Incredibly easy Butter Chicken recipe
The very mention of the name of this dish conjures up images of a creamy and buttery gravy with delicious tandoor cooked chunks of chicken just begging to be scooped up with warm buttery naan
Delicious chicken in a creamy and flavourful yet mild gravy sauce
This version is sort of a cheat’s version, meaning you can be create this much quicker if you follow my handy tips and tricks given below. There are also several adjustments I have made here which allow for alternate ingredients, especially swapping fresh cream for thick Greek yoghurt. Believe me it tastes just as good but it so much lighter on your tummy and your conscience!
Hugely popular North Indian chicken dish
This recipe adapts well to those using an Instant Pot or slow cooker too and is a great way to celebrate a BBQ. It is a very user-friendly recipe so if you do not have an oven you can still crack the code with some smart hacks. Yes, yes, I call my own smart, what can I say, am very humble like that 😉
Usually, I am a very happy bunny creating traditional Maharashtrian curries and especially from my home cuisine – CKP. But because I have lived in Bombay ne Mumbai most of my life in India , I have a palate that appreciates and loves a whole host of varied regional cuisine. And Butter Chicken sits right up there among those much-loved dishes. I don’t make this often enough is the only complaint I hear from the OH!
Butter Chicken
Incredibly easy Butter Chicken recipe for a delicious chicken in a creamy and flavourful yet mild gravy sauce
Equipment
- Mixer / Blender
- Heavy Bottomed Pan
- Griddle pan/oven and skewers
Ingredients
Round one of margination -Overnight margination of chicken/ or six hours before cooking
- 450 grams Boneless chicken – personally, I prefer chicken thighs
- 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (check notes below – I make mine fresh)
- 2 tbsp Freshly ground ginger & garlic paste
- 1 heaped tbsp Garam masala
- 1.5 tbsp Freshly squeezed tbsp lime juice
- Salt as per taste
Mix for round two of marination
- 2 tbsp Cooking oil – ideally mustard oil
- 4 heaped tbsp Hung curd (check notes below) – approx 1 cup
- 1.5 tbsp Lime juice
Ingredients for the curry
- 2 tbsp Unsalted butter
- 1 tsp Oil
- 350 grams Chopped tinned tomato– or 3 to 3.5 medium fresh ripe tomatoes
- 1 medium-sized Red onion
- 1 – 2 Green chillies
- 1-2 Bay leaves
- 1/2 thumb-sized Stick of Cinnamon (ideally cassia bark)
- 1/2 thumb-sized Piece of Fresh ginger
- 6 – 7 Cloves of Garlic with skin on
- 2 Peppercorns
- 4 Cloves
- 1 Badi Elaichi /Black cardamom
- 4 Elaichi/green cardamoms
- 6 Cashew nuts
- 6 Almonds without skin
- 1 tsp Kasuri Methi
- 1 tsp Sugar
- Water as required
- Salt to taste
- 1.5 tsp Fresh cream or Thick Greek yoghurt
- Handful Fresh Coriander leaves finely chopped to garnish
Instructions
- Wash the chicken pieces and set aside in a bowl
- Make small cuts in the chicken to allow the marinade to penetrate thoroughly
- I prefer an overnight margination for the first stage as it makes the flavours shine through, you can do it about 6 hours before cooking as there are two stages to marination
- Mix all the ingredients from the overnight margination list above and coat the chicken pieces thoroughly, place in the refrigerator overnight
- The reason hung curd is used is to as to ensure that no extra water gets into the gravy and the gravy has a beautifully creamy consistency
- Use a muslin cloth to hand the curd for about 2 hours
- Place the dahi /curd/ Indian set yoghurt in a fine muslin cloth and twist the ends to close the muslin and made a big potli/ parcel
- Once all the water from the yoghurt collects in the vessel below, it isokay to remove it from the muslin *Check notes
- Beat the hung yoghurt with a fork and then pour onto the chicken, add the lime juice and mix well, then add the oil
- Now put the chicken back into the refrigerator for at least four hours
- About 4 hours before making the chicken remove from the refrigerator and let is sit outside for about 45 minutes (during winter, during summer – depending upon the room temperature let it sit out for at least 20 minutes)
- Let the chicken rest outside at room temperature while you make the gravy
- Soak the almonds in lukewarm water for 10 minutes, the skin will come off easily
- In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and then add the butter , follow this up with the green chillies, crushed ginger , crushed garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves, black cardamom, green cardamom pods opened
- Sauté well till all the whole spices are lightly fried , releasing all their gorgeous aromatic flavours
- Now add in the whole cashews and whole almonds, stir and sauté
- Then add the finely chopped onion and cook until they turn a light brown colour
- Follow this up with the chopped tomato from a tin or concentrated tomato puree. Dilute the concentrated paste before adding. Read my notes below for tips.
