Make the Marinade

• Take a big Pyrex bowl and add the chicken and all the marinade ingredients. Toss well to make sure the chicken pieces are well coated with the marinade. Cover with some cling foil and keep the bowl in the refrigerator for two hours.

INSTANT POT METHOD

Fry the chicken

• Switch your instant pot to saute (normal). Wait for the display panel to show HOT, then slide in the marinated chicken in the steel insert, shaking off the excess marinade. Fry until the chicken is slightly browned, then flip and repeat. Cancel saute. Remove the chicken onto a clean platter. Scrape off the browned bits from the bottom of the steel insert (as much as you can get) and pile them on the chicken. You can remove and wash the steel insert at this point or continue with the next step. If any marinade is left, add it to the sauce you prepare in the next step.

Make the sauce

• Switch on saute again (normal) and add the oil and butter in the steel insert. When the display shows HOT again, add the diced onions. Fry until they just change color. Add the remaining sauce ingredients except the tomato puree. Add ¼ cup water to prevent the spices from sticking to the bottom and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Cancel saute and blend this gravy, using an immersion blender. If you don't have an immersion blender, wait for the gravy to cool down a bit, then transfer it to your regular blender and puree.

Pressure cook

• Once you've pureed the gravy above, add the fried chicken, tomato puree, and 1 cup water. Make sure to deglaze the pot. Mix everything well and secure the lid. Turn the steam release handle to 'sealing'. Hit the pressure cooking button (high) and set the timer to 5 minutes. When the timer beeps, wait for 10 minutes, then release the steam by turning the handle to 'venting'.

Add the topping ingredients

• Remove the lid and stir in the cream and sugar. Garnish with the chopped cilantro. Chicken tikka masala is ready to be served with some warm naan or rice.

STOVETOP METHOD

Fry the chicken

• Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet over the stovetop. Carefully slide in the marinated chicken and fry until the chicken becomes brown and slightly charred but not burned black. Flip over and fry on the other side too. The chicken need not be cooked through at this point, just seared to seal in the juices. If there is any left-over marinade, add it to the sauce in the next step.

Make the sauce

• Wipe the skillet clean of any burnt bits of chicken or marinade and add the cooking oil and butter. Heat it slightly, then add the onions and fry until golden. There’s no need to caramelize the onions to a dark reddish brown, just enough that they start changing their color. Add the remaining ingredients except the tomato puree. Fry for about 5 minutes, adding splashes of water as needed until the gravy is thick and shiny. Let it cool down, transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Put the blended gravy back into the skillet.
• Add the fried chicken, tomato puree and one cup water. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken becomes fork-tender, then turn off the heat.

Add the topping ingredients

• Stir in the cream and sugar and garnish with the chopped cilantro. Chicken tikka masala is ready to be served with some warm naan or rice.