Butter chicken recipe – This post will guide you how 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.
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.
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
Butter chicken recipe
Butter chicken recipe (chicken makhani)
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
First marination for butter chicken recipe
- 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)
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric or haldi
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 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 (or dalchini)
- 2 green cardamoms (or elaichi)
- 2 cloves (or laung)
- 1 to 2 green chilies slit
- 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 powder
- ½ tablespoon kasuri methi crushed or powdered dried fenugreek leaves
- ¼ tablespoon sugar
- salt as needed
- 80 to 100 ml chilled cream (refer the notes)
- 2 tbsp Coriander leaves for garnishing
How to make the recipe
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.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Notes
If you are a beginner or new to Indian cooking, I highly suggest you to check the supporting step by step photos for best results. Step by step photos with description available below after the recipe card.
Preparation
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.
emily easterling says
Making your recipe today after making my first indian dish yesterday (meen kulambu, omg it turned out so well). Love your recipe and how you give us so many tips not to screw it up!
swasthi says
Hi Emily,
Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy the butter chicken.
🙂
Becca says
Thank you for this recipe Swasthi, it’s a winner!
I made it today, following the instructions almost exactly, except I subbed one can of diced tomatoes for the fresh tomatoes, and I worried it wasn’t quite enough so I added a tbs of tomato paste.
It turned out really delicious, the best butter chicken I’ve made so far. The only thing was that the chicken wasn’t super tender. It wasn’t tough, but I would like to know how to get it more tender. Would cooking it longer make it softer or harder? I only marinated it for four hours so next time I would try overnight.
Thanks so much for this keeper!!
swasthi says
Hi Becca,
You are welcome! Sorry for the late reply. Glad your butter chicken turned out good. The longer the chicken rests in the marinade the more tender and softer it will turn. I have made this recipe many times with even 24 hours resting. It just turns extremely tender. If the chicken is old or is a larger one, then short time of marination does not work well. Sometimes sourness in the yogurt makes the older chicken more hard and rubbery. I would suggest marinating it longer may be for 12 to 16 hours. It can be kept upto 48 hours. I will update the recipe with more tips. Thank you so much! Hope this helps.
Rach says
Hi!
I have just started making this – I did the marinade last night and have just made the tomato and cashew puree. I have a few questions. First, do we use all the marinade from the chicken, or only cook the chicken and any marinade left in the container/bowl throw out? Then, with the puree, I see that you did your cashew paste separate and I wish I did this because the cashews don’t puree fine enough in my blender and are mixed in with the skin and seeds from the tomato. For next time, can we scald and remove skin from tomato first? And would a mortar and pestle be ok to do the cashew paste. Lastly, I’ve made double the sauce – so my pan will need to be big. Is there a certain type of pan that should be used (would a saucepan be ok or is a large frypan better?)
swasthi says
Hi Rach,
1.Yes you will have to cook/grill the chicken along with the marinade. Use up the whole marinade.
2.I have mentioned in the recipe to filter/strain the puree if it is not smooth. I have mentioned to blend cashews and tomatoes together as it is easier for the cashews to become smoother with tomatoes. Blending only 16 cashews (mentioned in the recipe) to a smooth puree or paste is very hard. You can soak the cashews for 30 mins in hot water and blend them for a smoother texture.
3. To make the sauce you can use a deep pan or pot.
Hope this helps
Kaye says
Thanks for this excellent recipe. I reduced the amount of hot spices to about 1/4 of what is listed and the result was flavourful without being too hot. I think adding the kasuri methi brings a different flavour to it which I really enjoyed.
Thank you for sharing this recipe and making it easy for a person like me who is new to cooking Indian dishes. The pictures were very helpful! I will definitely be sharing your recipe with my friends so they can try it out too 🙂
swasthi says
Hi Kaye,
You are welcome. So glad your butter chicken turned out delicious. Thanks much for your time to comment back here.
🙂
Martina says
Hi! Can I use whole cream yogurt? I am now marinating the chicken when I read that do not use sour yogurt.. if not, what can I do since its already marinating and I have a big batch in the chiller right now. Is it also ok not to use cardamom? Thank you!
swasthi says
Hi Martina,
Is whole cream yogurt the same as whole milk or full fat yogurt? The only reason not to use sour yogurt is butter chicken will turn out too sour. Since there are also a lot of tomatoes used in the recipe. You can skip the cardamoms. If the dish turns out sour, then just add in some more cream or cashew paste. Hope this helps
Martina says
Sorry.. i meant whole milk yogurt.. I’ll be cooking this in a while.. so can I lessen the tomatoes? Or stick with the measurement of tomatoes and just add more cashews? Thanks so much for ur quick response!
swasthi says
Hi Martina,
Yes whole milk yogurt is fine. I wouldn’t suggest reducing the tomatoes. You can blend some extra cashews with water and set aside. Towards the end may be if the dish turns sour then just pour this and simmer for a while. Just ensure the cashews are ground fine.
