Lamb Curry Instant Pot with a good dose of Indian spices, onion, tomato & ginger garlic paste will be your next favorite thing. You can make it easily in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker with lamb on the bones or boneless lamb pieces. This Indian Lamb Curry beats the flavors of the curry houses & tastes best with rice, Naan or Chapathi.
Check out awesome Instant Pot Recipes from Foodies Terminal.
Recipe Video
Indian Lamb Curry Instant Pot
Ditch the curry houses & the best Indian restaurants in town because this Lamb Curry Instant Pot beats the flavors of every single takeout's and is so freaking easy.
Absolutely tender pieces of lamb meat doused in the spicy juices, slightly tangy, mildly sweet & ample amount of gravy to help you swipe off that piece of naan will keep you entertained throughout. This Lamb Curry Instant Pot is truly Food Love!
Never mind if you do not own an Instant Pot as yet, you still make it in a regular pressure cooker or even an open pot.
You don't need a laundry list of ingredients, a few staple spices (regular ones), onion, ginger garlic, tomatoes & yogurt make this Instant Pot Lamb Curry so good.
I have also made the recipe more approachable & practical so that anyone can make it.
There's room for customizations too, which I'll mention in details later so that you don't need to pause the recipe & rush to the store 😀
Make it your own by playing with the ingredients.
For instance, make it spicy if you love spicy food, make it rich by pouring more oil or ghee. Increase the amount of yogurt to cut back on the spice level.
The possibilities are endless.
The most important part is the technique of cooking and I will not recommend you to change or skip any part of it. That's where the maximum flavor & complex taste of today's Indian Lamb Curry depends.
It's very important how you cook the lamb in the curry sauce. And Today's post is all about that.
Best Pieces of Lamb to use for Instant Pot Lamb curry
If you prefer lamb meat on the bones here are a few good choices:
- Lamb Shoulder pieces: Contains decent amount of meat and bones.
- Neck Pieces: They have good amount of bones and lesser meat.
- Leg piece: You can get some chunky boneless meat as well as juicy lamb meat on the bones. More meat here & less bones.
- Shank: More bone & less meat as compared to a leg piece.
Love only boneless Lamb meat, go for these options:
- Lamb leg pieces: You will get the best succulent boneless lamb meat from it's leg piece. You can either as your butcher to make the pieces for you or you may buy a whole lamb leg and cut it into desired pieces.
- Loin Chop: These comparatively thin pieces will reward you with a decent amount of boneless meat. You may discard the bone.
- The ready made stew pieces: The stew pieces are great for Lamb curry if you prefer boneless meat. If you
Note: The above is what we love to use. Here's a lovely article by the popular Chef Jamie Oliver on "How to Choose the right cut of Lamb", give it a read when you have some time.
Instant Pot Lamb Curry Ingredients
- Lamb: I used Lamb meat on the bones ( Lamb shoulder & meat from Lamb leg). You may use boneless lamb meat.
- Onion: Finely Chopped & made into a textured paste & not a fine paste. This is so important guys & easily you can make a textured onion paste by either pounding the onions in a mortar & pestle or just blitz a few seconds in the blender.
- Ginger Garlic Paste: And now this is one of the star ingredient of the recipe that greatly affects the flavors. Go for the Ginger Garlic paste recipe from this blog, it's definitely the best & shall last you the longest without becoming green. We never buy ours from the store & always make it this way.
- Tomatoes: Boiled & peeled. This gives such amazing flavor to the Indian Lamb Curry Instant Pot recipe. You can never taste the chewy rubbery skin from the tomatoes.
- Tomato paste: Use it from the tube or the can.
- Spiced Yogurt: I whisked the yogurt with turmeric, Kashmiri red chili powder, cumin & coriander powder. Amazing flavors I must say.
- Dry Spices: Turmeric powder, Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, garam masala powder.
- Whole Garam Masalas: Green cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns, cinnamon & Bay leaf.
- Frozen grated coconut: Totally optional. Skip it if you don't have it but do not swap it with coconut milk.
- For garnish: Dry fenugreek leaves or Kasturi methi. This is again an optional ingredient that you may happily skip.
- Ghee: 1-2 teaspoon as a garnish. It's again optional.
- Cooking oil: I used mustard oil but you may also use any cooking oil you prefer.
