Authentic Butter Chicken Recipe
Butter chicken is a popular Indian dish made with chicken that is pre marinated, grilled and then finished off in a delicious creamy gravy sauce. This authentic butter chicken recipe is simple and easy to puttogether. Serve with a side of basmati rice or garlic naan bread and you’ve gota winner on your hands.
Ingredients
For Marination
- 500 gm boneless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp grated garlic
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp Kashmiri Chili
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
Butter Chicken Sauce
- 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp grated garlic
- ¼ tsp Tumeric
- 1 tsp each of these powders: Kashmiri chili, garam masala, corriander and cumin
- ¼ tsp cardamon powder
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 4 large tomatoes, chopped (or 1 tin tomato puree)
- 15 cashews soaked in water (optional, for creaminess)
- ½ tsp fenugreek leaves
- 1 tbsp sugar (adjust according to how sweet you want it)
- 30 ml cream (optional)
- 2 tbsp butter
- corriander to garnish
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Trim and cut your chicken thighs into 1 inch pieces.
- In a large bowl add all the ingredients for the marinade; grated ginger, garlic, lemon juice, salt, chili powder, garam masala and yogurt. Once the marinade is ready, add the chicken into the bowl and toss it so that it's fully coated.
- Cover the chicken and let it marinate for a minimum of 4 hours. If you are short on time and want a quick meal, marinate the chicken for 30 minutes. If you plan your meals in advance try and marinate the chicken for about 12 hours or overnight. The longer the chicken rests the more tender it will be after cooking.Tip: You can marinate the chicken in the morning before heading to work so it will be ready to cook for dinner.
Grilling or cooking the chicken
- Add two tsp of butter and 1 tsp of oil to a pan. Place your chicken in the pan but do not overcrowd as the chicken will boil instead of fry. You want it to fry well with some black marks on the chicken. Fry the chicken on a high flame to achieve this but make sure you are watching the chicken. There's a fine line between charring the chicken and burning it. Set the chicken aside once cooked.(If you have a tandoor, you’ll get the best flavor by cooking the chicken in it. If not simply grill the chicken in the oven or barbeque or cook on a stovetop.)
Making the butter chicken sauce
- Add a tablespoon of ghee to the pan the chicken was cooked in. Add the grated ginger and garlic and cook for a minute till fragrant. Your flame should be nice and low so you don’t burn the ginger and garlic mixture.
- Next add the tomato paste and all the spices, and salt and mix well for about a minute.
- Now add the chopped tomatoes or tomato puree and the sugar and give it all a good stir. Let it cook until everything has incorporated well and the mixture looks nice and thick. You’ll also notice the mixture will start to leave the side of your pan. At this point, your kitchen will start to smell unbelievable. Switch the stove off and allow the mixture to cool down for a few minutes.
- Once cooled, transfer the contents to a blender along with the cashews and blend to a smooth paste. (the mixture needs to be cool enough so the blender doesn’t explode). If the sauce is too thick add a tablespoon of water and blend.
- Transfer the sauce back to the pan and bring it to a soft simmer. Add ½ cup water and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Add in your cooked chicken and let it get coated with the beautiful gravy you’ve just made. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Finally, add the cardamon powder and sprinkle the Kasuri methi. Give this about 2 to 3 minutes before you switch off the stove and add the cream.
- Add butter to finish off the dish and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and a tablespoon of cream to serve.
Notes
Cashews: You can completely omit the cashews if you want to keep the recipe nut free or don't have cashews on hand. The cashews add a little extra creaminess but honestly, if you don't have it in there, you'll still end up with an equally delicious butter chicken.
Tomatoes: If tomatoes are not in season you can use a tin of chopped tomatoes or tomato puree instead. I do find it slightly changes the flavor but you can always add a sprinkle of garam masala at the end to achieve your desired taste.
Grilling the chicken: If you choose to grill the chicken, preheat the oven to 200 deg Celsius and grill the meat till it’s cooked through and tender. This may take about 30 minutes but keep an eye on the chicken from time to time.
Cream: Add the cream once the stove is switched off so the cream doesn’t split. I always take a small amount of hot gravy and add it to a separate bowl, mix the cream in there and then add it to the big pan of gravy. This helps with the curdling of the cream. Again the cream is completely optional and if you want a healthy butter chicken, you can omit the cream completely
Butter: For an indulgent Butter Chicken, feel free to add more butter to suit your taste.