- Let this simmer for under 2 minutes, then transfer to a ceramic bowl and cool
- String the chicken pieces through a skewer, spray some oil and cook them in a pre-heated oven at 200 degree Celsius until almost done. Turn the pieces so both sides get grilled equally
- Alternatively, use a heavy bottom griddle pan and cook on either side till you see juices releasing
- The best way to cook the chicken is over hot coal on a BBQ, which imparts a beautiful smoky flavour note to the chicken
- Remove the chicken from the skewers and using a scissor cut them down to smaller chunks
- Now blend the gravy using a blender – blend until you get a smooth consistency. Read my pro-tipbelow for this step – it can make or break your dish
- In the same pan used to sauté the gravy, add the smooth gravy from the blender, if you want you can add an additional dollop of butter before adding the gravy
- Now stir in the chicken pieces and mix well
- Then add in the kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves, sugar and salt as per taste and cook on a very low heat setting until done. Cover and cook
- When the chicken has cooked through transfer to a serving bowl
- Garnish with fresh cream, some chopped coriander leaves, some kasuri methi/ dried fenugreek leaves and serve hot
- Serve with a side of buttery garlic naans, or plain tandoor roti’s or steamed basmati rice or simply plain naan
- Whatever you choose to pair it with remember to add a blob of butter on top for that added decadence
Smart Swaps:
- Unsalted butter over regular salted
- Few soaked dry fenugreek seeds can be used if you cannot find Kasuri methi. Dried fenugreek leaves
- Thick Greek yoghurt over fresh cream
Tips:
- Chopped tomates in a tin and concentrated tomato puree in a tube are store cupboard essentials, also they have the right kind of acidity that you need. Fresh tomatoes tend to be sweet which may change the balance of flavours we are after here
- Before blending the gravy sauce, you may want to remove the bay leaves and the badi elaichi. I do this both my husband and I believe that the sauce tastes better without blending this. Later just add these back with the chicken pieces.
- Frozen onion and tomato gravy is very handy
- Frozen ginger garlic paste is another time saver
- Pressed for time? Skip the overnight marination and go for only one marination for 4 hours
- Making a large batch of Butter Chicken? You will need more hung curd. I hang the muslin cloth from my kitchen sink tap so the excess water simply drips into a bowl waiting in the sink. Do not throw this water away! It is loaded with flavour and nutrients. It is great for mixing into chapati/Indian flatbread dough and a base for salad dressings (Yes!)
- Batch cook – this curry freezes very well; I make 4 times the amount and stash my freezer when I have a packed schedule. It is amazing to come home late from work to this beautiful curry (I cheat and get store-bought naan when am unable to make any fresh!)
- Skip the green chillies entirely if you cannot handle the pungent undertones
Notes:
- Kashmiri dry red chillies are easily available in most Indian grocery stores/ Online as is the bright red ready to use powder. The powder is what gives this recipe it is trademark bright red colour. Do not fret if you can’t find the powder, just blitz a handful of the dried Kashmiri chillies in a spice grinder – dry blitz and make your own powder! If you want, you could also add water and all the other ingredients of round one of margination and make a paste. Saves time too!
- Using an Instant pot? I will be sharing a version of this recipe in the coming days – will update a link here
Did you follow my recipe? Please let me know in comments, I love reading your comments and feedback
Snap a picture of your creations and use the hashtag #travelsfortasteblogrecipe and share it to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and I will re-post it.
Looks like an amazing recipe. Adding chicken allows for the meal to become high in protein and much healthier as it is low in fat and cholesterol.
Thank you Mischelle. Yes absolutely, chicken is white meat and a healthy protein. This recipe can be used as a dirty Keto meal option as well with full cream being used to add a touch of decacdence.