Chicken & Chickpea Tikka Masala

This recipe is (modified) from Urvashi Pitre’s Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, which I highly recommend if you have an Instant Pot and like Indian food. Lots of great recipes. This particular recipe was one of the favorites on Urvashi’s blog which became popular enough that she wrote a cookbook. It has a lot of ingredients but is very worth it! Tyler’s modifications are to use more like 1 pound vs the 1.5 pounds chicken she uses, and add 1-2 cans (drained) chickpeas at the end, sometimes some chopped fresh spinach at the end too.

• For the marinade:
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garam masala

• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)- 1 - 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs

• For the sauce:
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes (undrained)- 1 carrot, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper- (continued on next page)
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika- 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons garam masala- 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• For finishing:
• 1/2 cup half and half, heavy cream, or full fat coconut milk- 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1-2 cans chickpeas, drained (optional)
• Fresh spinach, chopped (optional)
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Mix together all of the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Marinade the chicken for 1-2 hours.

When ready to cook the chicken, add all of the ingredients for the sauce into the Instant Pot. Place the chicken with the yogurt on top of the sauce ingredients. Lock the lid in place. Select Manual and adjust the pressure to High. Cook for 10 minutes. When cooking is complete, use the quick method to release the pressure.

Unlock and remove the lid. Remove the chicken and set it aside. (If you like, you can brown it under the broiler at this point.) Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce well. Add the half and half, garam masala, chickpeas, and spinach, and stir well. Put the chicken back in the sauce. Garnish with cilantro for serving.