Chicken butter masala recipe – An easy recipe to make delicious and creamy restaurant style Indian chicken butter masala under 30 mins. It goes great with butter naan, roti or even with jeera rice. It is similar to the north Indian or punjabi murgh makhani or the Butter chicken. But there are variations in making both the dishes.
To make punjabi murgh makhani, chicken is marinated in yogurt and then grilled. It is cooked in a tomato gravy without the use of onions. Then cream is used towards the end.
Chicken butter masala is made with an onion tomato gravy. The marinated chicken is just sauteed and then added to the onion tomato gravy. Then cream is poured to make it richer.
While the punjabi chicken makhani uses a stronger garam masala, chicken butter masala is made using milder spice powders. So a good chicken masala powder or garam masala is the main ingredient to make this recipe.
This chicken butter masala is best served Ghee rice, simple jeera rice or plain paratha..
Step-by-step photos
Preparation for chicken butter masala
1. Marinate chicken with 1 to 2 tbsp yogurt, red chilli powder, turmeric, ginger garlic paste, garam masala and salt. If you have time you can also leave it overnight in refrigerator, this is what I do.
2. Heat a pan with butter or oil. Saute onions until they turn pink. Just for the raw smell to go off.
3. Add tomatoes, sprinkle salt. Cook until they turn soft and mushy.
4. Add red chili powder, garam masala, coriander powder and cashews. If you do not want to use cream to this recipe then i suggest using a bit more of cashews.
5. Fry until the raw smell of the masala goes off.
6. Cool it and add to a blender with 3/4 to 1 cup water.
7. Blend to a smooth puree. This is the onion tomato base for the chicken butter masala.
How to make chicken butter masala recipe
8. Heat the same pan with butter. Saute 1 bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom.
9. Add ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell goes off completely.
10. Add the marinated chicken and a deseeded slit green chili if desired. On a medium high flame, fry until the chicken turns pale and white in color. Make sure the yogurt masala dries up now. Saute until the masala dries up. Usually chicken oozes out lot of moisture, that’s just normal . Continue to cook.
11. Add the puree now. You can also add more red chili powder and garam masala now if needed. Also adjust water as needed to bring the gravy to a consistency. I use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup water.
Take care not to add too much otherwise the gravy turns very thin. Simmer until the chicken is cooked completely, soft and tender. When you see the chicken is soft cooked, then add crushed kasuri methi. By the end of this step you must have a thick creamy and smooth gravy.
12. This step is optional. If you like you can use cream to suit your liking. For health reasons if you like to skip cream, you can just add a bit more of cashews at step 4.
Serve chicken butter masala hot with rice or paratha and a dollop of butter or cream topped over the curry.
Tips to make chicken butter masala
- Chicken butter masala can be made with boneless or bone-in chicken. However the restaurant style dish is made with boneless cubes.
- Marination is the key step to make flavorful, juicy, tender & succulent chicken. So do not skip the marination. You can rest the chicken for at least 45 mins. But over night is recommended for the best flavors & juicy chicken.
- To make the dish creamy & restaurant like, do use 3 tbsps of cream. If you do not have cream then just add in 6 to 8 more cashews. This sure will improve the texture of the gravy but will not give the same creamy texture as cream does.
- You can use any cream like whipping cream, cooking cream, heavy cream.
- Kasuri methi is another ingredient that lends a authentic Indian flavor to the chicken butter masala. If you do not have it just skip but you will surely miss out that unique aroma. Kasuri methi are dried fenugreek leaves and are easily available in the Indian stores.
- You can also make the onion tomato puree ahead & refrigerate. Just saute the chicken well and pour the puree. Cook the same following the instructions below when you are ready to consume.
More Chicken gravy
Chicken masala recipe
Chicken korma
Kolhapuri chicken
Chicken kurma
Recipe
Chicken butter masala
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Marination
- 500 grams chicken
- ½ to ¾ tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- Salt as needed
- 1 to 2 tbsp yogurt (or curd)
- ½ to ¾ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp turmeric (or haldi)
ingredients for gravy
- 1 tbsp butter or Oil
- 1 cups onions cubed , 3 medium
- 1½ cups tomatoes (3 large), finely chopped deseeded
- salt as needed
- 10 to 12 cashew nuts (or kaju)
- ½ to ¾ tsp garam masala powder
- ½ to ¾ tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp sugar (optional)
- 1 ½ tbsp Butter
- 1 bay leaf (or tej patta)
- 3 green cardamom (or elaichi)
- 2 to 3 cloves (or laung)
- 1 cinnamon stick (or dalchini) , small
- 1½ tsp ginger garlic paste
- ½ tsp kasuri methi (or dried fenugreek leaves)
- 3 tbsp cream ( for restaurant style)
- coriander leaves few , for garnish
How to make the recipe
Marinade
- To a large mixing bowl add chicken, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric, yogurt, garam masala & ginger garlic paste. Rub the spices well into the chicken and marinate well.
