Instant Pot Thai Chicken Curry
Try this Instant Pot Thai Chicken Curry recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Instant Pot Thai Chicken Curry recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 large carrot sliced
- 1 large brown onion roughly chopped
- 1 thumb-size piece of ginger diced roughly
- 1 small red chilli seeds out and diced (see notes)
- 1.3 lb / 600 g chicken thighs or breast (diced into bite-
- 1/4 cup mild curry powder
- 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro/coriander stalks (save the lea
- 3 cloves garlic diced
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or grated palm sugar (see notes for
- 1 + 1/2 cup coconut milk (see notes)
- 4 oz. / 120 g fine green beans halved
- 1-2 cups broccoli florets
- Carbohydrate 11.3579500119112 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 4.41435000238673 g
- Fiber 3.46700004166699 g
- Protein 2.63400000480105 g
- Saturated Fat 3.10514750038733 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (264g)
- Sodium 1396.64250400294 mg
- Sugar 7.89094997024423 g
- Trans Fat 0.497457500598579 g
- Calories 87 calories
Step-by-step
- Turn the pressure cooker on. It should display OFF. Press Sauté function key (it will show Normal, 30 minutes). The Instant Pot will beep 3 times to let you know it’s ready to cook. Let it heat up while you dice the onion, ginger and chilli.
- Add coconut oil to the pot, followed by the onion, ginger and chilli. Stir through and cook for a minute or two, while you cut up the chicken meat.
- Add the chicken to the pot and stir through. Cook for 5 minutes on Sauté, stirring a couple of times. In the meantime, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the curry powder, cilantro, garlic, fish sauce and sugar to the pot and stir through; then follow with the coconut milk.
- Finally, add the vegetables and lime juice, stir and turn the Sauté off by pressing the Keep Warm/Cancel button.
- Close and lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Check that the the lid knob is turned to Sealing. Change the setting to Manual (High Pressure) and set to 7 minutes. Wait for 3 beeps and walk away.
- Once the timer is up, let the pressure release naturally or use a quick release method, and open the lid.
- Top with fresh cilantro/coriander leaves and serve with white rice or cauliflower rice on the side. I suggest extra lime on the side.
Swapping dried spices for freshly ground aromatics fundamentally alters the aromatic profile of this curry, shifting the dish from flatly medicinal to intensely fragrant. Cooking curry powder directly in coconut oil for sixty seconds before adding liquids blooms the fat-soluble compounds, unlocking depth that raw boiling misses completely. Sautéing the diced onions, ginger, and chili until translucent creates the foundational savory base required for balance.
The Impact of Fresh Versus Preserved Elements
Fresh ginger and garlic contain active enzymes and volatile oils that degrade rapidly once minced or jarred. Utilizing fresh thumb-sized pieces of ginger and whole cloves yields sharper, cleaner notes than pre-chopped alternatives. Fresh lime juice added at the pressurization stage brightens the heavy coconut milk, whereas bottled lime juice introduces a metallic, preservative-heavy bitterness. Green beans and broccoli demand careful timing; vegetables processed under high pressure for more than five minutes lose cellular structure entirely, turning khaki and mushy. Retaining crisp-tender snap requires cutting produce into uniform two-inch pieces and releasing pressure immediately after the seven-minute cycle completes.Managing Residual Heat and Second-Day Flavors
Proteins cooked under pressure absorb seasoning aggressively during cooling phases. Storing leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for twenty-four hours allows the fish sauce, garlic, and coconut sugar to penetrate the chicken fibers more thoroughly. Reheating chilled portions demands low stove heat to prevent the separated coconut milk fats from breaking into an oily slick. Serve over steamed white rice within a three-day window to maintain optimal textural contrast against the tender poultry.
