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.
Ingredients
- 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
- ÂĽ teaspoon garam masala
Â
- 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.Â
- 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.
Afreen says
This was such a simple and wholesome meal! I didn’t have cashew flour so I added some cashew butter into the black pepper sauce. I also added frozen spinach into the IP (need to up our veggie intake and I didn’t want to make a separate side dish) and it was the perfect Friday night meal. Thanks for another great recipe, Ashley!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Afreen, that’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how much you liked this recipe 🙂 Also, thanks for sharing your substitutions and additions – that’ll help others I’m sure!
Rohita says
Can we use chicken breast? What modifications to keep in mind?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Rohita, I haven’t tested this with chicken breast but if you try, I’d add some oil to it – chicken breast is lean and I think the fat from the thighs helps keep the bottom from burning. You could also try adding a bit of water to this. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes!
Julie says
Can’t wait to try this. If I wanted to make the sauce only, do you think I should add water to account for the juice the chicken would normally release?
Snk says
Will the onion render raw taste since they are not sauted? Just want to confirm
My Heart Beets says
Nope, the onion will cook in the sauce (the same way it would cook in a soup if you were to put it in raw):)
Raghavi says
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!
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Raghavi! I’m so glad you liked this recipe – and thank you for the kind words 🙂
Ritika Singh says
Can you add cashew butter instead of flour in the end?
My Heart Beets says
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!
Tom says
Didn’t have cashew flour but I thickened with began flour, but a little bit less than the cashew flour. Tastes delicious but not sure how it compares.
Love your website by the way. I’ve been cooking up a storm throughout the pandemic based on your recipes.
My Heart Beets says
Thanks for the kind words, Tom!
Priyanka Bagchi says
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
My Heart Beets says
Hi Priyanka, are you using chicken thighs? Did you make any changes to to the ingredients?
Ketki says
I’m dairy free (a breastfeeding requirement for my lo :-‘()… Any substitute for yogurt? I miss my yogurt so much!
My Heart Beets says
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!
SammyD says
FWIW, I use soy yogurt for everything I make…..no issues.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Great to know, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Lori says
can you add the recipe name to this card as well?
My Heart Beets says
Lori, thank you for pointing that out! I’ve added it. 🙂
Lynn says
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.
My Heart Beets says
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!