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Easy Instant Pot Pumpkin Chicken Curry recipe with coconut milk and simple korma spice blend. The pumpkin curry is so flavorful and Paleo, Whole30 and Keto friendly. You can also use butternut squash. Everyone in the family will love this simple pumpkin recipe!
Instant Pot Pumpkin Chicken Curry – stovetop method included
I love making my own curry spice blends. Store bought curry paste or sauce jars are great additions to have but often they lack of depth and complexity. If you’ve ever wondered why a curry dish tastes flat and boring, definitely read on to check out my Instant Pot Pumpkin Chicken Curry. I guarantee you are going to love it!
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This Instant Pot Pumpkin Chicken Curry (or butternut squash curry) recipe actually comes from my Chicken Korma recipe with crispy shallots. Check out the stovetop method here!
Blend, Dump, and Go!
Simple right? Gather all the herbs. Finely chop them in a mini 4-cup work bowl. I love this one by the way. It’s been a great little helper in my kitchen and I use it more often than my larger food processor.
Add boneless skinless chicken thighs (highly recommend thigh meat), herbs, and dry spice seasonings. 10 minutes later stir-in the spinach and you’ll have a pot of super flavorful Chicken Korma Curry!
Vegetable pairings
I recommend adding frozen spinach (defrosted and squeezed dry) after the chicken is cooked through. You can also use fresh spinach but it might dilute the sauce further. If you want to add extra veggies, diced carrots will be a great choice. I don’t recommend adding zucchinis or yellow squash because they will release water after cooked and make the sauce more watery and weak.
Feel free to serve an extra side of salad or pour the lovely pumpkin chicken curry over low carb noodles. In colder months, pair the chicken with roasted crispy potatoes or mashed yam. They are absolutely delicious!
So my friends! I really hope you’ll give this Instant Pot Pumpkin Chicken Curry a try. It’s absolutely out of this world! Rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Tag @iheartumami.ny on Instagram so we can see it!
Instant Pot Pumpkin Chicken Curry (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)
Video
Ingredients
Homemade Korma Paste:
- 5 large garlic cloves , peeled
- 1 tbsp sliced fresh ginger
- 1 fresh serrano , fresno, or jalapeno green or red pepper
- 4 tbsp shredded coconut
- ½ cup cilantro or parsley + more for garnish
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp garam masala powder
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1.5 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 ½ tsp sea salt
Other:
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 2 large shallots , sliced lengthwise
- 2 lbs chicken thighs ,skinless/boneless
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 lb. pumpkin or butternut squash ,dice to roughly 1 ½ -2 inch large chunks
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk
- 10 oz. frozen spinach , defrosted & squeezed out liquid
- 2-3 tbsp coconut yogurt (optional)
Instructions
- Blend garlic, ginger, chili, coconut, and cilantro in a mini food chopper (a 4-cup work bowl). Pulse a few times until they are finely chopped. Set aside in one bowl. Combine cayenne, garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and sea salt in a second bowl. Set aside.
- In a 6-quart Instant Pot, press Saute function – when the panel shows Hot, add 2 tbsp ghee and 2 shallots. Season with a pinch of salt and saute until fragrant (about 10 seconds). Add chicken thighs and lightly sear them for about 2 minutes each side. Press Cancel.
- Add 1 cup chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the inner pot to deglaze and make sure nothing is stick to the bottom. Add 2 tbsp tomato paste, blended herbs, and the rest of dry spice seasonings under ‘homemade korma paste’’. Give it a stir then add diced butternut squash or pumpkins on top of the chicken. Close the lid – Seal the valve – Manual – High pressure – 10 minutes. Wait 15 minutes then quick release.
- Add coconut milk and spinach to the pot. Gently stir and garnish with chopped cilantro or parsley. (Optional) Stir-in 2-3 tbsp coconut yogurt. Serve over lightly sautéed cauliflower rice, broccoli rice, zucchini noodles, roasted potatoes, or steamed rice for gluten-free meal.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love curry? Check out my Chicken Khao Soi (Chiang Mai Curry Noodles), Chicken korma, Thai green curry chicken, Sri Lankan pumpkin soup, Thai curry meatball soup, Lamb Korma, Thai Red Curry Chicken, Dutch oven whole roasted Thai chicken curry, and Instant Pot Butter Chicken!
This was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much!
What can I use instead of ghee? I cannot mix ghee with chicken for religious dietary reasons. Thank you!
Try olive oil. 🙂
Super yummy! Didn’t have coconut yogurt or coconut but it turned out great!
That’s amazing. Thanks for sharing!
If I could give this 6 stars I would! This has become a staple for me. My boyfriend asks me to make it at least once a month now. I’ve made it with pumpkin and butternut squash, and both are delicious. I love that it has veggies and it’s only one pot!
Thank you!
Fantastic recipe. Didn’t have pumpkin so I used butternut squash. Served it with naan and chutney and it rivaled the Chicken Tikka Masala at our favorite Indian restaurant.
Thanks, Ron!
This recipe is amazing and exceeded my expectations. LOVE that is a one-pot meal with greens in it. Cannot wait to eat it again tonight!
Appreciate it. Thank you, Jaime!
One of our favorite curry recipes! Love this one, Chih-Yu! Thank you
Thank you so much, dear!
Wonderful recipe! I made it with butternut squash and it turned out very well. The squash adds just a bit of natural sweetness to balance out the savoury ingredients.
Thanks so much, Abby! So happy to hear!
Can I leave out the tomato paste? Do you have any curry recipes that don’t use tomato?
Hi Sun! Yes. Check out my Thai curry recipes. They don’t have tomato. 🙂
This recipe sounds delicious and it is on my menu for this week. I have fresh pumpkin puree in the freezer (leftover from pumpkin pies). I was wondering if I would be able to incorporate that into this recipe instead of the fresh cubed.
Hi Judy, you can but I’m worried it will become pumpkin soup. When use the fresh ones, we dice the pumpkins to slightly larger chunks so they’ll maintain some shape and texture after pressure cooked. So I recommend use fresh pumpkin 🙂
Thank you for your response… I will use fresh!