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Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chicken with Soycurls and Chickpeas. 15 minute Active time! 1 Pot Creamy Indian Butter Soy Curls, Vegan Murgh Makhani. Use all chickpeas for soy-free. Vegetarian Gluten-free Recipe. Oil-free Nut-free option. Skillet option Jump to Recipe
Its no Butter No Chicken you all. Then why call it that? Well search! Most people search for vegan butter chicken for some reason and not vegan soycurls in no butter butter sauce or other variations ;). So here goes.
This recipe adapted from my popular Butter Tofu recipe. To make a skillet version, use the butter tofu recipe with soy curls. Just simmer the soy curls in the sauce with a up of water for 15 minutes. I use a combination of soy curls and chickpeas in this version and don’t use any oil. You can add some oil or vegan butter with the cashew cream to make it even more like restaurant flavor profile. Don’t have soy curls ? use all chickpeas, beans or veggies.
Its a super simple recipe. Blend up the tomato, garlic, ginger, chile. Add to the IP along with spices, soy curls and chickpeas, close and cook. Add some cashew cream and simmer for a few minutes to thicken, garnish and done! The garnish of fresh minced ginger and chile and some dried fenugreek takes this dish to an amazing flavor level. Make it!
Soy curls are a meat sub made with whole non gmo soy beans. You can find them in some stores or online on amazon. You can also use other bean curls! Look for “Wadi” in Indian stores made of moong dal, black eyed peas and other lentils/beans. The texture is different but they work equally well. You can also use seitan, tvp, soy chunks, beyond meat strips other chickin subs.
More IP recipes.
- Lentil Veggie Dhansak – Lentil Veggie Stew in IP. GF
- Kohlapuri Veggies – Veggies in sesame coconut sauce GF
- Mushroom Matar Masala GF
- Bombay Potato and Peas GF
- Aloo Palak Dal- Potato Spinach Lentils in IP. GF
- Eggplant Sambhar – Eggplant Split pea soup
- Aloo Gobi – Spiced potato and cauliflower
This recipe is adapted from my Butter Tofu “Paneer” recipe and the IP method is adapted from twosleevers’s butter chicken. Urvashi has some great tips on cooking indian food under pressure. This recipe benefits from a good fresh garam masala blend. I usually keep my garam masala in whole spice form and then grind it about a 1/4 cup at a time for a potent spice blend. Dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) can be bought online or from an Indian store. If you cant find them, omit and add 1/4 tsp ground mustard instead. Indian restaurants generally add fenugreek for the flavor and of course a ton of cream and butter.
If you make the recipe, please do rate it. I also love to see your creations, so do tag me #veganricha on Instagram.
Vegan Butter Chicken Video:
Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chicken with Soy Curls and Chickpeas - oil-free
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe tomatoes , or 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 inch cube of ginger
- 1 hot or mild green chile, , I use serrano
- 3/4 cup water, , use 1 cup if the tomatoes arent very juicy
- ½ to 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp paprika or kashmiri chili powder
- ¼ to ½ tsp cayenne
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup soy curls, (dry, not rehydrated)
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1/4 cup soaked cashews blended with ½ cup water, , or 1/2 cup cashew cream or other non Dairy cream
- 1 tsp or more garam masala
- 1/2 tsp or more sugar or sweetener
- 1 tsp kasoori methi - dried fenugreek leaves, or add a 1/4 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 moderately hot green chile, finely chopped, or use 2 tbsp finely chopped green bell pepper
- 1/2 tsp minced or finely chopped ginger
- 1/4 cup cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Blend the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, chile with water until smooth.
- Add pureed tomato mixture to the Instant pot or pressure cooker. Add soy curls, chickpeas, spices and salt. Close the lid and press manual/pressure cook at high pressure, for 8 to 10 minutes. (6 minutes for stove top pressure cooker). Quick release after 10 minutes. (See notes for Stove top instructions)
- Start the IP on saute (medium heat for stove top pressure cooker). Add the cashew cream, garam masala, sweetener and fenugreek leaves and mix in. Bring to a boil, taste and adjust salt, heat, sweet. Add more cayenne and salt if needed. Fold in the chopped green chile, ginger and cilantro and press cancel(take off heat).
- At this point you can add some vegan butter or oil for additional buttery flavor. Serve hot over rice or with flatbread or Naan.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Richa, can I use firm tofu instead of the soy curls?
yes, you might want to bake the tofu with thie marinade here https://fettabbau-trim.today/2017/05/butter-tofu-paneer-tofu-butter-masala-recipe.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Bake the tofu first then add it to w everything to be pressure cooked or just add it afterwards? Thanks!
add it afterwards when you add cashew cream
Loved loved loved this recipe. I tried the soycurl before everything else because it was my first time trying it and although I didn’t love it on its own, I loved the completed dish mixed all together with the rice. I doubled it and was worried about how the curls would taste reheated but Leftovers were even better! Thank you for yet another winner! Keep these IP recipes coming!
awesome! yes the spices infuse more as the dish sits.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was excellent. (I’m on a real roll with your recipes this week😄!) Will def try the tofu version next. ThAnks!
This was so, so good!! With canned tomatoes and canned chickpeas it came together really quickly. Next time I will scale it up to use up a whole can of chickpeas.
awesome! yes the recipe scales easily. same pressure cook time or a min more with double quantity
Have made it four times now-delicious!
awesome!
As I was making this I didn’t think it would turn out. Not the normal spices I used in my pre-vegan recipe. The tomato mixture in the blender was going to make it watery and I questioned why I’d even decided to try the recipe.
IT WAS AWESOME!!! So glad I didn’t give in and make something else.
Thanks so much for such a great recipe.
yay! so glad you went with it. I always use these spices in butter or makhani sauces and many other similar indian sauces.
Hey Richa, would fresh fenugreek leaves work in this recipe or do dry leaves give the best flavour?
fresh will work just fine. Use about a 1/4 cup finely chopped
Perfect! I’ll try this recipe out for sure. Thanks !!
Is it possible to use Passata instead of whole tomatoes? If so how much passata would I roughly use for 1 tomato?
We don’t get very tasty tomatoes in England,
Thanks!
Try with 13 to 14 oz (1.25 cups) and a few tbsp of water if the passata is very thick.
Sorry is that the amount for all three tomatoes or just one?
I love your blog, it’s so great that you respond to comments 🙂
for 3 tomatoes. I use either 3 tomatoes or one 15 oz can of diced tomatoes. So going from the 15 oz, once you puree the diced tomatoes, the volume will reduce a bit. Passata would be thicker version of the puree.
I made this recipe and it was really bland? What am I doing wrong? Could it be old spices? Thanks!
hmm, yes could be old spices and probably needs more salt. The right amount of Salt for you will help bring out the spices immediately, so sprinkle in some, taste and add more as needed. Also add in more garam masala with the salt and see. some additional fat will help too, mix in some vegan butter in the end.
Thank you so much, will definitely give it a try!
Let me know how it worked out! Maybe the tomatoes were large or more volume and the extra volume of everything needs more spices and salt. Old spices can also have low flavor payoff, so just double or triple.
Just tried this tonight. Delicious! Definitely have to double it next time since there are no leftovers tonight.