Whole chicken pressure cooked in the Instant Pot & then pan-fried, along with an amazing gravy…
For special occasions, I love to cook whole chicken & it will make a showstopper dish. For New year’s eve dinner, I made this whole chicken along with a delicious gravy & ghee rice.
I always marinate the whole chicken with a special homemade marinade & allow it to marinate overnight, the next day it will be pressure cooked in the Instant Pot. After pressure cooking, I also pan-fried the whole chicken which will make the chicken really delicious with a crisp outside.
With the chicken broth that’s left in the pot after pressure cooking the whole chicken, I made a finger-licking delicious gravy. I must say I enjoyed the gravy more than the chicken I was seen literally drinking it.
Give this recipe a try, perfect for special occasions & everyone will love it.
Instant Pot pressure cooked & pan-fried whole chicken
Onion-tomato-cashew nut gravy
Ghee Rice cooked in the Instant Pot, click here for recipe
Bang Bang shrimp recipe, click here
Instant Pot Whole Chicken- Pressure Cooked & Fried | With Delicious Gravy
Cook time
Total time
Author: Thasneen
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- Whole chicken, skinned- 1.5 kg or 3 lbs
For making marinade
- Kashmiri chili powder- ½ tbsp
- Regular chili powder- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp
- Garam masala- 1 tsp
- Chaat masala- 1 tsp (optional)
- Salt- 2 tsp
- Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
- Oil- 1 tbsp
- Water- 2 tbsp
For pan-frying chicken
- Coconut oil- ½ cup
- Curry leaves- 10 leaves
- Garlic, sliced- 3 cloves
- Ginger, sliced- 2-inch sliced
- Green chilies, halved- 3 or 4
For making gravy
- Oil left after frying chicken- 3 tbsp
- Onions, chopped- 2, large sized
- Ginger-garlic paste- ½ tbsp
- Tomatoes, chopped- 2
- Kashmiri chili powder- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder- ⅛ tsp
- Coriander powder- 2 tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp
- Garam masala- ½ tsp
- Salt- ½ tsp
- Poppy seeds- ½ tbsp (optional)
- Cashew nuts- ½ cup
- Chicken broth
Instructions
- I've taken 1.5 kg or 3 lbs of whole chicken, remove the skin & rinse it under running water.
- Using a sharp knife score the chicken or add lines over the meat.
- In a bowl add all the ingredients mentioned 'for making the marinade', combine well to a smooth thick paste.
- If you don't have chaat masala, can be skipped.
- Spread the marinade all over the chicken & inside as well.
- Place the chicken in a large bowl, cover with a cling wrap & keep it in the refrigerator & let marinate overnight.
- Or allow it to marinate for at least 3 to 4 hours.
- I pressure cooked the chicken in the Instant Pot. If you don't have an Instant Pot, use a regular pressure cooker.
- Place the marinated whole chicken into the stainless steel pot.
- Add ½ cup water to the bowl used for marinating the chicken, there will be some marinade stuck to the bowl, mix well & add the water to the pot.
- Close the pot with the lid.
- Select pressure cook, time 10 minutes at high pressure.
- After 10 minutes, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes & then do a quick pressure release.
- Open the lid, the whole chicken will be cooked perfectly.
- There will be some liquid left in the pot, that's the flavorful chicken broth. Save the liquid, we will add this while making the gravy.
- I find if the chicken is pressure cooked for 15 minutes, the meat will fall apart. 10 minutes high-pressure cooking is the perfect time.
- After pressure-cooking the chicken, I'm going to pan-fry the chicken, which will make the chicken really delicious.
- Place a large wok over medium heat, add ½ cup coconut oil.
- Place the pressure-cooked whole chicken over the oil. Use 2 wooden spatulas to take the chicken out of the pot.
- Don't add the liquid to the oil.
- Add curry leaves & let the bottom side turn golden brown.
- Flip the chicken over & let the other side pan fry till golden brown.
- Flip over a few times & let all the sides pan fry well.
- Towards the end of pan frying, add the garlic, ginger & green chilies to the oil & fry them.
- Transfer the pan-fried whole chicken to a plate.
- Fry the ginger, garlic & green chilies till they turn golden brown in color.
- Transfer to a paper towel.
- While serving, garnish the fried garlic, ginger, green chilies & curry leaves over the whole chicken.
- Drizzle ½ tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice over the chicken.
Making the gravy
- Place a large saucepan over medium heat, add the oil left after frying the chicken around 3 tbsp.
- Add onions, season with ½ tsp salt, saute for 2 minutes.
- Add ginger-garlic paste, saute till onions turn light golden in color.
- Add tomatoes, cook till tomatoes have mashed up.
- Add all the spices- chili, turmeric, coriander, fennel powder & garam masala.
- Combine well, cook for 2 minutes.
- Add poppy seeds & cashew nuts, combine well & cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth- liquid left in the pot after pressure cooking the whole chicken, combine well & cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat, let cool down a bit.
- Add the mixture to a blender jar & puree till smooth.
- Transfer the gravy to a bowl.
- While serving, pour the gravy over the chicken & enjoy.
- Absolutely delicious whole chicken with an amazing gravy.
- I also served ghee rice that's cooked in the Instant Pot, check out the recipe.