- Set aside until needed. To get juicy tender chicken you will need to rest this marinade in the fridge for atleast 45 minutes. For best results over night marination is needed.
How to make chicken butter masala
- Heat 1 tbsp butter or in a pan, fry onions till the raw smell goes away
- Saute tomatoes with salt until mushy.
- Add chili powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder along with cashews. Saute until the raw smell goes away.
- Cool and blend together with ¾ to 1 cup water.
- Heat the pan with more butter. Saute cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and cardamom for a minute.
- Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off.
- Next add marinated chicken. Saute on a medium high flame until the masala dries up.
- Pour the onion tomato puree. Adjust as needed chili powder and masala powder. Also adjust the consistency of gravy by adding more water if needed.
- Cook until the chicken turns tender & soft.
- Add kasuri methi, cream and stir well. You can skip cream by increasing the amount of cashews. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve Indian chicken butter masala with roti, butter naan or jeera rice.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
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.
Gwen says
Hi there,
So this is funny.. and strange, but I marinated my chicken with strawberry yogurt
(I did think through this and it went something like – “S*** I bought the wrong yogurt; but i’ve already chopped up the chicken; i guess i don’t have to marinade it overnight; it’s late; the stores are closed; but i WANT to marinade it overnight; i dont have time to run to the store or marinade tomorrow; i NEED to cook this dish tomorrow; should i? ; i’m sure it’s the effect of the yogurt and less the flavour; should work fine? eeh why not? ok im doing it”)
Any hint of how that might turn out? HAH
swasthi says
Hi Gwen,
Haha! It’s just 2 tbsps of yogurt so shouldn’t be a problem. Wipe off the marinade and discard in the morning before cooking. It would still have the strawberry flavor. But may not be that bad. Hope this helps.
Swati says
Thanks for your recipe.
How long should I cook the marinated chicken before adding the puree?
swasthi says
Welcome Swati
Saute until it turns white or pale in color.
Priyabrata says
The actual butter chicken that Moti Mahal of New Delhi developed was using tandoor chicken not marinated chicken. For serving of two 2 chicken tandoor wings can be used and rest recipe remains same. Moti Mahal has credited for developing the recipe. Even Chef Gordon Ramsay acknowledged the same
Shruthi says
Hi,
Thank you for the recipe. I tried it today’s… came out really yummy !!!
Best regards!!!
Marianna says
Dear Swasthi,
I tried your butter masala recipe today and it tasted incredible! Thank you so much, I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. 🙂
Mona says
First attempt at Butter chicken and it turned our perfectly! Instructions & pictures were so clear made it really easy to follow. It was a little time consuming but good use of my time in quarantine:-)
Wasn’t sure when to add the sugar so I skipped that; also I reduced the chilli powder for the kids but it was still tasty.
Your website is wonderful and I use it several times a week!
Mel says
Trying your Butter Chicken masala recipe. My first attempt at Indian cookery. I looked at many recipes,this one resonated. Chicken is marinating. I like spicy, wife likes mild. This is for her. I will spice mine when serving.
swasthi says
Hi Mel,
Thank you! Hope you both enjoy the dish!
ANGELA A. BELLO says
Can you please explain further about making this dish in advance…can I complete the entire dish and just warm it up shortly before serving?
swasthi says
Hi Angela,
Yes you can. I suggest you go with the butter chicken.
Arun says
If required spicy butter chicken recipe
With original test remaining
Not need sweet flavor
What to do?
swasthi says
Hi Arun,
Chicken butter masala is usually not made spicy. But if you prefer it to be spicy then just use a spicier kind of chilli powder.
Saachi says
Thank you So so much for your recipes.. recently I tried your coconut chutney and chicken butter masala recipe and it was amazing..have tried many other recipes in the past too and they all turned so good..my daughter always used to complain about the spice level in chicken curries that I made but this one she loved it.. thank you again..keep it up!!
swasthi says
Hi Saachi,
You are welcome. Glad you liked the recipes. Yes this is the best for those who can’t handle the heat. Thanks for the comment!
