recipes with a busy desi girl like me! This chicken kills, it’s so flavorful. I’m slowly making my way through all your recipes. Can’t wait to try them all!
★★★★★
I have a question though, next time when I make this chicken, since I don’t have cashew flour, can I soak ~10 cashews and just grind them up and put it into the dish?
Yes, I’m sure that’ll be fine 🙂
Manal, that’s so great to hear – thank you for the kind words! I can’t wait to hear what you think of the other recipes you try 🙂
Another amazing recipe, Ashley! Loved it! I really enjoyed the yogurt sauce and the black pepper – it truly added a unique flavor! Thanks so much! I’ve shared your recipe with friends and family so that they too can enjoy this great dish!
★★★★★
Thank you, Maneesha! I’m so glad you tried and liked this one! I really appreciate you always sharing my recipes with others 🙂
Hi can I make this with chicken with bone?
★★★★
Hi Ishrat, I’m sure that’ll be fine – I’d increase the cook time by 2 minutes. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
How about chicken breasts?
We loved this recipe! The flavor is amazing. I have made it twice now. My Greek yogurt is very thick, so I upped the water the second time around. I also threw in a handful of shredded cabbage just before I added the cashew flour at the end which added some nice crunch and tasted great with the sauce. (I like to sneak veggies into things when I can.) This will go into our rotation. Thanks again.
★★★★★
Lynn, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how much you like this recipe 🙂 Also, I love the idea of adding cabbage – sounds like a great way to add texture. I’m going to try that the next time I make this!
can you add the recipe name to this card as well?
Lori, thank you for pointing that out! I’ve added it. 🙂
I’m dairy free (a breastfeeding requirement for my lo :-‘()… Any substitute for yogurt? I miss my yogurt so much!
Hi Ketki, I haven’t tried this with dairy-free yogurt but I think cashew yogurt should work as a sub. I’ve been meaning to try and will update the recipe when I do. If you try before me, please let me know!
Hi,
I am trying this dish for the first time and got a burn signal. Did you ever get a burn signal and how did you change it?
Thanks,
Priyanka
Hi Priyanka, are you using chicken thighs? Did you make any changes to to the ingredients?
Can you add cashew butter instead of flour in the end?
Hi Ritika, I haven’t tried that for this recipe, but in the past when I’ve tried using cashew butter in place of flour in other recipes, the flavor hasn’t been the same. If you try though, please let us know what you think!
Ashley, yet another amazing recipe from you! This was so easy and quick and delicious! Every single recipe of yours that I have tried has turned out so well. Thank you for all the effort you put into creating and testing these recipes and for so kindly sharing them with us. Absolutely love your work!
★★★★★
Thanks, Raghavi! I’m so glad you liked this recipe – and thank you for the kind words 🙂