Roshani’s Instant Pot Chicken Haleem
Chicken Haleem is a complete, balanced meal in a bowl. Made in the Instant pot in a fraction of time of the traditional method, it has chicken, cracked wheat and lentils cooked with the most aromatic masala you will ever taste!
Servings: 6
Equipment
Ingredients
Homemade Haleem masala - Dry Roast and grind the following:
- 1 teaspoon shahi jeera
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 cloves
- 5 green cardamom
- 2 inch stick of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon kalonji nigella seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 dry red chilies
- 6 -7 curry leaves
Other Ingredients:
- 2-3 tablespoon Haleem masala heaped, homemade or store bought
- 1.5 lb Boneless skinless chicken breast/thigh or mixed cuts
- 3 White onions, sliced Choose big sized onions, total about 8 cups sliced onions
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 2 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric See Notes
- 1 teaspoon Red chilly powder See Notes
- ¾ cup Cracked wheat haleem wheat/Bulgur wheat
- ¾ cup Chana daal/moong daal either a mix or individual pulses as you prefer
- Salt to taste
- Chopped Cilantro for garnish
- Lemon wedges optional
- Sugar optional
- Chopped nuts for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Begin by soaking your wheat and lentils (chana daal/moong daal)
- Set your instant pot to saute mode, heat oil and ghee together.
- Once it is hot, add the sliced white onions and cook them until they turn brown and are nicely caramelized. Keep mixing them around so it doesn't stick to the base and burn. This will take about 10 minutes
- Remove half the onion quantity and keep it aside. We will use these later for tadka (tempering) and garnish
- Add haleem masala to the remaining onions. Cook for a minute.
- Add ginger garlic paste, followed by chicken breasts/thighs. Mix well until the chicken is well coated with masala and begins to cook. If you're using homemade haleem masala, add turmeric and red chili powder per your spice level. If using Shan haleem masala, they'll advise to put the whole packet in, and it already has these spices added in.
- Once the chicken has turned opaque on the surface (slightly white) on the surface (this will take about 5 minutes), drain and add soaked cracked wheat and pulses. Mix everything well.
- Add 7-8 cups of water, slat to taste and mix well.
- Turn off saute mode, switch to pressure cook mode and cook on high for 35 minutes.
- Once the 35 minutes are up, let the pressure release naturally (about 15-20 minutes). Open the lid and with the back of the ladle, mash the wheat and daal (lentils) slightly in the pot itself. Shred chicken pieces with a two forks or with the ladle in the pot itself. Mix everything together again.
- Switch to saute mode and continue to cook for about 5 mins.
- While the haleem is cooking on saute mode, make the tempering. In a small frying pan, add a tablespoon of ghee and let it melt. To prepare the tempering/tadka add half of the saved sauteed onions and about 1 teaspoon of haleem masala. Mix and pour this tadka over the haleem and give it a stir.
- Once everything is mixed well, turn the saute mode off and switch to Slow Cook mode. Set the time to 60 mins and let the Chicken Haleem simmer away.
- After an hour, stir, adjust salt. You can add lemon juice and some sugar, if desired.
- Serve hot in a bowl, garnished with cilantro, remaining caramelized onions, lemon wedge and some nuts (optional).
Notes
The wheat and pulses together should be about 1.5 cups in quantity.
Store bought masala already has turmeric and chili powder in it. So, only add if using homemade Haleem masala.