Butter chicken recipe – This post will guide you to make butter chicken at home that tastes absolutely delicious, flavor packed, creamy and rich. Butter chicken also known as chicken makhani is one of the most popular, lip smacking and delicious dishes that’s been loved by many across the world. Paired with naan or kulcha is a delight which most Indians love during their restaurant visits.
There are so many versions of butter chicken that can be found on the internet which are different from the authentic Indian dish.
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What is Butter chicken?
Chunks of grilled chicken (tandoori chicken) cooked in a smooth buttery & creamy tomato based gravy is known as Butter chicken or murgh makhani. It was invented by Kundan lal Gujral, who was the owner of a popular restaurant named Moti Mahal in Delhi.
The restaurant which had large orders of tandoori chicken throughout the day would typically end up with lot of leftovers which were turned into this amazing rich gravy the next day.
Preparation for Butter chicken
You can make these on the previous day if you feel the butter chicken recipe is elaborate. I made it on the same day:
1. Marinate the chicken and refrigerate.
2. Make the Punjabi garam masala powder or decide on a good garam masala.
3. Puree the tomatoes & cashews in a blender until smooth. Filter through a colander to remove the skin and seeds.
4. If you do not own a powerful blender then soak the almonds or cashews for 1 to 2 hours and use.
5. The color of your gravy may differ based on your red chili powder. You may want to arrange for a good chili powder that is less hot like kashmiri chilli powder.
Marinating
1. Marinating chicken helps to make it soft and tasty. Wash chicken and pat it dry. Make sure there is no excess water in the chicken. Marinate with lemon juice, chili powder and salt.
2. Set this aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Go ahead with the second marination. Marinate with fresh yogurt, ginger garlic paste, crushed kasuri methi, oil, turmeric and garam masala.
4. Marinate and refrigerate for atleast 12 hours. The longer it is marinated, the meat turns softer and just melts in the mouth. Do not use sour yogurt/ curd.
5. Grill the chicken in the oven or stove top. For grilling in oven, preheat the oven to 240 C for at least 15 minutes. Skew the chicken on to soaked wooden skewers or place on a greased tray and grill for 20 to 30 minutes. In between you will have to flip to the undone side.
6. If grilling chicken on tawa. Add one tsp. butter and fry on high. Moisture begins to ooze out. This is very common. Keep stirring don’t burn and do not over cook.
7. Cook till the chicken is just done and all the moisture evaporates. Set this aside. You can even saute till the chunks turn lightly golden.
How to make Indian butter chicken
8. Heat butter in a pan, add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Saute for a min or two. Add ginger garlic paste, green chilies and fry for 2 to 3 minutes till the raw smell goes off. (I did not use green chilies since my kids still cannot tolerate the heat.)
9. Pour the tomato puree. Add red chili powder, sugar and salt.
10. Mix and cook till the tomato puree becomes thick and begins to leave the pan.
11. Pour 1 cup water. I made my cashew paste separately so added it now. Let it come to a boil and then simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
12. Add chicken and simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes till it becomes tender. The cook time may vary depending on how tender your meat is. I check with a fork, the piece just breaks upon piercing. Check the salt and spice. Adjust as needed.
13. Add garam masala and crushed kasuri methi. You can adjust the consistency by adding more water, if the gravy is very thick. Mix well and simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes. Then add chilled cream. Switch off the stove.
or Take a small portion of hot gravy and add it to the cream first. Mix and then pour the cream to the curry. This prevents cream from curdling. Take care not to cook longer after adding cream.
Garnish butter chicken with cream and coriander leaves.
How is butter chicken made?
To make an authentic butter chicken recipe, First we need to marinate the chicken & then grill it. This can be done either in a pan, tandoor or oven.
Next cook it up in the rich buttery tomato cashew gravy. Lastly add some cream to make it creamy & delicious.
The recipe shared in this post is an authentic one, except grilling in tandoor.
Not every one of us would be able to grill chicken in a tandoor or in a oven. So for this post I have done it in a pan. If possible you can follow the dungar method to smoke the chicken once it is roasted in a pan.
Tips to make butter chicken
- 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 so is this butter chicken recipe. Using onion changes the taste of the dish.
- 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.
Serving suggestions for butter chicken
It is best served with Jeera rice , plain basmati rice, roti, naan or paratha .
