Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chicken with Soy Curls & Chickpeas. Oil-free GF

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:

Recipe Card

Print Recipe

4.97 from 95 votes

Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chicken with Soy Curls and Chickpeas - oil-free

Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chicken with Soycurls and Chickpeas. 15 minute Active time! 1 Pot Creamy Indian Butter Soy Curls. Use all Chickpeas for soy-free. Vegetarian Gluten-free Recipe. Oil-free Nut-free option 

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Entree, Main Course

Cuisine: Gluten-free, Indian, Vegan

Keyword: butter chickpeas, butter soycurls, indian butter sauce, murgh makhani, vegan butter chicken

Servings: 3

Calories: 318kcal

Author: Vegan Richa

Ingredients

• 3 large ripe tomatoes or 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 inch (0.5 inch) cube of ginger
• 1 hot or mild green chile , I use serrano
• 3/4 cup (250 ml) water , use 1 cup if the tomatoes arent very juicy
• ½ to 1 tsp  (1/2 to 1 tsp ) garam masala
• ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) paprika or kashmiri chili powder
• ¼ to ½ tsp (1/4 to 1/2 tsp) cayenne
• 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) salt
• 1 cup (55 g) soy curls (dry, not rehydrated)
• 1 cup (5.78 oz) cooked chickpeas
• Cashew cream made with with ¼ cup soaked cashews blended with ½ cup water
• 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) or more garam masala
• 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) or more sugar or sweetener
• 1 tsp kasoori methi - dried fenugreek leaves or add a 1/4 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 (0.5) moderately hot green chile finely chopped, or use 2 tbsp finely chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) minced or finely chopped ginger
• 1/4 cup (4 g) 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 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

To make this without nuts use 1/3 cup or more coconut cream instead of cashew cream. 

 

Stove top skillet version: Follow step 1. Add pureed tomato mixture to a skillet/saucepan over medium heat. Add soy curls, chickpeas, spices, 1/2 cup water and salt. Partially Cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens and garlic does not taste raw. 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 water if too thick, more cayenne and salt if needed. Fold in the chopped green chile, ginger and cilantro and 1 tbsp vegan butter if using. Also see my stove top Butter Tofu recipe for reference.

 

Variations: Use all chickpeas, seitan, other meat subs, or veggies to make soyfree.  When using subs that dont absorb much liquid, use larger quantity (for eg 2.5 to 3 cups shredded seitan to sub the soycurls+chickpeas).

 

Nutrition is 1 of 4 serves. Does not include rice

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chicken with Soy Curls and Chickpeas - oil-free

Amount Per Serving

Calories 318 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 6g9%

Sodium 608mg26%

Potassium 890mg25%

Carbohydrates 48g16%

Fiber 13g54%

Sugar 11g12%

Protein 19.2g38%

Vitamin A 1160IU23%

Vitamin C 21.1mg26%

Calcium 90mg9%

Iron 4.6mg26%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.