Butter Chicken Recipe (Indian Chicken Makhani)

Make the BEST Butter Chicken at home with this authentic Indian recipe. This Murgh Makhani is flavor-packed, creamy, delicious and tastes better than your favorite Indian restaurant version. All you need is a bowl of Basmati rice or some Naans to mop up the luxurious sauce.

Butter Chicken is a classic Indian dish made with marinated & grilled chicken (Tandoori chicken), simmered in a creamy tomato gravy/curry. The sauce is super silky, buttery, aromatic and mildly spicy. This lip-smacking and delicious dish is hugely popular among the Indian food lovers across the world.

Though this dish has a lot of similarities with Chicken Tikka Masala, both smell and taste very different. Originally, Butter Chicken is a mild dish, does not include onions and is cooked with butter. But tikka masala is spicy, hot, includes onions and is cooked in oil.

About Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken has a smooth, rich and silky sauce but tikka masala has a texture from the chopped and caramelized onions. The original & authentic Chicken Makhani is made with grilled Tandoori Chicken. Bone-in chicken is marinated overnight with thick Hung curd (strained yogurt), spices and herbs.

This spiced yogurt marinade imparts tons of flavors to the meat, tenderizes it naturally & helps to remain succulent after grilling & simmering in the sauce. The marinated chicken is grilled in a tandoor, a clay oven which imparts its characteristic smoky aroma. This is then diced and simmered in a spicy buttery and creamy tomato gravy.

Since we are not equipped with tandoor at home, the marinated chicken has to be either roasted in a pan or in an oven or grilled on open fire (barbeque). For this post I have done it in a pan. Feel free to grill/bake the chicken in oven or on open fire.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Tomatoes: I love starting with good quality fresh ripe & pulpy/meaty tomatoes that are naturally sweet and slightly tart. But you may use canned versions without added citric acid. Choose between – 1 cup (8 oz) passata / canned tomato puree or ⅓ cup double concentrate tomato paste or 1 – 14 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes. Towards the end if you feel you need more intense tomatoey flavor, feel free to stir in a bit of tomato paste.
• Greek yogurt/ Hung curd: Marinade requires thick strained yogurt like this Hung curd or Greek yogurt. Using regular yogurt (with whey) will easily let out too much moisture while roasting the chicken & all the spice marinade goes over to the pan. This makes your chicken taste bland. If your yogurt is runny, you may strain it following this Hung curd recipe.
• Spices: To make a good butter chicken you need a really good garam masala else your dish can end up being bland without any flavors. You can make your own from this Garam masala recipe or use store bought. But be sure to use an aromatic blend and adjust the quantity because every brand is different.
• Kashmiri Red chili powder is pure Indian chili powder (ground dried red chilies). It is a medium hot chili powder which also imparts brighter color to your dish. You may substitute it with Byadgi chili powder or a mix of smoked paprika & cayenne pepper (1:1).
• Coriander and cumin powder add mild flavors to your dish, tone down the strong flavors of the garam masala and helps balance the tartness of the tomatoes.
• Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek leaves and it is the key ingredient used in this dish. There is no substitute for this and you may leave out if you don’t have but you will surely miss those magical flavors.
• Cashews impart a delicate flavor & acts as a thickener. It gives a smooth and silky richness to the sauce. You can use almonds or almond flour as a substitute but the flavors are different. To use almonds, soak them in hot water for 2 hours, peel and grind to a smooth paste/ puree. If using almond flour, grind it with water to a smooth paste. To make the dish nut-free, substitute cashews with ¼ to ⅓ cup heavy cream and cut down the amount of water to 1 cup.

More interesting Chicken Recipes
Chicken Bhuna
Restaurant Chicken Jalfrezi
Chilli Chicken
Chicken Curry
Easy Chicken Masala

Photo Guide

How to make Butter Chicken (Stepwise Photos)

Marinade

For this recipe you require 500 grams (1.1 lbs) boneless chicken. You can use thighs or breasts like the way I use. A lot of people prefer thighs for the flavor and additional fats. If using chicken breasts be prepared to leave it in the marinade for a minimum of 12 hours for best results.

1. Here are the other ingredients required to marinate the chicken:

• ¾ to 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¼ to ⅓ teaspoon salt
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (or paprika adjust to taste, reduce for kids)
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (optional, dried fenugreek leaves)
• ⅛ teaspoon turmeric (haldi, optional)
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder (optional)
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder (optional)
• ¾ to 1 tablespoon oil
• ¾ tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or ½ tbsp very fine grated ginger + ½ tbsp fine pressed/grated garlic)
• ⅓ cup Greek yogurt or hung curd (read my pro tips)

2. Make sure there is no excess moisture on your chicken. Pat dry with kitchen tissues/paper, if required. Add red chili powder, salt and lemon juice. Mix well, cover and rest for 20 mins. This step seasons your chicken well and this is always followed by the Indian restaurant chefs. (But if you don’t care, you may marinate everything at one shot using all the marinade ingredients at once.)

3. Later add ginger garlic paste, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, kasuri methi, turmeric and hung curd/ Greek yogurt. Mix well and cover. Let the chicken rest in the marinade for a minimum of 12 hours in the refrigerator. The longer you leave the more tender and juicer the chicken is going to be. You can leave this for a maximum of 48 hours.

Prepare for the sauce/gravy

4. When you are ready to make the sauce, prepare the following ingredients. Keep the chicken out of the refrigerator, as we don’t want to grill/ pan-fry the cold chicken.

