Tandoori Chicken + Potato Curry:
This is a two-for-one recipe. That’s right. You came here for tandoori chicken, but you’re leaving with tandoori chicken AND potato curry (made with chicken drippings + my onion masala). This is an entire meal in a pot. That means you have literally one pot to wash/put in the dishwasher at the end of the night. Crazy.
How to Make Whole Tandoori Chicken:
You’re going to go out and buy a whole chicken – a small one, like 4 pounds. You’ll then marinate the chicken (preferably overnight) in the most flavorful tandoori sauce (seriously, this recipe is the best… said the very biased but also very honest food blogger 🙋🏽♀️). You’ll put the chicken in the instant pot and cook it until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. Then you’ll remove the chicken and let it rest for a few minutes. Why rest? So it retains its juices and stays… well, juicy. While the chicken rests… you’ll toss some of my magic onion masala and some potatoes into the instant pot with the chicken drippings and cook for 4 more minutes. The result? A tandoori spiced potato curry that might just be the best potato curry you’ve ever had in your entire life.
Cooking Whole Chicken in an Instant Pot vs. Oven:
Is pressure cooking chicken better than roasting chicken in an oven? Yes, pressure cooking results in a tastier chicken (cue: bickering). Here’s the thing. The oven can dry out the breast meat. You also have to watch the chicken more carefully, tent the meat, make sure the wings don’t burn. Oven-roasted chicken is just a little more high maintenance. The instant pot is fuss-free. Pressure cooking a whole chicken somehow results in perfectly cooked white and dark meat. That said. If you have an actual tandoor in your house, you’re probably some sort of expert chef/cooking whiz. In which case… I’m kind of honored that you’re even reading my blog. If you have a tandoor and know what you’re doing, then use that. But if you’re like most of us and are debating between cooking a chicken in a regular oven or an instant pot… Just trust the instant pot. And trust me.
What’s Tandoori Chicken? How is this Tandoori Chicken Recipe Different?
I probably should have started with this. But I’m guessing you already have a general idea, especially if you’re searching for an instant pot tandoori chicken recipe. How do I explain the wonderfulness of tandoori chicken in just a few words? Perfectly cooked tandoori chicken is fall-apart tender. It’s full of flavor. To make tandoori chicken, you first need to marinate the meat in a mixture of yogurt and spices. This helps tenderize and flavor the meat. Speaking of spices…. spices are sort of my specialty. I know there are many pre-made tandoori spice blends on the market, but I hope you’ll try my recipe as written. I put a lot of thought into the spices that I use, and I tweak them until I get the flavor just right. That’s why you almost always see me listing out individual spices in my recipes (see: Chana Masala, Sambar). Restaurants usually add red food coloring to tandoori chicken. I don’t. Instead, I use a good amount of paprika and some cayenne. You can use Kashmiri red chili (for color/not spicy) and red chili (spicy) if you’d like. Also, traditionally you’re supposed to remove the skin before making tandoori chicken, but you really don’t need to do that with this recipe… like please don’t. That’s so much work and defeats the purpose of using my simple recipe.
WATCH HOW EASY IT IS TO THIS CHICKEN AND POTATO CURRY!
(for the full recipe, see the recipe card below 😋)
What’s up with Mustard Oil?
My recipe calls for mustard oil, which adds a pungent wasabi-esque, horseradish-like flavor to this chicken. If you can’t find mustard oil, you can use another type of oil. It’ll still be good… just not quite as good. If you’re not familiar with mustard oil, you should know that in the US, mustard oil is normally sold with a warning that says “for external use only.” Despite this warning, many Indian folks cook with this type of oil. If you’re buying this from your local Indian store – just ask the owner/employee there if it’s a brand they suggest cooking with. I have opinions about this FDA-required label but I’m just a food blogger and not really interested in getting in trouble with the government so I’ll keep my mouth shut. I would suggest reading this interesting article from the NY Times.
How Long do I Cook the Chicken?
So there are “rules” and then there’s what I do… Whenever I buy a whole chicken, it’s usually in the 3.5 pound to the 4.5-pound range. I set the time (on my 6 quart) to 30 minutes with a 15-minute natural release, and it always turns out perfectly tender – sometimes, it literally falls off the bone in the pot. The general rule is to pressure cook a whole chicken for 6 minutes per pound of meat. Whenever I follow the rule, though, I feel like the meat isn’t quite as soft and doesn’t fall apart the way I prefer. I feel like someone needs to change this rule to at least 7 minutes. Or forget the math and make it a total of 30 minutes. This meal is impressive enough to serve over the holidays or for a special occasion and easy enough to make on a weeknight. You can serve this with pea pulao (pictured) or jeera rice or plain basmati rice as well as raita (give my beet raita a try for something festive/colorful). I’m so excited for you to make this. I can’t wait to hear what you think of the tandoori chicken and tandoori potato curry recipes! Like this recipe? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board now so you will remember to make it later!
