A creamy, nutty, decadent almond chicken curry that requires nothing more than blending a few ingredients together and pressing the “start” button on an instant pot.
I know on paper, this recipe for Chicken Badami (Chicken with Almonds) seems nuts. And I’m not just saying that due to the almonds. It’s because I’ve basically reduced what’s meant to be a time-consuming, royal dish into a simple, pour and cook recipe. You’re probably thinking I am a badam (an almond, like a nut… get it? yeah, my jokes are terrible and usually require an explanation, but I can’t help but tell them anyway 😂).
Maybe I am a little nutty. Because I wholeheartedly believe that Indian food is (or at least it can be) really easy to cook. Who says we have to spend half the day in the kitchen to enjoy a proper homemade Indian meal? Why can’t we blend a bunch of stuff together and then have a machine cook our food? This is 2020. Anything is possible (I mean that quite literally… have you seen the news lately?).
What is Murgh Badami?
Murgh Badami is a mildly spiced, indulgent curry made with yogurt, almond flour, garlic, ginger, and fragrant spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
You might think that a Mughlai dish is something to save for a special occasion. After all, dishes like this were originally invented and intended for royalty during the Mughal empire.
Well, it’s true that this dish is good enough to serve the royal guests in your life but it’s also easy enough to make on a busy weeknight. It’s a curry that’ll taste as though you spent all day cooking it when really, you’ll only need 5 minutes of hands-on time.
Several years ago, I shared a stovetop recipe for murgh badami in an ebook. Before coming up with this instant pot version, I thought about just re-sharing my old recipe here on the blog (because it’s a good one) but I couldn’t get myself to make and re-photograph that particular stovetop recipe (and trust me, it needed new photos). Why? Because the instant pot has ruined me. The idea of having to exert a reasonable amount of effort in order to produce a chicken curry on the stovetop now seems overwhelming/exhausting.
I’d much rather blend a bunch of ingredients together, toss ’em in the instant pot and do nothing while I wait for the pressure cooker to cook my dinner for me. And by “do nothing,” I mean to do more pressing things, like peeling tiny dinosaur stickers off of my kitchen cabinets (courtesy of my thoughtful three-year-old). 🦖
Top this almond chicken curry with crunchy sliced (or slivered) almonds before serving. Yes, they’ll make the dish pretty, but more importantly, they’ll add necessary crunch. Serve this with plain basmati rice or an Indian flatbread, and eat like a king whenever you want. 👑
Instant Pot Murgh Badami (Almond Chicken Curry)
Instant Pot Murgh Badami (Almond Chicken Curry)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds skinless and boneless chicken thighs
- 1 cup plain yogurt whole milk
- ¼ cup water
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2- inch knob ginger roughly chopped
- 1 Serrano pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice half a lemon
Spices
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika or Kashmiri chili powder mild
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground if possible cardamom powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne to taste, optional
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Add Later:
- ½ cup almond flour
- Sliced or slivered almonds to taste
- Cilantro garnish
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender (except for the chicken and those listed under “add later”) and blend until smooth. Pour this over the raw chicken and mix well.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 5 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure for 10 minutes.
- Press sauté, add the almond flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
- You can either shred the chicken right in the pot or use kitchen shears/scissors to cut the chicken into cubes.
- Garnish with cilantro and sliced/slivered almonds (don’t omit, they add crunch!).
Indhu says
Naturally release pressure for 10 minutes- what does it mean. I should wait for 10 minutes so the pressure gets released naturally or should I release the pressure after waiting for 10 minutes once the curry is cooked. Can you please clarify
Debbie says
Great recipe – I made it exactly as stated and had a fabulous family friendly (2 picky teens) dinner.
Thanks Ashley!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Debbie, that’s great to hear! I’m so glad your family enjoyed it 🙂
Safa says
Excellent! Super fast and easy. We loved this and it was just as good as my mother in law’s 3 hour version. The only things I did different are: I fried the slivered almonds and I doubled the almond flour. Thank you Ashley for these AMAZINGLY delicious and simple recipe. You have made Indian cooking accessible for me. I cannot express how much I appreciate you.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Safa, wow so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how this turned out for you 🙂
Mary says
Delicious! Thank you!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Mary, happy to hear that you liked this!
K Marie Tyler says
You know what I love? ALL YOUR FOOD! Your recipes are delicious, beautiful and accessible to the normal home cook. I would have never believed at this point in my life I would say, yeah, I make pretty excellent Indian food, but you have made that a true statement.
