Instant Pot Whole Tandoori Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 to 5½ pounds whole chicken

Stuffing:

• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 8 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½ large yellow onion diced

Marinade:

• 1 to 2 tablespoons Kashmiri red chili powder
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1½ tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons ginger paste
• 2 tablespoons garlic paste
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons oil

Gravy:

• 1 yellow onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• ¼ cup water

Instructions

• Remove the bag of giblets from inside the chicken. Pat dry the chicken from outside and inside with paper towels and remove any excess moisture. Trim any excess fat from the chicken.
• Make small slits on the chicken so that the marinade can reach inside the chicken
• Stuff the inside of the chicken with onions, lemon slices, whole black peppercorn, cloves, and a cinnamon stick. Tie the legs with kitchen twine.
• Spread the marinade evenly on both sides of the chicken. With the breast side up, spread the marinade under the chicken skin with a spoon. Allow the chicken to marinate for 6 to 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to cook, take out the chicken an hour before so it comes to room temperature.
• Lightly brush or spray the chicken with oil. Set the Instant Pot to saute mode and heat ghee or oil. If you are making gravy with the tandoori chicken, add onions and garlic cloves and saute for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth. Place the chicken on the trivet and carefully put the trivet inside the Instant Pot.
• Close the lid and pressure cook for 30 minutes. Allow 10 minutes of natural pressure release and then open the Instant Pot. Carefully take the chicken out and blend the gravy using an immersion blender. Mix all-purpose flour in water and stir in to thicken the gravy and bring it to a gentle boil. Serve the chicken with the hot gravy.