Jessy says
Hello Swasthi,
Tried the butter chicken recipe. It came out damn good . I also did the smoking with the dhungar method you mentioned. The flavor came out in restaurant style .thank you very much
swasthi says
Hi Jessy,
You are welcome. Glad you liked it. Thank you!
Damini Gairola says
Hey Swasthi!
Is there a possibility for me to replace the garam masala with something?
Thank you and appreciate your help
swasthi says
Hi Damini,
May be curry powder or tandoori masala works. Not sure about the flavors. Butter chicken should have mild flavor of spices.
Dhanya Saseendran says
Came out well.
swasthi says
Thanks Dhanya Saseendran
Glad it came out good.
Rosita says
Hi, I would like to try this recipe.
What type of cream did you use or would you suggest? Thanks.
swasthi says
Hi Rosita,
Heavy cream is best. If not then use whipping cream.Hope you enjoy the butter chicken.
Kyle says
What kind of cream are you using? There are half n half, light cream, whipping cream, and heavy cream. Oh I came across something called puck cream. I made your butter chicken and it was a hit with the family. My naan and jeera rice are also from your recipe. They are so good. My wife likes it but she knows it will be better when I cook this more often.
swasthi says
Hi Kyle,
Haha! So glad to know your wife liked the dishes. I suggest using heavy cream. The next choice would be whipping cream. When I made butter chicken for the post I used sterilized cream since I had only that. Thanks much for the comment! Hope you make these often for your wife!
🙂
Jane says
I made a couple of errors here. Afterwards, I saw in the pictures how thick the tomato sauce mixture had been reduced to before adding the water. Mine was much thinner. I reduced all to a thicker consistency. I also added the garam masala and fenugreek leaves too early. I’m not sure how much of a difference that made. Lastly, I should have tasted the red chili powder before I added it (I purchased from our Indian grocer and they said it was the mild one). Despite not using the green chilies it was lip burning spicy and I like spicy. I didn’t have cream so I used coconut cream which worked well. I will try again the right way and adjusting the red chili powder. I’m sure is a five star for the very hot spice lover.
swasthi says
Hi Jane,
Thanks for trying. The first few errors – not reducing the tomatoes and then adding garam masala early will not affect much. I think the whole thing went wrong with the chilli powder. Indian grocer sells chilli powders with varying levels of heat. It may be a very hot one. If you do not have cream you should have added more cashews or almonds to the puree. That would also balance the heat. Are you sure you added 1 tsp and not tbsp of chilli powder? Next attempt, pls cut down the chilli powder to half. Hope this helps.
jane says
Good morning Swasthi, Yes it was a tsp for sure that I used. Thank you very much for your feedback and tips. My kids have requested an Indian Food Dinner for the holidays instead of our traditional turkey dinner. I will happlily be making your butter chicken again. This is usually a fairly epic event in our house and a three day cook-a-thon. Could you suggest a few of your grand-party favourites? I would love to try a few new ones. Thank you!
swasthi says
Good Morning Jane,
You are welcome. That’s great! I have sent an email with a detailed Indian dinner menu. Hope it helps. Have a great time!
Jane says
Thank you kindly Swasthi! I did receive it and look forward to trying some.
Manna Deb says
If I don’t have dry kasori methi then what should i use ?
swasthi says
Hi Manna,
Just skip it. Add lots of coriander leaves towards the end.
Nitu says
I made the same for my office gathering…everyone praised a lot…tastes like the restaurant. THANK YOU FOR SHARING IT.
swasthi says
Hi Nitu,
You are welcome! Glad it turned out good. Thanks much for the comment!
🙂
Prema Shetty says
Hiii Swati Madam
I made the dish for weekend party.
Really people like too much this recipe and raat.
Thank you so much.glad your butter chicken turned out amazing.
swasthi says
Hi Prema,
You are welcome. Thanks for the comment.
Annie Bottiglieri says
I just finished this recipe it is so good thank you so much for sharing I will always make it this way! I love Indian food and can’t wait to try your Biryani recipe.
swasthi says
Hi Annie,
Glad your butter chicken turned out good! Thanks much for the comment. Hope you enjoy the biryani too!
🙂
ANGELA A. BELLO says
I asked this same question about your butter chicken masala-can I make the entire dish in advance and heat up shortly before serving? Would there be a preference between the regular butter chicken and the butter chicken masala if making in advance?
swasthi says
Hi Angela,
Yes you can make the entire dish. Just don’t add the cream. Heat up before serving & then add the cream. I suggest you go with this butter chicken instead of the chicken butter masala. Hope this helps.
