This dairy free Indian Chicken Stew is on the table in under an hour on the stove OR in under 15 minutes in the Instant Pot. Loaded with flavor and excellent served over jasmine rice or cauliflower rice, this is a dish the whole family will love!
ORIGINALLY POSTED: 11/7/2012 | UPDATED: 3/8/2018
My husband loves stews– chicken, beef and fish stews count among his favorites. He’s not really one for cooking but a couple of months ago he made a Brazilian Fish Stew from Saveur Magazine, which was unbelievable, and has been asking for me to make another interesting stew ever since.
Good thing I had this Braised Bone-In Chicken Thighs with Indian Flavors recipe from the The New York Times tucked away from last year. My Indian Chicken Stew recipe is quite different from theirs but I was truly inspired by it.
It comes together really fast and is a new favorite around here. My toddler taste-tested the sauce and said, “Ohhhhhh, Yum!” and my husband said, “What do I need to do to make this a weekly staple?”
I served it with this Spiced Coconut Rice and some quickly seared greens but this Punjabi Cabbage or Indian-Spiced Whole Roasted Cauliflower would also be fantastic side dishes.
NOTES:
- If you don’t want to use light coconut milk, use 3/4 cup of whole fat coconut milk and 3/4 cup of water or broth.
INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS:
- Follow “Prep” instructions in recipe card below.
- Turn Instant Pot on to “Saute”. Add coconut oil, garlic, jalapeno, ginger and onion. Saute 3 to 4 minutes until beginning to soften and aromatic.
- Add chicken and spices along with watery coconut milk liquid (reserve the solid coconut milk fat for later) from can. Close lid, set to “Sealed” and “Manual, High Pressure, 5 Minutes”
- When cooking time is up, use a QR (quick release) to immediately release pressure. Turn off Instant Pot and add remaining coconut milk solids, 1 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves and 1/2 T fish sauce. Stir, taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, serve and Enjoy!
Inspired By: Braised Chicken Thighs with Indian Flavors, March 28th, 2011 – The New York Time
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Easy Indian Chicken Stew. Dairy free and ready in under an hour on the stove OR under 15 minutes in the electric pressure cooker!
- 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil
- 8 medium cloves garlic chopped
- 1 small jalapeno chopped
- 2 inch piece fresh ginger root peeled and chopped
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs trimmed of any visible fat
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 14.5 ounce can coconut milk (1.5 cups)
- 1/2 Tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
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Prep garlic, ginger, jalapeno and onion for chopping.
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I used the food processor to save time. First, I put in the garlic, peeled ginger and jalapeno (all cut into chunks. Pulse a couple times until just chopped and then add in onion sections. Pulse a couple times.
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Trim chicken thighs of any visible fat and set aside. Measure spices into a small dish.
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Heat a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add oil and once hot, add onion and garlic mixture. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft.
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Add in trimmed chicken thighs and cook for another 5 minutes or so until they begin to brown, flipping once.Now, add in the spice mixture and cook for 1 minute until fragrant, stirring to coat the chicken.
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Pour in coconut milk and fish sauce and bring to a boil. Immediately cover, lower to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Remove chicken thighs to a cutting board and cube into 1" pieces, set aside. Meanwhile, turn up the light under the coconut milk sauce until it is boiling.
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Slightly lower the light, keeping a nice strong simmer and reduce sauce for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken back to sauce, remove from heat, toss in cilantro and stir.
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Serve hot over rice or cauliflower rice and Enjoy!
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
I too love all the spices in this recipe and plan to make it very soon with chicken breast because I have them on hand. Tell me please, Alyssa, since I’m new to coconut milk in foods [but love it]… can chicken be MARINATED in coconut milk before it’s cooked? If so, about how long at most? Thank you, RN Thanks for your reply.
Hi Rosalinda, for this recipe, there is no need to marinate the chicken first!
Ok, forget my question just saw this can be cooked on top of stove. thanks
I hope you loved it!
I don’t own an instant hot pot. Other cooking instructions??
Hi, I love this and hope to subscribe. But I thought it was one of thebest WEIGHT WATCHERS BLOGS of 2019. Yet I can’t find any points. That Indian Chicken stew sounds fantastic. Hope you can email me about whether your recipes will incude the WW points, as I like your food sensibility.
Hi Leanna,
Where did you see that about one of the best WW blogs of 2019? I used to (like 2011 to 2013) post WW recipes but have moved away from the program over the years. thanks for reading!
MMMMMMMMMMMM……nice recipe Thanks and hats off to you
bye
jai
Thank you! Hope you love it!
Always looking for new twists for chicken since we eat it a lot!
I love all the spices and ingredients in this stew, it sounds delicious!
gah I love that you finished it with fresh cilantro. I bet this smells heavenly!