More chicken recipes
Chilli chicken
chicken curry
Chicken masala
tandoori chicken
Recipe card
Butter chicken recipe (chicken makhani)
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
First marination
- ½ kg chicken (or 1 lb.) (preferably boneless)
- ¾ tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Red chili powder or paprika
Second marination
- ¾ teaspoon kasuri methi Optional (dried fenugreek leaves)
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- ¾ tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ½ cup greek yogurt or hung curd (thick curd, refer notes)
for gravy
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 cinnamon (2 inch piece, dalchini)
- 2 green cardamoms (elaichi)
- 2 cloves (laung)
- 1 to 2 green chilies (slit or sliced, optional)
- 4 large tomatoes pureed (400 to 500 grams)
- 16 to 18 cashew nuts or blanched soaked almonds (refer notes)
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder or paprika (adjust to suit your taste and color)
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ tablespoon kasuri methi crushed or powdered dried fenugreek leaves
- ¼ tablespoon sugar
- salt as needed
- 80 to 100 ml chilled cream (heavy cream or whipping cream, refer the notes)
- 2 tbsp Coriander leaves for garnishing
Instructions
Preparation for chicken makhani
- First marinate chicken with lemon juice, chili powder and salt for 20 minutes.
- Next marinate again with yogurt, kasuri methi, oil, turmeric, ginger garlic paste, and garam masala powder.
- Cover & rest in the refrigerator for atleast 12 hours. You can keep it as long as 48 hours. The longer the chicken rests in the marinade, the more tender it will be after cooking.
- Add the cashews to a blender jar along with tomatoes. Make a smooth puree.
- If the puree is not smooth, then pass it through a filter. Set this aside.
- Also make the ginger garlic paste.
Grilling or roasting chicken
- Grill the chicken in an oven or stove top.
- For stove top method, Add one tsp butter to a pan and add the marinade.
- Fry on high flame till all the moisture evaporates.
- To grill it in oven, preheat the oven to 240 C for at least 20 mins.
- Grill it until the meat is cooked through & is tender. It may take about 20 to 30 mins depending on the size of your chicken chunks. Ensure chicken is tender at this stage.
How to make butter chicken
- Heat a pan with butter & saute cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms for a min.
- Add ginger garlic paste, green chilies and fry till it turns fragrant.
- Next pour the tomato cashew puree.
- Add red chili powder, sugar and salt.
- Mix and cook until the tomato puree becomes thick.
- It also begins to leave the sides of the pan.
- Pour 1 cup water. Add more or less water to suit your desired consistency.
- Bring the mix to a boil and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add chicken and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Butter chicken should become soft and tender. Add garam masala and kasuri methi.
- Stir and simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour chilled cream and switch off the stove.
- Garnish butter chicken with coriander leaves and extra cream if desired. Serve with long grain rice or naan or paratha.
Notes
- If you are using a young chicken, 4 hours of marination works. I have always found that the size of the chicken matters a lot. So if using larger sized or older chicken then rest it in the marinade for atleast 12 to 16 hours. This is the key to tender butter chicken.
- Curd/yogurt: If you do not have hung curd or greek yogurt, you can use thick yogurt too, but the cooking time increases slightly.
- Cream: You may use whipping cream/ heavy cream, thickened cream or sterilized cream. You can also use low fat cream but the gravy won’t be very rich. Chill the cream and add it to the gravy. Turn off the stove otherwise the gravy may split. or Take a small amount of hot gravy and add it to the cream in a separate bowl. Stir well. Then add the cream to the pan. This also helps to prevent curdling the cream.
- If using almonds, soak them in hot water for an hour and remove the skin.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Turns so delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe. 👍
Glad to know!
Thanks for the recipe ,I just wanted to ask you that at last you add cream to the curry what cream is that which you add to the curry?
Hi Ellie
Use whipping cream/ heavy cream, thickened cream or sterilized cream.
Swasthi, thank you soooo much for this wonderful recipe! I did add a bit extra spice and used sweetener not sugar and it tastes exactly like what I get in the Indian restaurants here in Canada! I’m a Caucasian and I can’t wait to show my friends that I can now make excellent butter chicken!
Hello!
That’s great to hear! Thank you so much for leaving a comment
Thanks for the recipe..it was very easy and delicious..my kids loved it..I am definitely making it again
Glad to know Shivani
Thank you
THANK YOU for this delicious and easy-to-follow recipe. I had never made Indian food and was afraid I would mess this up, but truly this is one of the best things I have ever made or tasted in my life. I just made it last weekend and I already have chicken marinating to make it again tomorrow (I am doubling it this time!). So much depth of flavor and so fragrant. I am utterly obsessed with it and I will be making it every week for a long time, I am sure. My family loved it also. It’s absolutely perfect.
Hello Grace
Awesome! So happy to know that.
Thank you so much!
Hello Swasthi, I have made this recipe quite a lot and it is always a huge hit with my family, I have to tripple it as everyone always wants seconds. I would like to know if it is possible to use a 28oz can of whole tomatoes in place of the fresh tomatoes and would the end result taste the same?
