Butter Chicken
Chicken that soaks up a curd marinade, then simmers in tomato, butter and cream until the gravy turns silky.
Ingredients
Tap an ingredient to check it off as you prep.
Cooking steps
Wash the chicken and cut it into pieces. In a mixing bowl, combine the curd, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, garam masala, Kashmiri red chilli powder, and salt. Add the chicken and mix well to coat. Marinate for a minimum of 1 hour.
Blend the tomatoes to a smooth purée to yield about 1 cup. Set aside.
Heat the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade and let it cook in its own masala for 4 minutes.
Into the same pan, add the tomato purée, salt, coriander powder, red chilli powder, and garam masala. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the fresh cream and honey. If needed, add a little water to adjust the consistency of the gravy. Simmer until the chicken is cooked completely.
Stir in the kasuri methi and serve hot.
Butter Chicken
- Cook the chicken in its own marinade first. Those four minutes in butter before the tomato goes in are where the masala grips the meat, so tip the bowl in with every scraping.
- Crush the kasuri methi between your palms on the way in. Whole leaves taste of hay; crushed, they release the smell that makes this taste like a restaurant.
- Honey is a corrector, not a sweetener. Taste first: a sharp tomato needs it, a ripe one does not.
- Cashew paste for fresh cream: soak 10 cashews, blend with 2 tablespoons of water. Same richness, thicker body, less dairy.
- Thighs for breast: boneless thighs stay tender through the simmer and forgive an extra five minutes.
- Oil for most of the butter: fry in oil and stir a spoon of butter through at the end. You keep the flavor and lose some of the fat.
- Keeps 3 days refrigerated and improves overnight as the masala settles into the chicken. Reheat on a low flame with a splash of water.
- Freezes for a month, but freeze it before the cream goes in. Cream splits on thawing, so stir it through fresh on reheating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make it without cream?
Yes. Full-fat curd works if you take the pan off the heat, stir it in slowly, then return it to a low flame. Straight into a boiling gravy it splits.
Is an hour of marinating really necessary?
Thirty minutes will do at a push, but the curd needs time to tenderise. Overnight in the fridge beats rushing it.
Why is my gravy orange rather than red?
Colour comes from Kashmiri red chilli powder, heat from ordinary chilli powder. Using only the ordinary kind makes it hotter and browner, never redder.
