EASY Chettinad Chicken in Instant Pot

Name: EASY Chettinad Chicken in Instant Pot
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 lb chicken drumstick; ¼ cup coconut oil ((can be replaced with any cooking oil)); 1 large onion (finely chopped); 2 large tomatoes (finely chopped); ½ teaspoon turmeric powder; 1 teaspoon chili powder; 1 sprig curry leaves; Salt (to taste); ½ lemon (or lime); 2 tbsp cilantro; 1 cup water; 2 teaspoon poppy seeds; ½ cup coconut (dried or desiccated); 2 tsp garam masala; 2 inch ginger; 3 cloves garlic; ½ cup water

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Chettinad chicken is a unique and flavorful chicken curry made with spices, coconut, and poppy seeds. This EASY recipe simplifies the cooking process yet retains the authentic taste. This curry pairs well with both steamed rice and roti.

Chettinad chicken step-by-step recipe with video and photos.

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About Chettinad Cuisine
About this recipe
Ingredients
Step-by-step instructions
Useful tips
FAQs
Bonus
Recipe card

About Chettinad Cuisine

Chettinad cuisine is from the community called the Chettiars from the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu state in South India. It is one of the most popular Indian cuisine and the most renowned fare in the Tamil Nadu repertoire. It uses a variety of spices and the dishes are made with fresh ground masalas.

Chettiars also use a variety of sun-dried meats and salted vegetables, reflecting the dry environment of the region. Most of the dishes are eaten with rice and rice-based dishes such as dosas, appams, idiyappams, adais, and idlis. The cuisine is well known for its complexity of flavors. It is said that the cuisine is influenced by food from Burma, Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, and Vietnam.

About this recipe

Chicken Chettinad is one of the most renowned dishes from this region. This unique dish gets its rich flavor from spices. The use of poppy seeds and coconut elevates the mouth-watering taste. Though this dish looks pretty similar to a North Indian chicken curry, the taste and flavor are quite different.

The usage of curry leaves, coconut, and lemon give this dish a unique flavor profile. This dish is a perfect marriage of South Indian and North Indian flavors. Serve this with rice or roti for a mouth-watering meal.

Traditionally, whole spices along with poppy seeds and dried coconut are roasted and ground into a smooth paste, which forms the masala base. In my easy version of chicken Chettinad, I am replacing the whole spices with garam masala. This simplifies the cooking but retains the taste of authentic curry.

Read on for ingredients, step-by-step instructions, and useful tips to make this delicious Chettinad-style curry.

Ingredients

Chicken: Use bone-in skinless chicken pieces.

Coconut oil: I use coconut oil to make this dish but you may replace it with any cooking oil of your choice.

Onion, ginger, and garlic: Use red/pink onions where possible and not white or brown onions.

Tomatoes: I use fresh tomatoes but you may replace them with tomato puree.

Spices: I use garam masala, poppy seeds, turmeric powder, and chili powder.

Other ingredients: Grated coconut, curry leaves, coriander leaves, and lemon juice goes into making this dish.

Step-by-step instructions

Grind together poppy seeds, coconut, garam masala, ginger, and garlic using ½ cup of water (steps 1,2).

Set the Instant Pot to saute mode and add coconut oil. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, until the onion beings to brown (step 3).

Next, add curry leaves and saute for a few seconds. Then, add the ground paste, chili powder, and turmeric powder (step 4).

Saute the masala for 2-3 minutes (step 5). Add tomatoes, salt, and chicken (steps 6,7).

Mix well and saute for 4-5 minutes (step 8).

Add 1 cup of water and deglaze the pot (step 9). Secure the IP lid and set it to Pressure Cook mode for 10 minutes (step 10).

Do a natural release of pressure for 10 minutes, then do a quick release. Add lemon/lime juice and cilantro (steps 11,12).

Useful tips

I am using garam masala in this dish to simplify the process. You may instead use whole spices i.e. coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and dried red chili. If you use whole spices, make sure to dry roast them for a few minutes and then grind them.

Adjust the chili as per your preference.

Saute the chicken for 5 minutes before adding water and pressure cooking. This will help seal the juices, making the curry very flavorful.

I used chicken drumsticks and pressure-cooked it for 10 minutes. If you use bone-in thigh, reduce the pressure cooking time to 5 minutes.

Use this recipe and replace chicken with potatoes or other veggies of your choice to make Chettinad vegetable curry. Adjust the cooking time of vegetables (you can refer to this Instant Pot vegetable korma as a guide for the cooking time). This recipe also works well with turkey, although keep in mind that the cooking times may vary.

Also, try this easy shrimp coconut curry made in Instant Pot. Or click here to see how to make methi chicken in Instant Pot. Here is my collection of chicken recipes.

FAQs

What is Chettinad cuisine?

Chettinad cuisine is from the community called the Chettiars from the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu state in South India. It uses a variety of spices and the dishes are made with fresh ground masalas. Chettiars also use a variety of sun-dried meats and salted vegetables, reflecting the dry environment of the region. Most of the dishes are eaten with rice and rice-based dishes such as dosas, appams, idiyappams, adais, and idlis. The cuisine is well known for its complexity of flavors.

What whole spices are used in Chettinad-style masala?

The most common spices used are coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and dried red chili. These are roasted and ground along with coconut, poppy seeds, ginger, and garlic to make the masala base.

Bonus

This dish is:
- very easy to make,
- delicious, flavourful, and spicy,
- a good change from regular chicken curry.

chettinad chicken served with basmati rice.

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