Tips - Lamb Curry Instant Pot
- Cook the Lamb first: This is how the restaurants cook lamb curries. They cook the lamb & store the stock separately. With every rolling order they toss the meat in spices, splash a good amount of stock & serve. With this technique you can store the cooked meat & stock in the fridge well ahead & just assemble them with the masalas on the day of serving. Moreover, you can also curtail the cooking time for instance, the meat is directly pressure cooked. No searing & frying involved.
- Fry each ingredient well: This is so important. You must fry each ingredient until the oil oozing stage is reached. This will enhance the flavors, build taste, deepen the complexity & reward the dish a more authentic restaurant touch.
- Add the yogurt at the lowest heat: This will prevent the yogurt from curdling. After adding the yogurt stir or mix briskly.
- Don't just mix the yogurt, fry it along with the other ingredients: This truly deepens the flavors so much. You must fry the yogurt along with the other ingredients until oil begins to leave the sides of the pot.
- Don't throw away the cooked lamb stock use it to make the gravy: The taste is all in the stock. The trick is to add less water to pressure cook the meat so that you end up with just the right amount of stock.
- Use homemade ginger garlic paste: It certainly makes a huge difference in taste as compared to the store bought ones. Learn the smart tricks of making the best ginger garlic paste at home from this blog which won't discolor and shall last you the longest.
- Don't forget to simmer the Lamb curry with the stock: After adding the stock simmer the lamb curry covered just for a few minutes. You'll love the end result 🙂
How to make Lamb Curry in Instant Pot?
Steps in words below pics
How to make Lamb Curry Instant Pot?
- Pressure cook the Lamb meat first
Add Lamb meat & 2 cups water to the inner pot of the IP. Pressure cook on high for 17 mins. Fish out the tender cooked lamb meat & preserve the stock.
- Sizzle the whole garam masalas
Add oil to the inner pot of the IP. Throw in the whole garam masalas along with the bay leaf and allow them to sizzle for a few seconds,
- Sauté the Onion very well
Add the chopped onions & fry until lightly golden in color.
- Fry the onion paste & ginger garlic paste
Add the onion paste sauté for a few minutes. The onion paste will release lots of juices. Than add the ginger garlic paste and fry until the oil oozing stage is reached. The pastes will reduce in quantity and the excess moisture will dry up, they will change in color & release a lovely aroma.
- Add the tomatoes & dry spices
Pour the tomatoes & dry spices to the Instant Pot. Mix well and fry them with the rest of the ingredients until oil begins to leave the sides of the pot.
- Mix in the spiced yogurt & fry well
Lower the heat settings and than add the spiced yogurt. Stir briskly and fry well until oil begins to leave the sides of the pot.
- Add the cooked lamb meat & sauté
Now, add the cooked lamb meat to the IP. Mix well with the rest of the ingredients and sauté for a few minutes until the masalas well coat the meat.
- Cover & simmer
Add the preserved stock back to the Instant Pot. Mix well. Cover and cook on SAUTE set at LOW for 5-10 mins. Serve hot. Enjoy!
Storing Tips
You can store the cooked Lamb curry Instant Pot for 7 days in the fridge in a dry, air tight container.
It's freezable too. Lasts for 1 month when frozen in individual portion size freezer safe bags or containers.
Serving Ideas
Serve this amazing Instant Pot Lamb Curry with the following and I am sure you'll love these combos as much as we do:
- Naan: Plain Naan, Butter Naan or Garlic Naan.
- Rice: Steaming hot white Basmati rice, Sona Masoori rice, long grain rice or Arborio rice.
- Chapathi.
- We love it even with plain white Quinoa.
Love Mutton? Try these delicious recipes from Foodies Terminal.
Lamb Curry Instant Pot
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Ingredients
- 1 kg Lamb meat on the bones (2.20 Pounds)
- 1 cup roughly chopped onion
- 1.5 cups onion paste (textured)
- 1.5 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 3 medium boiled & peeled tomatoes
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 tbsp Ghee (OPTIONAL)
- ½ tsp kasturi methi or dry fenugreek leaves (OPTIONAL)
- ¾ cup mustard oil or white oil (or ½ cup oil)
- 2 cups Water
- Salt (to taste)
Whole Garam Masalas for Tempering
- 3 green cardamom (choti elaichi)
- 7 Cloves (Laung)
- 12 Black Peppercorns (Kali Mirch)
- 1 1″ cinnamon stick (Dalchini)
Dry Spices
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1.5 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1.5 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1.5 tsp Paprika or Deggi Mirch or Kashmiri Red Chili Powder (you may also use 50% paprika & 50% cayenne)
- 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
For Spiced Yogurt
- ½ cup Yogurt
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- ½ tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ tsp Paprika or Deggi Mirch or Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
Instructions
- Begin by cooking the lamb meat first with 2 cups water. Add the lamb meat to the Instant Pot, pour water, ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste & salt. Mix everything. Cover the Instant Pot & Seal the valve. Press the PRESSURE COOK button & set it on HIGH for 17 mins.
