Butter chicken recipe | How to make butter chicken

Butter chicken recipe – This post will guide you how to make butter chicken at home that tastes absolutely delicious, creamy and rich. Butter chicken 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.

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.

To make an authentic butter chicken recipe, First we need to grill the chicken. This can be done either in a pan, tandoor or oven. Next cook it up in the rich gravy. 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 on a pan.

You may also like to check this Easy chicken butter masala

Butter chicken recipe

Butter chicken recipe | Indian butter chicken recipe | Murgh makhani recipe

India's most popular creamy and unique tasting butter chicken recipe. Serve this with plain rice, naan or paratha.

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Course Main

Cuisine Indian, North Indian

Keyword easy butter chicken

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Marination 4 hours

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 4

Calories 477 kcal

Author Swasthi

Ingredients (240 ml cup used)

First marination

• ½ kg chicken (or 1 lb.) (bone-in or boneless)
• ¾ tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Red chili powder or paprika

Second marination

• ¾ tsp kasuri methi crushed or powdered dried fenugreek leaves
• 1/8 tsp turmeric or haldi
• ½ to ¾ tsp garam masala powder
• ¾ tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• ½ cup thick curd or hung yogurt (or greek yogurt, refer notes)

For the butter chicken gravy

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 cinnamon 2 inch (or dalchini)
• 2 green cardamoms (or elaichi)
• 2 cloves (or laung)
• pinch methi powder (fenugreek seeds powder)(optional)
• 1 to 2 green chilies slit
• 4 large tomatoes (pureed in the blender and filtered to remove skin and seeds) or tinned puree as needed
• 1 tsp red chili powder or paprika (adjust to suit your taste and color)
• 10 cashew nuts or blanched soaked almonds (refer notes)
• ½ to ¾ tsp garam masala powder
• ½ tbsp kasuri methi crushed or powdered dried fenugreek leaves
• ¼ tbsp sugar
• salt as needed
• 80 to 100 ml chilled cream (refer the notes)
• Coriander leaves for garnishing

How to make the recipe

Preparation for butter chicken recipe

1. Wash chicken under running water and pat dry. 

2. First marinate with lemon juice, chili powder and salt for 20 minutes.

3. Next marinate again with yogurt, kasuri methi, oil, turmeric, ginger garlic paste, and garam masala powder. 

4. Refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours. Overnight works best.

5. Soak almonds or cashews for 1 hour. Remove the skin and make a smooth paste with little water. You can also make it like thick milk.

6. Puree the tomatoes and set aside. Also make the ginger garlic paste.

How to make butter chicken

1. Grill the chicken in an oven or stove top. For stove top method, Add one tsp. butter and add the marinade. 
2. Fry on high flame till all the moisture evaporates. Keep stirring constantly to prevent burning. Cook till it is cooked. Transfer this to a plate and set aside. 

3. To grill it in oven, preheat the oven to 240 C for at least 20 mins. Grill it until the meat is cooked well. It may take about 20 to 30 mins depending on the size of your chicken chunks.

4. Heat a pan with butter. Add cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms. Fry for a min or two. 

5. Add ginger garlic paste, green chilies and fry till it turns fragrant.

6. Next pour the tomato puree. Add red chili powder, sugar and salt. 

7. Mix and cook until the tomato puree becomes thick. It also begins to leave the sides of the pan.

8. Pour 1 cup water. Add add methi powder, cashew or almond paste . Add more or less water to suit your desired consistency.

9. Bring the mix to a boil and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. 

10. Add kasuri methi and garam masala. or add at a later step for the best aroma.

11. Add chicken. Mix and simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes. The chicken should become soft and tender.

12. Add garam masala and kasuri methi. 

13. Stir and simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour chilled cream and switch off the stove.

14. Garnish butter chicken with coriander leaves and extra cream if desired. Serve with long grain rice or naan or paratha.

Recipe Notes

Curd/yogurt: If you do not have hung curd or greek yogurt, you can use thick yogurt too, but the cooking time takes a little longer.

cream: Chill the cream and add it to the gravy. Turn off the stove otherwise the gravy could look curdled.

or Take a small amount of hot gravy and add it to the cream in a seperate bowl. Stir well. Then add the cream to the pan. This also helps to prevent curdling the cream.

Nutrition Facts

Butter chicken recipe | Indian butter chicken recipe | Murgh makhani recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 477 Calories from Fat 333

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 37g 57%

Saturated Fat 15g 75%

Cholesterol 137mg 46%

Sodium 301mg 13%

Potassium 620mg 18%

Total Carbohydrates 10g 3%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 6g

Protein 24g 48%

Vitamin A 42.8%

Vitamin C 23.9%

Calcium 7.8%

Iron 10.8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

For more chicken curry recipes, you can also check this collection of top 10 chicken curry recipes

Indian butter chicken is best served with
Plain long grain rice that is grainy
Jeera rice
Mint / pudina rice
Ghee rice
Cashew pulao
Pulao
paratha , chapathi (roti), naan, phulka.

Preparation to make 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 in a blender and filter through a colander to remove the skin and seeds and refrigerate.

4. Make a smooth paste of the almonds (or cashew nuts or magaz seeds). If you do not own a powerful blender then soak the almonds or cashews for 1 to 2 hours. Blend them to a really very smooth paste.

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 & preparing for butter chicken recipe

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 at least 45 minutes. 3 hours is better but overnight does wonders. 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. Next add methi powder and almond paste. (It’s supposed to be almond paste, but became almond milk while blending). 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.