Hello Angela,
Glad to know! I don’t have much experience with tinned/canned foods. But I have tried this recipe a lot of times with this tomato puree. This bottle has 500 grams puree. It turns out tart so I increase the cashews to 30. I also increase the quantity of garam masala, red chilli, ginger garlic, sugar and salt to almost 1.5 times. It works out just fine. Hope this helps
Hi Swasthi you have the most amazing exhausting list of super recipes. Why can’t you put a link to the recipe video at the beginning of each recipe title so we don’t waste tkme scrolling over n over looking gir a video to share with someone. Thanks for your help!!!
Hi Grace,
Thank you so much!
Yes sure, I have noted it. I will try to do
Is there any way I could substitute fenugreek seeds for leaves in this recipe? Where I live it’s impossible to get the leaves
No! There is no substitute. You may skip it
what kind of cream are you using? heavy cream? or do you have an approx. fat content?
Yes use heavy cream
I made this recipe for the first time and honestly it was delicious. My husband and i love Indian food and this was perfect thanks
Welcome! That’s great to hear!
I have made this recipe many times for my family, it’s a favourite. My grandchildren request it often ages 7yrs 4yrs. I lived in India for 10 years, took many cookery classes, your recipes and directions are the best. Thank you for sharing,
That’s awesome! So happy to hear the kids love it. Thank you so much for leaving a comment.
🙂
Looks good gonna make it but am I crazy I read this 4 times and it dosnt say how many tomatoes are in it for the paste do I use one or 10? And what kind?
Hi Drew,
I have mentioned it in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Use 4 large tomatoes, about 400 to 500 grams. Any ripe pulpy tomatoes are good for this.
Love your recipes
Thanks Neeta
Hi – I have made this recipe as is before and it is wonderful. I am trying to eat less meat so I was thinking about doing it with shrimp instead, which I would think might change the marination. Do you have any thoughts on how to tweak this to make with the shrimp? Would I potentially do the second marination step but for much less time? I had thought about not marinating them at all, but I worry I would miss out on the flavors of the yogurt, etc. Any ideas? Thanks!
Hi Maya,
Glad to know! I haven’t tried this anytime with shrimp but it should turn out good. You need to cut down the marination time and ingredients too. I think 5 mins for the first marination another 15 mins for the second is just good enough. Also note that marinating them too long will make them mushy and overcooking can make them hard. Hope this helps
Is it just me or did this recipe change?
Hi Billie,
This is the same recipe ever since I first posted.
Thank you so much for this recipe! We used to use a spice mix for butter chicken, but since moving to another country, we haven’t been able to find the right one, so I finally gave up and decided to try and make it myself.
The first recipe I found was absolutely terrible, and tasted like nothing, but this is great, and my husband gave me permission to make it again, which I absolutely will, so thank you! ❤️
Glad to know Rebecca
Thanks for leaving a comment.
🙂
What kind of green chiles do you use?
Hi Nikki,
I use Thai chilies. You can skip them if you don’t have.
Absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe closely, but did substitute a can of whole tomatoes for fresh given the season.
Glad to know Clayton
Thank you!
Thank you for the recipe! Amazing!
Welcome Liyi Ten
Hi Swasthi!
I really want to try this recipe! You have a nice website!
1) The quantities of ingredientes mentioned in the recipe card, are that standardized tablespoons and teaspoons? For example I have a set of measuring spoons where a Tablespoon is 15 ml and a Teaspoon is 5 ml. When I compare the quantities in the recipe card with the photos above it seems not the same. For example, for the sauce it says to use 1 TEAspoon of ginger garlic paste, but in the picture it seems more like a tablespoon.
2) Are the quantities in the recipe card “heaped” or “leveled” table/teaspoons?
3) Of all the side dishes you mention, what is the most common side dish in India to eat Butter Chicken with? Rice, Naan, Roti, Paratha, …?
Many thanks!
Hi Mabesi,
Yes 1 tbsp is 15 ml and 1 tsp is 5 ml (leveled). I have used one tsp for the sauce. Sometimes due to the kind of lens or the angle of the photography the quantities may look more or less. I would suggest not to focus on the quantities shown in the pictures. They are for process and not for exact quantities. In restaurants we eat it with naan but at home with roti or parathas. It’s a personal choice.
This was such a wonderful recipe. I made this for my parents dinner(neither of them eat much international cuisine) & they went back for seconds and thirds! I did add 1/2 of a finely diced shallot to butter & spices. Wow! I served this with jasmine rice and homemade garlic naan. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you for sharing
Hi Ncaughneeto,
Glad to know your parents loved it. Thanks for leaving a comment.