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Butter Chicken

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Butter Chicken - easy and authentic Indian butter chicken recipe that tastes just like your favorite restaurant. The creamy sauce is great with basmati rice and naan bread.

Butter Chicken - easy and authentic Indian butter chicken recipe that tastes just like your favorite restaurant. The creamy sauce is great with basmati rice and naan bread | rasamalaysia.com

Butter Chicken - easy and authentic Indian butter chicken recipe that tastes just like your favorite restaurant. The creamy sauce is great with basmati rice and naan bread | rasamalaysia.com

Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)

Butter chicken is a creamy, tomato-based and spice-laden chicken curry and it’s probably one of the most popular Indian recipes ever. The best and most authentic butter chicken is made with tandoori chicken, butter, with tomatoes, whipping cream and various Indian spices.

You can make homemade butter chicken on a stove top.

Indian butter chicken in a rich and creamy sauce and topped with cilantro and heavy cream.

Butter Chicken Curry Sauce

The creamy sauce calls for ingredients such as tomatoes, whipping cream and various spices like red chili powder, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, etc.

The rich and creamy flavors come from the tomatoes and the cream, making the taste absolutely delightful to the palate. The butter chicken sauce is amazing with steamed basmati rice or naan.

Butter Chicken - easy and authentic Indian butter chicken recipe that tastes just like your favorite restaurant. The creamy sauce is great with basmati rice and naan bread | rasamalaysia.com

Adding Vegetables to Butter Chicken

Authentic butter chicken has no vegetables and if you want authentic flavors, do not add vegetables. The creamy sauce is made with fresh tomatoes so it’s loaded with nutrition.

Serve the butter chicken with naan or Indian flat bread.

How Do You Cook Indian Butter Chicken

First, you prepare the chicken by marinating the chicken with ginger, garlic, chili powder and lime juice. Cook or grill the marinated chicken until the chicken turns brown on the surface.

To make the butter chicken sauce, use fresh tomatoes and cook until they break down, about 5-7 minutes. Add the spices (cardamom, cloves cinamon), ketchup, sugar, chili powder, butter and heavy cream. Remove the butter chicken from the heat, top with chopped cilantro.

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Butter Chicken Recipe

Butter Chicken - easy and authentic Indian butter chicken recipe that tastes just like your favorite restaurant. The creamy sauce is great with basmati rice and naan bread. 

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 465 kcal

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 2 lbs chicken preferably thigh meat, boneless and skinless, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
  • 2 teaspoons ginger paste
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic paste
  • 1-2 teaspoons red chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoons + 1 tablespoon oil
  • 2 teaspoons lime or lemon juice
  • 2 pinches food color deep orange, optional

Creamy Tomato Sauce

  • 4 large tomatoes quartered
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic paste
  • 2 teaspoons ginger paste
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 1 2- inch cinnamon piece
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 cloves
  • 2 green cardamom
  • 6 whole black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup water

Garnishing

  • Chopped cilantro
  • Heavy cream

Instructions

Chicken

  1. Wash and pat dry the chicken with paper towels. Transfer to a large bowl. Add all the Chicken ingredients, stir to mix well. Cover and marinate the chicken for 30 minutes or best overnight in the refrigerator.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large wok or a pan. Transfer the chicken and the marinade to the wok or pan. Cook on medium-high heat until the liquid has dried up and the chicken turns brown on the surface, 10-15 minutes. You can also grill the chicken.
  3. Transfer the chicken to a clean platter. The chicken can be cooked a day in advance.

Sauce

  1. In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and add the green cardamoms, cloves, black peppercorns, bay leaf and cinnamon. Sauté the spices for 30-40 seconds. Add the ginger and garlic paste; stir fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and jalapeno with 1/2 cup of the water. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low, simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and start to break down. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.
  2. Remove all the whole spices (cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and black pepper) and discard. Transfer the tomato mixture to a blender and puree it to become a sauce.
  3. Transfer the sauce to a clean pan, add the ketchup, sugar, red chili powder, salt and dried fenugreek leaves and the remaining water. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes on low heat. Stirring occasionally. Now add the butter, stir and simmer on the lowest heat for 5-7 minutes, or until the sauce starts to bubble. Add a little bit more water if the sauce is too thick.
  4. Add the cooked chicken and let simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove the butter chicken from the heat, top with chopped cilantro and heavy cream. Serve immediately with naan bread or rice.
Nutrition Facts
Butter Chicken Recipe
Amount Per Serving (4 g)
Calories 465 Calories from Fat 239
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 26.6g 41%
Saturated Fat 4.3g 22%
Cholesterol 191mg 64%
Sodium 305mg 13%
Total Carbohydrates 12.4g 4%
Dietary Fiber 2.7g 11%
Sugars 8.8g
Protein 46.1g 92%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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19 COMMENTS... read them below or add one

  2. In order to avoid the chicken being over-cooked, I added the marinaded chicken to the already softened onions, garlic and ginger then cooked until it was just about done. I made the sauce with the residue of the spice mix, chopped tomatoes and chicken stock in a different pan. It was just outstanding. Thanks a lot for the recipe.

    Reply

  4. Haven’t worked with green cardamon or fenugreek leaves before. Are they easy to find and does the,green cardamon come in a powder or do you buy it in pods?

    Reply

    • Green cardamom comes as pod and powder both.. For this recipe the pod is use!!
      Also you can find fenugreek leaves (dried) easily in an Indian/Asian store.. If you cannot find them just leave them out. Butter chicken will still taste amazing!!

      Reply

  5. I failed to pin your recipe for Indian butter chicken because the photo , as per Pinterest is small
    Thank you

    Reply

  7. Noooo, you changed the recipe!? I thought it was perfect, but I forgot to save the recipe and now it’s different… Without yoghurt and grilling :(

    Reply

  9. Hi there, just wanted to point out an error, ‘murgh’ does not mean butter; it means chicken. Makhani means butter.

    Reply

  10. if i add 15x the ammount of ingredients. how long will it take for the chicken to cook? (im serving a lot of people)

    Reply

    • Just cook until the chicken is tender. For this recipe, I don’t think it’s a x15 times for the same ingredients if you want to feed more people. Use your best judgment, I can’t tell you for sure. Sorry.

      Reply

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