Pressure Cooker Lamb Curry

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This Pressure Cooker Lamb Curry is one of those dishes that fills the kitchen with mouth-watering smells and makes you hungry before it even hits the table. If you’re after a curry that’s rich, spicy and tastes like it came from a proper Indian restaurant, this one is for you. And the best part? It’s easy to make using a pressure cooker – or an Instant Pot if that’s your weapon of choice.

We’ve tried a lot of lamb curry recipes over the years, but this one hits all the right notes: soft, tender chunks of lamb in a bold, spicy gravy that clings to the meat. I used leg of lamb here, but shoulder works just as well. The key is giving it time – and that’s where the pressure cooker works its magic.

The Secret to a Good Lamb Curry

If you’ve ever had chewy lamb in a curry, you’ll know how disappointing that can be. Lamb needs to be cooked low and slow… or fast and pressurised! With this method, the meat cooks in a fraction of the time and comes out meltingly tender.

I usually use fresh ingredients like garlic, ginger, chopped tomatoes, onions, and of course, a good mix of Indian spices – cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala, and some chilli for heat. You can tailor the spiciness to your taste. I went for a proper Madras-level heat using a few bird’s eye chillies, but you can definitely tone it down if you’re feeding kids or heat-sensitive guests.

Better Than Takeaway

This pressure-cooked lamb curry honestly rivals some of the best takeaways we’ve had. And you know exactly what’s gone into it – no mystery oil slicks or surprise ingredients here! The beauty of a home-cooked curry is that you can tweak the flavours to suit you, and it’s cheaper too – especially if you buy your lamb on offer.

While it’s bubbling away in the pot, you can get the sides sorted. I usually serve it with pilau rice, naan bread and a big dollop of homemade raita or mango chutney.

If you’ve got time beforehand, you can marinate the lamb in yoghurt and spices for a couple of hours – or even overnight – to give it an extra punch. But honestly, it’s still delicious even without.

Leftovers? Even Better

Like most curries, this one tastes even better the next day. The flavours deepen, and the sauce thickens up beautifully. Just warm it through gently and serve again with fresh rice or even stuff it into a wrap with some onion salad – instant lamb kati roll!

lamb madras curry — *Ready to cook on high pressure*

So whether you’re after a midweek Indian feast or something a bit special for a Saturday night in, give this Pressure Cooker Lamb Curry a go. It’s a great way to use your Instant Pot, and I reckon it’ll become a regular in your rotation.

Lamb Curry in the Instant Pot

Using the Instant Pot to cook a curry is inspired. Using a pressure cooker is just a quicker way to cook the meat and ensure that the meat is tender and falls apart.

There is nothing worse than a chewy piece of lamb or mutton. Quite often mutton is used in curries in British Indian restaurants. Using the pressure cooked just makes sure that it is nice and tender.

The leg of lamb meat in this curry melted in the mouth.

If you have plenty of time, you may want to slow-cook this instead of using the Instant Pot. Again do what fits your schedule and inclination.

lamb curry instant pot — *Lamb curry with pilau rice, poppadoms and naan*

Certainly, I found this very easy to make in the Instant Pot. The preparation was quick and the cooking time in the pot allows you to prepare the accompaniments, like raita, chapatis or naan bread.

I hope you have a go at making this recipe. Let me know how you get on in the comments – and if you manage to one-up my spice mix, I want to hear about it!

Enjoy!

How to cook lamb curry in Instant Pot

Yield: 6

Lamb Curry Instant Pot

This recipe will show you how to make a spicy lamb curry in the Instant Pot. Tasty fall apart meat which can be as spicy as you want.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Additional Time 5 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 leg of lamb meat (about 1,5 kg in 1,5" / 4cm sized cubes)
1 large Spanish Onion
3 tbsp ghee (or vegetable oil)
400g tin of chopped tomatoes

For the paste

1 tsp each of the following spices:
ground cumin
ground coriander
turmeric
paprika
chilli powder
ginger
garlic powder

to add after HP cooking

2 tbsp crushed pistachios
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp garlic paste
The juice of one lemon
2 or 3 fresh chillies (optional - depending on how hot and spicy you want it)
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp chilli powder

To garnish

Crushed pistachio nuts
Freshly chopped Coriander

Instructions

Start by roughly chopping the onion and boiling it for 3 minutes in some hot water. Then drain it and mulch it in a food processor (I use my Nutribullet for this) until it forms an onion purée.
Turn the Instant Pot to the sauté setting and heat the ghee. Then add the mulched onion and cook the onion purée for a few minutes. In the meantime mix all the spices together and add some water to form a paste.
Add the paste to the onion purée and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring well and making sure it does not burn.
Then turn off the Instant Pot and add the meat, mixing well with the onion and spice mix. Then add the can of tomatoes to the pot and close the lid.
Set the valve to 'seal' and programme the Instant Pot for High Pressure cooking for 45 minutes. It took my Instant Pot about 15 minutes to get up to pressure before the cooking timer started.
When the cooking cycle has finished, carefully release the pressure manually, by putting the release valve to vent, and turning the Instant Pot off, being careful not to burn yourself.
Remove the lid and then put the Instant Pot to the sauté setting again. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, stir well and simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust hotness to your own preference using more or less chili powder or chillies.

Notes

Serve up with some pilau rice and naan bread and some popadoms and mango chutney, with maybe some raita on the side.

Garnish with some freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) and some crushed pistachios.

Pressure Cooker Lamb Curry