Instant Pot Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori chicken legs with green chutney on a wooden block.

Instant Pot Tandoori Chicken

Chicken drumsticks marinated in a homemade tandoori masala, cooked under pressure, and finished under the oven broiler. Makes ultra-tender and moist chicken with the perfect crust.

Course Appetizers

Cuisine Indian

Keyword instant pot chicken, tandoori chicken

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Marination 4

Total Time 4 30

Servings

Calories 316kcal

Author Saima Zaidi

Equipment

6-quart Instant Pot Duo
Oven

Ingredients

For marination

½ cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt
2 tablespoon mustard oil
½ tablespoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
½ tsp black salt
12 chicken drumsticks skinless

To serve

½ tsp chaat masala optional
1 red onion small, sliced into rings
1 lemon cut into wedges
½ cup cilantro chutney

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prep the chicken

Take off the skins from the chicken legs and make 2 or 3 deep gashes in each leg with the help of a sharp knife.

Make the marinade and add the chicken

Whisk together the yogurt, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, and sea salt in a deep bowl.
Measure out all the ground spices. Heat the mustard oil in a small frypan and add the spices. Fry the spices in oil for a few seconds only and take the frypan off the heat immediately. Be careful that the spices don't burn.
When the spice mixture cools down completely, add it to the yogurt and whisk. Your marinade is ready.
Put the chicken pieces in the marinade and make sure it is well coated with it. Cover the bowl with cling foil and put it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours but preferably overnight.

Pressure cook the chicken

Pour 1 cup water in the steel insert of your instant pot and lower a trivet in it. Stack the chicken on the trivet and close the lid. Make sure the steam release vent is sealed. Press the pressure cooking button (high) and set the timer to 10 minutes. When the timer beeps, wait for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure. Remove the lid but don't take out the chicken yet.

Smoke the chicken (optional)

Heat a small piece of charcoal to red hot and keep it in a small pinch bowl or aluminum foil shaped into a bowl. Keep this bowl in the middle of the chicken and drizzle half a teaspoon ghee or oil on it. Trap the smoke by immediately covering the pot with the lid. Wait 8-10 minutes before removing the lid.

Broil the chicken in the oven

Set your oven to 'broil' on high. Spray a baking tray with some oil. Take out the chicken legs from the instant pot and arrange them on the baking tray.
Stick the tray under the broiler for 4-5 minutes and allow the chicken to crisp up and acquire a slight char.
Remove the tray and transfer the chicken to a platter. Sprinkle the chaat masala over the chicken if using and serve hot with the lemon wedges, onion rings and green chutney.

Notes

I have used only drumsticks, but you can use whole chicken legs (thigh + drumsticks) too.
Pat dry the chicken after washing it so that it doesn't add any moisture to the marinade.
Remove the chicken skins and make deep gashes in the meat before marinating it.
Use thick yogurt only for the marinade. Greek yogurt will save you the hassle of having to drain regular yogurt of all the liquid.
Be patient with the marination. A minimum of 4 hours is required, and if you can do an overnight marination, that's perfect.

Nutrition