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 or paratha .
More chicken recipes
Chilli chicken
chicken curry
Chicken masala
tandoori chicken
Butter chicken recipe
Butter chicken recipe | How to make butter chicken
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
First marination for butter chicken recipe
- ½ kg chicken (or 1 lb.) (bone-in or 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.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours. Overnight works best.
- 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. It may take about 20 to 30 mins depending on the size of your chicken chunks.
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 to 7 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
Notes
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 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. 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.
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.
Siddika says
Hi, thanks for this wonderful recipe. I have tried this and it turned out good. But I have across some recipes in which onions are added. So not sure will it taste better with onions or not
swasthi says
Hi Siddika,
Glad you liked it. This recipe is the actual butter chicken. With onion it is not butter chicken but is chicken butter masala. You can find the recipe here – chicken butter masala. Butter chicken is the richer version and chicken butter masala tastes different.
Carissa says
I was wondering how much “tinned puree” would be used instead of the four fresh tomatoes? I am going to double (or triple?) the gravy because my kids never get enough butter chicken sauce. Thank you in advance!
swasthi says
Hi Carissa,
I haven’t cooked anytime with tinned puree. I guess for every 400 to 500 grams tin, you can use about 20 cashews or almonds and then 1/4 cup cream. If the curry becomes too sour then just add in some more cream towards the end. You can use any amount of puree desired for the recipe. Just that you need to balance the tang with nuts and cream. Hope this helps
A. Popat says
Amazing!! I am very picky when it comes to my Indian food and want the best. This recipe actually blew me away because it was so good. Just like a fine dining establishment, but made at home. Absolutely fab! Thank you for posting.
swasthi says
Hi,
You are welcome! Glad your liked the butter chicken! Thank you!
Sylwia says
I still didn’t make this one but it looks great, I’m almost sure it will be great.
swasthi says
Thank you so much! Yes do try it! I am sure you will love it.
Mrs. Sulaya Coelho says
One of the best recipes online.i made it and family was like make it by drumfuls.. thank you very much and god bless you for sharing your knowledge.
swasthi says
Hi Mrs.Sulaya!
You are welcome. Glad your family liked the butter chicken. Thank you!
Vivek kurien says
I tried this recipe very good and accurate one
swasthi says
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Shreya Anilkumar says
Hi Swasthi,
All your recipes are delicious. Helps a lot when you live in UK and have to cook for self.
I just wanted to check with you what can be perfect substitute for nuts in all the gravy’s?
Thanking you.
Shreya
swasthi says
Hi Shreya,
You are welcome! Glad you like the recipes! Poppy seeds and Magaz seeds are a good substitutes to nuts. magaz are also known as melon seeds. Other substitutes would be yogurt or cream but they really don’t add that texture to the gravy. One more substitute is the fresh coconut. Tastes good but would be different from the nuts. If you decide which one to use then you can comment back here for the quantities to use. Hope these help.
Shreya Anilkumar says
Thank your quick response. X
Poppy seeds or melon seeds please.
How much should I put in and when?
Thanking you
Xx
swasthi says
I would suggest poppy seeds. Smell them before using to ensure they are not rancid. 2 tbsps of smooth paste can be used in place of 12 to 14 cashews in any recipe. You can roast them until crunchy, powder first and then add little water and make a fine paste. The other way is to soak them well for few hours. Then blend. We usually add the poppy paste towards the end. Simmer for just 2 to 3 mins or until the gravy turns thick. Hope this helps.
Shreya Anilkumar says
Thank you so much x
This was very useful. 😃
Anju says
Followed your butter chicken recipe as it is and result was finger licking good! Thank you!
swasthi says
Welcome Anju,
Glad you loved it!
Sri Tekumalla says
Thanks for the Awesome recipe.
swasthi says
Welcome Sri
Deanna says
Hello Swasthi,
Just found your blog and I am planning to make several recipes. They all look delicious! Can’t wait to try them. I was wondering if you had a recipe for naan bread. I can’t seem to find it. Thank you for your time.
swasthi says
Hi Deanna,
You are welcome. I do not have a naan bread recipe yet on the blog. I will be doing it soon. Thanks for being here. Hope you enjoy the recipes.
Egi says
Just wanted to say thank you, I’ve been cooking this recipe since 2015 though I slightly modified it: I got four kids so I more than doubled the chicken, plus they like to have more gravy so I more than tripled the spices and butter. Oh, and I use 75 cashews. Today I did not have enough cashews so I added almonds, I hope it will be fine.
Anyway, this is My daughters favorite meal and everyone who tasted it liked it.
swasthi says
Hi Egi,
Your are most welcome. Thank you so much! So happy to know you have been following this since 2015. Yes almonds work very well here. Hope you increased the tomatoes as well. Easy calculation for more gravy is to double or triple even the tomatoes along with other ingredients. Thanks again!
🙂
Tasneem mithi says
Thank u for this awesome recipe…..it taste restaurant types
Bigggggg fan of ur blog….I love all ur recipes and regular make them…. Sunday is egg bhurji regularly thank u
swasthi says
Welcome Tasneem
So happy to read your comment. Thank you so much! Glad you like the recipes.
🙂
Bill says
Where does the 10Grams of carbs come from?
Wish this was more Keto.
swasthi says
H Bill,
It comes form yogurt , butter and a bit from spice powders. I will check if it is possible to make it keto.
Nehal says
Ok, thanks dear, but please let me know , is it fine if I make the whole dish ready in the morning for dinne and add cream before serving ? And yes, red chilli means Kashmiri ??
swasthi says
Yes you can make it in the morning. Reheat until the chicken turns hot, then add the cream. Yes chilli powder is kashmiri. Hope you enjoy the butter chicken
Nehal says
Hi swasthi, I had tried 3 of your recipes till now and all were super hit! I am gonna try this one tomorrow, but one query , in marinating do you prefer any specific oil, like you did in tandoori and tikka- mustard and olive respectively? And is it fine if I use Rajwadi garam masala of Everest?
swasthi says
Hi Nehal,
Thanks for trying the recipes. For butter chicken, just go with any regular cooking oil – peanut, sunflower etc. I guess mustard oil alters the taste of the gravy. I use this homemade punjabi garam masala for butter chicken and it is highly recommended. I haven’t tested this recipe with any other masala as this is the only one I use for all my North Indian recipes. I am not sure how the flavors would come out. But I had a lot of readers saying they used ready made masala and still this turns out good. Hope this helps.
Reshmi says
Thanks so much for the butter Chicken recipe! Its a hit always !!♥️😘
swasthi says
Welcome Reshmi
Glad you liked it. Thank you so much!
🙂
Brenda says
Hi Swasthi,
I will be cooking this tomorrow. However can I omit the fenugreek leaves as I dont have them. And if I can replace it with other spices, what would it be? Can’t wait to try your recipe!
swasthi says
Hi Brenda,
Yes just omit the fenugreek leaves. There is no substitute to it. If you cook Indian food often, then try to buy it sometime. It really elevates the flavor of gravies a lot. Hope you enjoy the butter chicken.
🙂
Supriya Patil says
Hi Swasthi..
Tried your butter chicken recipe today for lunch… and my 6 yr old just loved it!!!
Your recipes have always turned out good..
Thank you for posting such detailed instructions with pictures.
Keep up the good work!!
swasthi says
Hi Supriya,
You are welcome. Glad your kid loved it. Thanks for trying the recipes.
🙂