Instant Pot Indian Butter Chicken: Leaning into vulnerability

When you sit down face-to-face with someone at the table for a meal, it invites familiarity and intimacy. In our busy world where connection often happens in quick texts or over social media, time connecting at the table is rare. It takes vulnerability to invite someone into your space, to prepare food and go deeper in conversation.

Author Brene Brown says, “You can’t get to courage without walking through vulnerability.”

I know I have gained courage through times at the table being vulnerable with dear friends. That’s why I’m passionate about fostering community through food.

For the last few months, my go-to dish has been Indian Butter Chicken. It’s a personal favorite I’ve been trying to perfect for years. Every time I go to an Indian restaurant I have to order the Butter Chicken. It’s tradition.

My sister-in-law gave me an Instant Pot for Christmas, and I’m basically obsessed with trying out all the new recipes. Dishes that typically take hours of braising and stewing can be served up in 30 minutes or less. I read several recipes by Indian chefs who actually departed from the traditional, more time-consuming method of making Butter Chicken to use the Instant Pot.

I’ve been tinkering for several weeks, and I finally settled on the following mix of ingredients. What I love about this Butter Chicken recipe is it tastes like it’s been marinating for days. The chicken is tender and the spices are robust with each bite.

Butter Chicken holds a kind of magic for me. I have many memories sharing this meal with friends in different contexts.

I sat at my friend’s dining room table one night this winter and cried my eyes out over our Butter Chicken and naan takeout. I meet every few months with this group of friends over Indian food. When I’m with them, I feel the freedom to grieve, to question, to philosophize and to dream. They infuse me regularly with courage as I watch them navigate hard things too.

I recently sat in a local Indian restaurant with a new friend eating Butter Chicken and other Indian delights from their lunch buffet. We realized three hours later, when alarms sounded to pick up kids from school, that we had gone deep in conversation over that meal. I’ve only known her a short time, but I felt the connection. Once again, it happened over food.

This past Sunday, we invited a couple and their two kiddos to our table for Butter Chicken spooned over rice pilau. My husband and I have known them for years with lots of threads tying our lives together. It was fun to catch up. By God’s grace, both our families are navigating marriage and parenting in this season. We swapped birth stories and parenting advice, savored memories and laughter together. I loved the reminder that trust and friendship are often cultivated at the table.

I hope you will try out this new recipe and be intentional about inviting someone to your table today. Lean in to the vulnerability. Fill your plates and fill your souls.

Indian Butter Chicken {for your Instant Pot}

This recipe holds a kind of magic for me. I have many memories sharing this meal with friends in different contexts. We’ve adapted it to make at home in the Instant Pot, but it’s also my favorite thing to order at Indian restaurants. The tomato-cream sauce is so delicious you might want to lick your plate! 

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) *We buy ours at Trader Joe’s, but you can find it other places too. You may also substitute unsalted butter if you want.

1 large yellow onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced *You can also buy ginger in a jar like we did.

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 teaspoons turmeric

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons garam masala

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust according to how spicy you like it)

5 roma tomatoes, chopped or 1 29-ounce can organic diced tomatoes

Garnish: fenugreek or mint leaves

DIRECTIONS

1. Turn your Instant Pot to the sauté feature. Add ghee, onions, garlic, ginger and salt.
2. Sauté until translucent and fragrant.
3. Stir in spices: turmeric, paprika, garam masala, and cayenne.
4. Add tomatoes and tomato paste.
5. Stir in chicken thighs.
6. Cancel the Sauté setting and then press Manual. Set for 8 minutes and lock lid. Make sure the Instant Pot is on “sealing.”
7. When the 8 minutes is complete, switch from “sealing” mode to “venting” mode for quick release.
8. Stir in heavy cream and let rest 10 minutes before serving so the sauce will thicken. 
9. Serve over basmati rice or with naan bread. Garnish with cilantro or fenugreek leaves.

*If you don’t have an Instant pot, you can saute the vegetables, spices and chicken in a large saucepan.