Here I am with another recipe from my favorite Chettinad cuisine, Instant pot Chettinad Chicken Curry. I’m sure you can’t stop eating this curry. Hope you will try this.

Chettinad Cuisine
Chettinad Cuisine is the most renowned and popular cuisine of Tamil Nadu, South India. It uses a variety of spices and the dishes are made from ground masalas. Most of the dishes are had along with rice or rice-based dishes like Idli/ Dosa, Appam, Paniyaram, Idiyappam/ String hoppers. Chettinad cuisine offers a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. The spices mostly used in this cuisine are,
- Star aniseed
- Peppercorn
- Fennel seeds
- Fenugreek seeds
- Chili
- Cumin seeds
- Cloves
- Cardamom
- Cinnamon
- Bay leaf

Chettinad Chicken Curry
I have already tried Chettinad Egg curry and I loved it to the core. So this time I made this Chicken curry and the flavors are the best. This Chicken curry tastes best with rice, chapati, or paratha. If you don’t want the curry spicy, try using Kashmiri dry red chili in the place of normal ones. The Kashmiri chilies give you a nice bright red color but less heat.

How to make Chettinad chicken in Instant Pot?
Making this Chettinad chicken curry in Instant Pot makes the whole process a lot easier. You don’t have to keep stirring the curry and you don’t have to keep on checking if the chicken is cooked.
The whole spices roasted till aromatic and then add grated coconut. Grind it coarsely with a small amount of water. In an Instant Pot, heat oil and add bay leaf, then onion and tomato. Saute it. Then add the ground coconut masala paste and chicken. Mix the chicken thoroughly in the masala and then add the required water and salt. Close the Instant Pot with the lid and press the poultry button or press the manual button and press cook time for 15 minutes. When the curry is ready, serve it with roti, chapati, or rice.
A short video to make Chettinad Chicken Curry
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Can I make this curry on the stovetop?
Yes, of course, you can cook this on the stovetop. Use the thick-bottomed deep pan to cook this chicken curry. Once you add the chicken, let it cook in its own water. Add water only if it is required. Keep stirring at regular intervals, so the chicken gets cooked evenly.

Can I make this vegan?
If you don’t want to use chicken, you can use Mushroom.
Shhhh secret cooking challenge.
This Chicken Chettinad is my contribution to the Shhh Secret cooking challenge FB group. This month’s theme was cuisine from Tamil Nadu where I was paired with fellow blogger Sasmita. She gave me two secret ingredients, Fennel seeds, and coconut. With those ingredients, I made this delicious curry. I gave her potato and onion and she made delicious paniyaram.
If you like this chicken curry, you may also like
2 in 1 Mom in-laws chicken curry
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Recipe to make Instant Pot Chettinad Chicken Curry
Ingredients
Chicken – ½ Lb
Onion – ½ Cup – chopped
Tomato – 2 Medium-sized chopped
Bay leaf – 1
Curry leaves – few
Salt – As required
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Cilantro – few
Oil – 2 tsp
To roast and grind
Cinnamon stick – ½ inch
Cloves – 2
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Coriander seeds – 2 tbsp
Poppy seeds – ½ tsp
Ginger – 1-inch piece 9 cleaned and chopped)
Garlic – 3 pods
Dry red chili – 3
Coconut – ½ cup grated ( I used frozen)
Method
- Clean and cut the chicken into small cubes. Add turmeric powder and mix thoroughly. Keep aside.
- In a heavy-bottomed pan, add 1 tsp of oil. Add all ingredients except coconut under the title ‘to roast and grind’. Gently saute it till a nice aroma arises.
- Then add grated coconut and saute till it turns golden.
- Switch off the heat and let the mixture cool down.
- Once cooled down, grind the coconut mixture to a coarse paste with a little amount of water.
- Switch on Instant Pot. Add another tsp of oil.
- When it is hot, add a bay leaf.
- Then add chopped onions and curry leaves.
- Saute till it turns translucent.
- Add chopped tomatoes. Mix it. Let it cook for 2 minutes.
- Then add the ground coconut paste and mix thoroughly.
- Add the chicken cubes and mix with the coconut paste. Let the masala nicely get coated in the chicken.
- Then add the required water and salt. Check for the spiciness. If it is low, you can add pepper powder or red chili powder.
- Close the lid. Press the manual button and then set cook time to 15 minutes.
- Once cooked, let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and add chopped cilantro leaves.
- Serve.