• 2 tablespoon butter
• ¾ tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or ½ tbsp each very fine grated ginger and garlic)
• 1 to 2 green chilies (deseed,slit or chop, avoid for kids)
• 1 to 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder or paprika (adjust to suit your taste and color)
• 1 to 1½ teaspoon garam masala (adjust to taste, divided)
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder (optional)
• 1 to 1½ teaspoon coriander powder (optional)
• ½ tablespoon kasuri methi crushed
• 1 cinnamon (optional, 2 inch piece, if using Ceylon cinnamon, feel free to use more)
• 4 green cardamoms (optional)
• 4 cloves (optional)

5. I have updated this recipe to use onions. It is optional but helps to cut down the sour taste of the tomatoes, especially if you are using canned tomatoes or passata. Heat 1 to 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add 1½ cups (130 grams) sliced onions (1 medium yellow onion) and saute on a medium heat until slightly golden, for 7 to 8 minutes. You don’t need to brown them. Cool down slightly and add to the blender.

6. To the same blender jar add tomatoes – you can either use

• 600 grams (1.3 lbs.) diced fresh tomatoes or 1 cup passata/ canned tomato puree or ⅓ cup double concentrate tomato paste or 1 – 14 oz can whole peeled tomatoes.
• Also add 28 whole cashews (42 grams, ⅓ cup) – (or omit nuts to substitute with ¼ to ⅓ heavy cream later at the end)
• Pour half cup water to the blender. Grind to a smooth puree. Alternately, If you do not have a powerful blender, you may soak the cashews in ½ cup hot water for 30 mins and then puree them separately in a small coffee grinder like the way I did.

7. To make the cashew cream, I grind the cashews first to a powder and then add ¼ cup water and grind again. Pour another ¼ cup water and grind again. Puree them very smooth.

I leave the pureeing part for you to decide. Choose the method that works for you, depending on the kind of grinder/blender you own – together or separately but smoother the better.

Make Butter Chicken Sauce

8. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a pan. Add the optional whole spices – cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms. Once they begin to sizzle, add ginger garlic paste, green chilies (leave out for kids) and fry on a medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes till the raw smell goes away.

9. Do not burn.

10. Turn off the heat. Stir in the red chilli powder, garam masala, cumin powder and coriander powder.

11. Pour the puree. If your puree is not smooth strain it to the pan.

12. Use a sturdy spoon to strain and discard the residue.

13. Mix well and bring this to a boil on a medium high heat. Be careful as this can easily splatter.

14. Cover partially and let boil on a medium heat, stirring often, until thick. This takes about 12 to 15 mins, depending on the kind of cookware and stove.

15. This is how it should look, at this stage stir in the cashew cream or puree if you made it separately. (If you are substituting cashews with heavy cream, wait till the end to include it. Do not add here)

16. Pour 1½ cups hot water and mix well. (If you are not using cashews, cut down to 1 cup)

17. Simmer this, partially covered for 10 mins or until the sauce thickens & traces of fats/butter are visible on top of the sauce. Meanwhile proceed with the next step.

Grill the chicken on the stove top or Bake in the oven

18. Make sure your chicken is not too cold.

Option 1: To use oven, preheat the oven to 240 C or 460 F for at least 15 minutes. Skew the chicken on to soaked wooden skewers or place on a greased tray and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, depending on the size of chicken pieces. In between you will have to turn to the other side.

Option 2: To pan-fry/grill chicken on griddle/tawa. Add one tablespoon oil/butter or ghee and place the chicken pieces spacing them apart. Fry on a medium heat for 2 mins. Ignore the moisture oozing out of the chicken. Turn the chicken pieces to the other side, don’t burn and do not overcook.

19. Cook till the chicken is just done and all the moisture evaporates. Optional – If you want browned chicken, increase the flame to high and roast until they turn golden or light brown on both the sides. Be careful as this can easily burn the masala & dry out your chicken. This way roast the chicken pieces in 2 to 3 batches, depending on the size of your skillet. Avoid browning in a non-stick pan.

Make Chicken Makhani

20. After 10 minutes, the sauce should have been thick and traces of fats visible on the sauce. If you want you may remove the whole spices & discard at this stage.

21. Add chicken to the butter chicken gravy.

22. Pour ½ cup more hot water if the sauce is too thick and simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes till it becomes tender. This is the time the sauce actually develops the flavors. The cook time may vary here. This additional half cup water is not mentioned in the recipe and is optional depending on how long you cook. But I always use.

23. Add ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar and ½ tablespoon kasuri methi. Stir well and taste test. If required add more garam masala & another tablespoon butter for additional flavor.

24. Stir in ¼ to ⅓ cup heavy cream. (If you have not used cashews, you will use ½ to 2/3 cup in total).

Or you can also temper the cream to prevent splitting. Take a few tablespoons of the hot gravy to a small bowl and stir in the cream. Mix and then pour the cream to the butter chicken. This prevents cream from splitting.

Serving Suggestions

Butter Chicken is best served with Jeera rice , Turmeric Rice, plain fluffy Basmati Rice, Tandoori Roti, Naan or Paratha. To extend your menu, you may try Kachumber salad or onion salad, Jeera aloo or Paneer Tikka.

Expert Tips

• Marination is the key to get flavorful, tender & succulent pieces of chicken.
• Yogurt in the marinade tenderizes the chicken so do not skip it.
• Makhani recipe never uses onion. However using them helps to balance the tang/sour taste of tomatoes, especially if you are using passata or canned tomatoes.
• The rich taste in the gravy comes from the cashews (or almonds) & cream.
• You can make the gravy ahead and refrigerate. Just grill the marinated chicken when needed and heat up the gravy. Then add the grilled chicken.
• 600 grams fresh tomatoes makes about 3 cups fresh tomato puree which equals 1 cup passata/ canned tomato puree or ⅓ cup double concentrate tomato paste. I personally love the Mutti brand of concentrate that comes in tubes and passata that comes in glass bottles.

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