Place all the ingredients for grinding in a food processor and rocess into a paste. If you use powdered spices, you don't need to grind those.
Cooking with Instant Pot:
Press saute on Instant Pot. When it's hot, add cooking oil. Add the ground paste and stir fry until it's fragrant. Keep stirring to prevent catching at the bottom of the pot. Add lemongrass, lime leaves and bay leaves. Add chicken pieces, chicken broth, and seasonings
Turn off saute mode. Cover the lid. Turn the steam release valve to "sealing". Press "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on "high pressure". Set timer to 12 minutes. Wait 5 minutes and then fully release the pressure
Stir in the coconut milk and let the residual heat continue to warm it up. Have a taste and adjust seasonings to suit your taste. Add hard-boiled eggs. Proceed to serve step below
Cooking on the stove:
Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or pot and fry the paste to bring out the flavor. Do not allow it to brown. Add lemongrass, lime leaves, and bay leaves. Add chicken pieces, chicken broth, and seasonings
Bring to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and let it simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the chicken is tender. Stir the mixture occasionally during cooking. Add hard-boiled eggs. Stir in coconut milk. Do not let it comes to a boil, just let it gently simmer for another 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings to suit your taste. Remove from the heat