Thank you for sharing all this deliciousness.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thank you so much for the kind words! Your comment made my day – I appreciate it so much 🙂
Jordan says
One of the best–and easiest–recipes on the blog, in my opinion.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Jordan, that’s great to hear 🙂 Glad you like this so much!
Daniel Ivers says
Hi there, can I double up on this recipe in the instant pot and if so would the cooking time alter?
Many thanks
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Daniel, I haven’t tried myself, but I think it’ll be fine. I’d keep the cook time the same. Let me know how it goes!
Ahsia says
Love the recipe- can i add my onion masala with yougurt to this and blend that?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Ahsia! I haven’t tried it this way but am sure it’d be good – though a different flavor. Let me know what you think if you experiment!
Courtney Green says
I didn’t have almond flour so I omitted it. Still tasted very good. I love how simple & fast this recipe is! Thank you so much Ashley!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Courtney, good to know it still turned out well! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Shira says
This recipe looks amazing, Ashley. Thanks for sharing. Any ideas about how to make this paleo? Maybe a coconut based yogurt? Coconut milk?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Shira! I haven’t tested this with dairy-free yogurt or with coconut milk (I’d use the cream on top of a refrigerated can) but I’m sure either of those options will work. Let me know how it goes if you try!
chandni says
Hi Ashley!
I simply love this dish. However, my husband is vegetarian. If I want to make the same dish and just replace chicken with paneer , what changes do I need to make in the recipe? Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Chandni, I haven’t tried a vegetarian version of this so I’m not sure – but I think I would probably make a version with vegetables, pressure cook them with a reduced cook time (maybe 3 mins if using potatoes), and then stir in paneer at the end and just cook until heated through. Let me know what you decide to do!
Deepshikha says
Hi, which onions do you recommend for this recipe? Yellow, white, pink?
Also what can be a substitute for serrano pepper and cayenne pepper, are they essential for the taste?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Deepshikha, you can use any onions you’d like – I usually use yellow onions when making this but white or red will work just fine too. As for the serrano and cayenne – those ingredients add heat to the dish. You can use a different green chili, like jalapeno or bird’s eye if you prefer.
Deepshikha says
Thanks Ashley!
Tas says
Hello- how to I edit the time if I use a whole cut up chicken?
Tazmania says
Hello- This looks good and looking forward to making it tonight. I’m a new IP user so was wondering how to adjust this for whole cut up chicken. Would sauteeing the chicken pieces first with ginger and garlic in oil work before adding the the blended ingredients? Also how do you adjust cook times for whole cut up chicken?
Jayesh says
I love how this recipe reads. am trying this recipe right now. 1.5 cups of liquid seems way too low for a 6 qt ip. Do you make your recipes on a smaller IP. That could be one reason why people are getting burn notice? I have put nearly 1+ cup of water. I can always boil it off after adding the almond flour
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Jayesh! I use a 6 qt to test all of the recipes on my blog. I’m not sure why some people get the burn notice – it could be they’re using breasts instead of thighs which have more fat to them or maybe they’re using greek yogurt which has less water? I’ve tested this several times (as I do all recipes) and haven’t had this issue but I have heard that some newer pots run hotter, so I’m just not sure. If you try, let me know how it goes!
Jennifer Jordan says
Hi Ashley, Could you please tell me what kind of yogurt this recipe needs? I usually have fat free Greek yogurt around, but do I need to use a yogurt with more fat? Thanks. 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Hi Jennifer, this recipe calls for plain whole-milk yogurt – thank you so much for asking, I’ve updated the post!
Pooja says
For starters I’m going to say, I love your website and it’s been my go to ever since I bought an instant pot, which was only a couple of months ago.
Thus far all the recipes I have tried have been huge successes with my family.
For this one, and maybe I did something wrong, the BURN sign showed up on the IP a couple minutes after preheating was complete. I had to undo the lid and scrape out the bottom and had no idea how to proceed from there (new user error!)
May be a good idea to add a note at the bottom on how to handle if this happens and include a write up on the workaround.
Thank you
My Heart Beets says
Hi Pooja, aw man, that’s a bummer! Just a couple questions to help troubleshoot – did you use chicken breast instead of thighs by any chance? Did the pot seem to seal properly? Any other substitutions or changes? Hopefully, we can figure this out!