Notes
- You can roast the whole spices in the Instant Pot itself instead of using the pan.
- If you don’t want too much spicy curry, instead of normal dry red chili, use Kashmiri red chili. It gives a nice red color but it is less spicy.
Instant pot Chettinad Chicken curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 Lb Chicken Cubed
- 1/2 Cup Onion Sliced
- 2 Tomatoes Medium-sized chopped
- 1 Bay leaf
- Curry leaves few
- Salt As required
- 1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder
- Cilantro/Coriander Leaves few
- 2 Tsp Oil
- 1 Cup Water
To roast and grind
- 1/2 Inch Cinnamon Stick
- 2 Cloves
- 1 Tsp Fennel Seeds
- 2 Tbsp Coriander seeds
- 1/2 Tsp Poppy seeds
- 1 Inch Ginger Cleaned and chopped
- 3 pods Garlic
- 3 Dry Red chili
- 1/2 Cup Grated coconut I used frozen
Instructions
- Clean and cut the chicken into small cubes. Add turmeric powder and mix thoroughly. Keep aside.
- In a heavy-bottomed pan, add 1 tsp of oil. Add all ingredients except coconut under the title ‘to roast and grind’. Gently saute it till nice aroma arises.
- Then add grated coconut and saute till it turns golden.
- Switch off the heat and let the mixture cool down.
- Once cooled down, grind the coconut mixture to a coarse paste with a little amount of water.
- Switch on Instant pot. Add another tsp of oil.
- When it is hot, add a bay leaf.
- Then add chopped onions and curry leaves.
- Saute till it turns translucent.
- Add chopped tomatoes. Mix it. Let it cook for 2 minutes.
- Then add the ground coconut paste and mix thoroughly.
- Add the chicken cubes and mix with the coconut paste. Let the masala nicely gets coated in the chicken.
- Then add a cup of water and salt. Check for the spiciness. If it is low, you can add pepper powder or red chili powder.
- Close the lid. Press the manual button and then set cook time to 15 minutes.
- Once cooked, let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and add chopped cilantro leaves.Serve.
Video
Notes
- You can roast the whole spices in the Instant pot itself instead of using the pan.
- If you don’t want too much spicy curry, instead of normal dry red chili, use kashmiri red chili. It gives nice red color but it is less spicy.
Pin Instant Pot Chettinad Chicken Curry





So true, the combin ation of chettinad spices makes it absolutely unique. i love chettind cuisine, Waht do you suggest i can try in the vegetarian version?
Thank you
I love chettinad chicken for its flavors. Yours looks too tempting and flavorful. Using Instant Pot makes it so easy and breezy.
Thank you
This looks so delicious, love all the spice flavours that you have used. Would love to try it with some veggies in it.
Thank you
Such a flavourful curry..must try the vegan version.
Thank you
Chicken curry looks so rich, spicy and mouthwatering. Loved this aromatic curry. I would love to have it with hot steamed rice. Next time I will use your chettinad masala.
Thank you
Chettinad curry is what we order on a regular basis in restaurants. We absolutely love the gravy.
Beautifully made n presented. The gravy has me craving for some chettinad food. Looks like we are going out soon.
Thank you so much
Lathi – IP seems to be a magic gadget to have in that kitchen. that curry looks good… must have been fragrant and delicious 🙂
Thank you
Seriously feel like having with hot and fluffy Idlis now… I love Chettinad cuisine as it has lots of flavours in each and every dish. Book marking your recipe.. Planning to buy instant pot soon, will try sometime.
Thank you so much.
I shall definitely share this recipe with my chicken and mushroom loving friends
.I am sure they are going to love this recipe. Being a veggie and also allergic to mushrooms , sadly I cannot try this recipe in my kitchen .
You can still try this curry using potatoes and cauliflower. Thank you
We love chettinad cuisine due to the array of spices it uses. This chicken curry would surely be loved by my family. Looks super delicious and flavourful.
Thank you
Such a flavorful dish Lathiya as you’ve used so many spices and all freshly ground. I love your suggestion of replacing chicken with mushrooms to make this Chettinad Curry.
Thank you
Heard alot about this popular recipe, yours looks amazing. Love all the spices used in it, as a veggie like to try it as vegetarian version as I loved the spices you used.
Absolutely, you can use mushroom instead of chicken. Thank you
I love the Chettinad chicken curry with hot dosai! Thanks for sharing, I will try making it in my Nutripot, Im sure the chicken will cook soft and falling off the bones!
Thank you
Love the flavours in this Chettinad chicken curry, freshly ground masala makes it more flavourful!! making it in Instant pot makes it a lot easier.. looks so inviting!!
Thank you
The chicken curry looks absolutely scrumptious ! Best part is that you have made it in an insta top. Loved your short crisp video.
Thank you so much dear