Cindy says
Hi Swasthi
I made the dish and it tasted great but my chicken wasn’t totally tender (breaking apart easily with a fork). Other than marinating overnight, are there any tips for during the cooking process, to ensure soft chicken?
Thanks so much,
Cindy
swasthi says
Hi Cindy,
You are welcome. But did you marinate the chicken overnight? I have made this for years and has never turned hard after marination.
Cindy Jadoo says
Hi Swasthi:
I tried the recipe again but this time used much smaller chicken pieces and it turned out a lot better. I think the bigger pieces took longer to cook through and then would dry out on the high flame. I made this for someone who loved it. Thank you. Cindy
swasthi says
You are welcome Cindy,
Chicken if not marinated enough, can turn hard,fibrous & hard due to the acidic ingredients in the marinade. You have to try this marinating the chicken overnight. I am sure you will be surprised at the results. If this also doesn’t work then please choose a younger bird. Thank you so much for the comment. If you need any further help please feel free to comment back here.
🙂
Koen says
Hello,
I had a problem baking the chicken. I used a normal pan and placed the chicken(filet in cubs) when the butter was hot. It left a lot of liquid and didn’t get the desired effect like I always want. I took it away after 10 minutes or so to not overdo it and now it has been in the gravy (which tastes nice) for at least 20 minutes and still no signs of being soft :'(.
Much love from Kinshasa, Congo!
swasthi says
Hi Koen,
Thanks for trying! You went wrong by under cooking the chicken in the first stage. Yes it does let out lot of moisture and you should grill it until the chicken is completely cooked through. Without this step you should not add it to the gravy. If the chicken is grilled on the stovetop, once the chicken is cooked well then evaporate the moisture completely. If grilled in oven, you can place the chicken on a wired rack and a tray beneath it to collect the juices. When the chicken is grilled well, then you can pour back the juices too in the gravy along with chicken. Hope this helps.
Meghan says
This recipe turned out amazing!! I never knew not to add onions… but turns out that omitting them made all the difference. This is the best butter chicken I’ve made, without question. My husband rated it 10/10 — a rare compliment from a discerning foodie 🙂
swasthi says
Hi Meghan,
Thank you so much! Glad your butter chicken turned out amazing. Yes omitting onions makes all the difference here. Thanks again!
🙂
Mario Marini says
Your recipe of butter chicken is somewhat close but not there yet. Let me tell you about myself. My father was an Italian diplomat posted to India from 1949 to 1970. (he opened the Embassy there with some other Diplomats from Rome.) I grew up in New Delhi and was educated in India. Every weekend our treat was to travel to Darya Ganj on a saturday for our evening meal. Our usual order consisted of Tandoori Chicken, Butter Chicken, Chicken Pakoras with Nan and Culcias and Kulfi ice creams. I can tell you that there were never any local Indian people eating there but only foreigners. We ate beside Germans from the German Embassy, French, a few English and a mixed bunch of other foreigners. I have excellent memories of the food served to us every week and can still taste the lovely Butter Chicken. Butter Chicken was made using full tandoori chickens and never with left over stale Tandoori Chickens. It was the best dish I’ve ever eaten in my life.. Your recipe comes very very close to the original. There were no Cashew nuts in it. Having said that, every single Indian restaurant that I’ve eaten in, since leaving India, all claim to have the original recipe, but know absolutely nothing about the real Butter Chicken never having tasted or eaten it. Even the top class Indian chefs never having eaten the real dish know nothing about it. The recipe was and still is a very closely guarded secret and was never ever revealed, even to a visiting German trade delegation that offered to buy the recipe and when refused, offered to build a chain of Indian food restaurants in Germany but the owner still refused. Moti Mahal was slated in the Indian press after that for putting blotting paper into his Kulfie ice creams, (a smear campaign that succeeded) the Kulfis that we ate there, even after the hallabaloo were always the same and the best. Unfortunately the bad press cost him his reputation. We still continued to eat there every week and the food was excellent. We finally left India for good in 1970. Your recipe is one of the closest yet. I went back to Moti Mahal after all these years but was disappointed as the Butter chicken was nothing like the original. Most wealthy Indians then as now, only ate in the big flashy Hotels and were never ever to be seen in a small open air restaurants especially in run down areas like Darya Gang, yet the fame of Moti Mahal still lingers on.
swasthi says
Hello Mario Marini,
Thank you so much for enlightening us about the origin of butter chicken! I am delighted & much excited as I read through the story. We, the younger generation know nothing much about the real story behind butter chicken. All the info I have shared about it is from sources like wikipedia or media.Thanks a ton for sharing this fabulous story with all of us. Me and my young kids enjoyed reading this.