🙂
Atehcus says
Very good, easy to follow
swasthi says
Thank you
Geetha says
This is THE best butter chicken I have ever made. Came out really well. Chicken was absolutelyy juicy and overall was amazing taste. Can’t thank you enough for these wonderful receipes.
swasthi says
Welcome Geetha
Glad you like it. Thanks for the comment
Salman says
This very nice food
Faye says
I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out absolutely amazing!!.. my husband loved it soo much.. even my one year old.. *happy all round*.. no doubt this is my favourite website now!!!! :):):):):):) Thankyou so much for being so clear on the quantities, stating alternatives, and visuals too, makes cooking fun and easy..Youve inspired me x
swasthi says
Hi Faye,
You are welcome. So glad you all loved the curry. Thanks much for the comment.
🙂
Sree Kumar Kesavan says
Tried the recipe today.
Turned out awesome.
swasthi says
Thank you so much!
L says
Was a hit for the whole family…yummy.
Recipe was well layed out….easy to follow.
Thank you!
Aliona Kanevsky says
Hello, I have tried this recipe and it tasted great, the whole family loved it. Is it possible to to print this recipe?
Irene says
Hi Swasti,
First, I’d like to thank you a million times for your blog! It’s everything I want in Indian food, delicious and healthy too! I’d be lost without it! I love how you put everything out so simply and clearly and with pictures on top of all! They really do help to understand if I get confused in a particular part and to make sure, we are following the recipe correctly, it’s very thoughtful.
I’m actually from bangali descent but haven’t had the chance to learn much so by making your recipes constantly (they differ a bit from Indian obviously but still very similar at the end of the day), I have a been learning the bases of south Asian cuisine and now have a better understanding of the ingredients and flavour combinations, etc. For many recipes, i don’t even have to follow the exact recipe as I can add my own touch to them and adjust according to my liking.
Your butter chicken recipe is definitely my favorite one though, I made it many times and it’s such a hit every single time! I do have one question though, what would be the difference between the butter chicken and the butter masala? They are quite similar I see although the latter requires less marination and time. Is one more authentic than the other or taste better? I wanted to try the marsala but was wondering if it was worth it?
swasthi says
Hi Irene
You are welcome. Thanks a lot for taking time to comment here. I am so glad to know the recipes are helpful. Butter chicken is a authentic punjabi dish made without using onions and the chicken is grilled mostly in tandoor or electric oven. I have shown it by grilling in pan as most readers from India wouldn’t have a oven. But chicken butter masala uses onions and is not grilled. It is just sauteed in pan before adding to the gravy. Both the gravy tastes completely different. Yes it is worth to try. Hope this helps. Thanks again.
🙂
Murugan says
I tried most of the chicken recipes it was really great.
swasthi says
Thank you so much
Cha Tackett says
I would like to than you for this authentic recipe. I used to fly a lot to India during my flying career and it sure does hit home as this is one of my fave Indian dishes. Glad to have a local Indian supermarket called Namaste near me that completed all my ingredients as per your recipe. Followed everything to the t but because I have in mind to serve 13 people over dinner, I quantified the ingredients accordingly. During cooking time I had a friend who assisted me in the cleaning and was my taste tester and we both thought it was way too spicy- (must be the chili powder)! My husband also test tasted it and thought he wouldn’t be able to eat it. With caution I watered it down making sure it still has its rich consistency and yet I find it still spicy so I poured in a can of coconut milk instead of cream. I served this yesterday evening with 12 guests oohing and aahing in delight of this delicious dish. Even my husband in the end loved it. I have a few leftovers from the big pot I made and a couple of my friends are coming over for repeats! i am so happy and grateful to you!
swasthi says
Hi Cha Tackett,
Thanks for trying the recipe. Glad to know chicken butter masala turned out good.
For any Indian recipes, it is good to use a mild spicy kind of chilli powder. Byadgi or kashmiri are the 2 varieties that are mild in heat but lend a good color to the dish. I guess the chilli powder used by you was a spicy kind.
Really appreciate your comment here. Thanks again. Your comment made me happy!!
🙂
Chandra says
Hi,
I do not eat chicken. But I do cook it for my family and friends. The trickiest part of cooking chicken for me is to find the right balance of all the spices as I can’t taste-test the end product. I found your recipe online and it seemed simple enough, so I made this dish for my colleagues. I followed your recipe as is. They were raving about the dish! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’m making this again this week for our staff luncheon.
swasthi says
Hi Chandra,
Thanks a lot for writing. The comment made me very happy. I can understand how difficult it is to balance the spice and salt while cooking something we don’t eat. Appreciate your effort! Thanks again.
🙂
Jocelyne says
Can i use can tomato’s instead? I love this recipe and have made it with fresh tomatoes but thinking I may try it with can tomato’s ? Willthat change the flavour ?
swasthi says
Hi Jocelyne,
Thanks for trying.
Not sure if it turns out good. I haven’t tasted tomatoes from can anytime. So just wondering if it makes the gravy very sour. I think you can saute the tomato separately and add only as needed while making the gravy.