Abha says
Hey Ashley,
Can we use cubed chicken from the start? Would that affect the cooking time?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Abha, I’m sure you can cube the chicken thighs first – I would still keep the cook time the same. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Karl says
I love these ” add everything to a blender” recipes, makes cooking a beautiful curry from scratch a breeze. Thanks
My Heart Beets says
Karl, happy to hear that! Glad you’re liking them 🙂
Bindi says
Hi Ashley! Do you think I can make this with some form of coconut as a substitute for almond flour and/or yogurt? My mother-in-law makes a badami chicken that sounds so similar to this, but I know she uses coconut shavings and/or coconut milk for it. Just curious if you think it would work. Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Bindi, you can try substituting coconut milk for yogurt – I’m sure that’ll taste great. I wouldn’t skip the almond flour though – that’s what thickens the sauce and also what gives it that badami/almond flavor. Let me know what you think of this if you give it a try 🙂
Rashmi Bhandarkar MacPhee says
This is SOOOO delicious and will definitely be a staple in our house!!!
My Heart Beets says
Rashmi, I’m so glad you liked the murgh badami! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
J says
What would you recommend if I don’t have almond flour?
My Heart Beets says
You can use cashew flour 🙂
Muna says
Hi Ashley
Is there a simple way to adapt this to a stove top recipe?
Erina says
Hi Ashley,
Is there a substitute for almonds? My 4 yr old is allergic to all nuts so we try not to use it at home.
My Heart Beets says
Hi Erina, you can use cashews instead 🙂
SR says
Thank you for the delicious recipe! I made this for my toddler so with minimum spice but it was so flavorful that we also enjoyed it! Will absolutely make it again.
My Heart Beets says
That’s so great to hear! Thank you for letting me know how much your family enjoyed this 🙂
Kelly says
Is there a equal way to cook this, if I don’t own a pressure cooker?
Rashmi Bhandarkar MacPhee says
This was so delicious and so awesome to just throw everything into the blender and instant pot and walk away! My husband said to put this on the regular rotation, and my kids loved it, too!
I used 1c of almond milk instead of yogurt (as I’m dairy free), yum!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Rashmi, I’m so glad your family liked this dish! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂 Great to know about the almond milk sub!
Rebecca says
Made this tonight – So. Good.
Also had the same issue as Jenita, although a little pressure release and it settled out. I usually go heavy on the spices on your recipes, and this one was no different, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly minus the Serrano.
Either way, this is in the mix now. Absolutely fantastic.
My Heart Beets says
Rebecca, that’s really good to know, thank you! I wonder if the extra spices made it thicker? I can’t imagine by much though… I’ll test it again with an extra tablespoon or two of water. I really appreciate the feedback!
Rebecca says
It wasn’t that much more so it shouldn’t have – just heavy teaspoons and the like. Same ting tends to happen with your butter chicken 🤷♀️ Doesn’t stop me from making it though – I just add a little extra liquid.
My Heart Beets says
Hi Rebecca, just wanted to say thanks for the feedback! I figured out a way to keep the burn sign from coming up – I’ve updated the directions so that all of the almond flour is added at the end. Just wanted to let you know 🙂
Jenita says
I made this for dinner tonight. Was delicious and super easy to make. I got the burn signal though just as the IP reached pressure point, so I had to open the lid, I poured another 1/4th cup of water, deglazed the bottom and put the lid back on. No issues after that. Served it with porotta. Kids loved it. Another keeper for busy nights
My Heart Beets says
Hi Jenita! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 I’m wondering why the burn sign came up – do you mind letting me know if you made any changes to the recipe? Added all the nut flour at once or used chicken breast for example? Hoping to figure out a solution!
Jenita says
Ashley, I followed the recipe to a T, no changes in quantity or spices. Maybe I should have poured a little bit of oil at the bottom of the insert before putting the chicken and pouring everything else on top. I put the chicken pieces first, then poured the blended stuff on top and mixed. Or maybe I should have poured the liquid in to the insert first and then added the chicken and mixed it.
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Jenita! You did everything right! I’m going to test this again tomorrow using a bit more water – I haven’t had this happen to me but I think a bit more water will help without diluting the flavor. I really appreciate the feedback 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Hi Jenita, I’ve figured out a way to keep the burn sign from coming up – I’ve updated the directions so that all of the almond flour is added at the end. Thanks so much for your feedback!
Jenita says
thank you, Ashley. I will try this again soon!! thank you for retesting.
Feroza says
The same thing happened to me. But I used chicken breasts. I had no thighs. I just opened it up and stirred the bottom. Didn’t add any more water. Figured just stirring it would help.