- After 17 mins when the Instant Pot begins to beep wait for natural pressure release for 10 mins & than release the rest of the pressure. Open the lid & fish out the cooked lamb pieces from the stock. Store them separately in different containers.
- Set the Instant pot on SAUTE & keep it on NORMAL. Add oil, when the oil becomes moderately hot add all the whole garam masalas (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns) along with the bay leaf. Allow them to sizzle for a few seconds.
- Next, add the chopped onion and sauté until lightly golden in color.
- Than, add the onion paste and saute for 3 mins, you'll notice that the excess moisture from the onion paste will begin to evaporate and it'll begin to change it's color.
- Now, add the ginger garlic paste and sauté until oil begins to leave the sides of the pot. It should take you about 5-6 mins depending on the quality of the onion & it's moisture content.
- In the meantime crush the boiled tomatoes with the help of a fork in a bowl. Add them to the Instant Pot along with the tomato paste and the dry spices except the garam masala powder. Fry everything very well until oil begins to leave the sides of the pot. At this point you will notice that the color of the masala will begin to change & become dark. It'll also release a lovely aroma.
- It's time to add the spiced yogurt. Whisk the yogurt with all the dry spices mentioned in the " For Spiced Yogurt" section above. Lower the heat of the instant pot from NORMAL to LOW, add the spiced yogurt & stir briskly.
- Add the garam masala powder at this stage and change the increase the temperature of the instant pot from LOW to NORMAL. Fry the ingredients in the pot until oil oozes out.
- Next, add the cooked lamb pieces and give everything a very good mix so that all the lamb pieces are well coated with the masalas. Keep on frying for about 5 mins.
- Pour the reserved stock, give everything a very good mix. Change the settings in the Instant pot from NORMAL to LOW on SAUTE. Cover and simmer for 10 mins.
- After 10 mins CANCEL the SAUTE and if you want to garnish with kasturi methi and ghee add them now to the Lamb curry and mix well. Serve hot. Enjoy!
Notes
- Measuring Units used, 1 cup = 240 ml & 1 teaspoon = 5 ml.
- Instant Pot used: 6 quart IP DUO
- Lamb Curry Instant Pot Profile: Today's recipe will yield you a spicy Lamb Curry that has a fair amount of gravy & is mildly sweet & tangy.
- Gravy adjustment: Add more water while simmer the lamb curry if you prefer a runny gravy. Simmer for 15 mins if you prefer a thicker gravy.
- Don't have Deggi Mirch? Use Kashmiri Red Chili powder instead. You may even use 50% cayenne pepper powder & 50% paprika.
- Kasturi methi & ghee are totally optional ingredients.
- If you love an extra spicy Indian Lamb curry do increase the amount of deggi mirch or you add 2 teaspoons red chili powder.
- Do not skip the "Cover & cook" part at the end: This will lend the best flavors to the lamb curry, you'll end up with a gorgeous curry color with floating oil on top.
- Prep Ahead Ideas: Store the pressure cooked lamb pieces and the stock separately in the fridge. They will last you for 7 days when stored well in dry, air tight containers. When you are ready to cook the Lamb Curry, take them out and follow the recipe as such. Every restaurants make their Lamb curry following this technique. It's easy, saves time and so handy specially when you plan to host a large number of guests.
- Something about OIL: I added less oil when I began shooting the recipe and than I added little more oil while frying the Masalas which I forgot to shoot. Hence, you'll find less oil in the inner pot in the Video at the initial stage of the recipe but in the orginal recipe I mentioned the TOTAL amount of oil that I actually used. Feel free to adjust the oil in the recipe according to your preference. You may use less or more. For a super oily Lamb curry use ¾ cup otherwise I would recommend ½ cup.
Nutrition
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Ben says
Wow! Great recipe! Thanks so much
Foodies Terminal says
Thanks Ben 🙂 So glad you enjoyed this lamb recipe. - Meghna.
Iain James says
Hi Meghna. I got given a half leg of lamb so decided to make this curry. Ended up a little watery, I obviously put too much of the stock back in. Still very nice though. Sitting here a little too full now! Thanks for all your efforts, I love cooking your recipes. Best regards for now. Iain.