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Butter chicken, also known as murgh makhani, is an original curry-based Indian dish that combines a spiced tomato and butter sauce with chicken. Its sauce is well-known for its creamy texture. It’s comparable to chicken tikka masala, which also includes tomato paste. The butter chicken recipe has been widely adopted by a plethora of cuisine across Africa and Europe.
Origin Of Butter Chicken
Kundan Lal Jaggi and Kundan Lal Gujral, proprietors of the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi, India, created this recipe in the 1950s. The curry was created “by happenstance” by combining leftover tandoori chicken in a buttery tomato gravy. Murgh makhanii (Tandoori chicken fried in butter and tomato sauce) was released in 1974.
The English phrase “butter chicken” curry first appeared in print in 1975, as a house specialty at Gaylord Indian restaurant in Manhattan. It can be found as a filling in pizza, poutine, wraps, roti, or rolls in Toronto and the Caribbean, and as a pie filling in Australia and New Zealand. Butter Chicken is widely consumed in India and many other countries.
How To Make Butter Chicken
For several hours, the chicken is marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, dahi (yogurt), Kashmiri red Chile, salt, garam masala, ginger paste, and garlic paste.
The marinated chicken is traditionally cooked in a tandoor, an ancient clay oven, although it can also be grilled, oven-roasted, or pan-fried. It is served in a mild curry sauce with butter. The sauce is made with tomato, garlic, and ginger and is cooked until smooth and most of the water has disappeared.
There are numerous variants in the sauce’s composition and spicing, which is sieved to make it silky smooth. Spices such as cardamom, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, pepper, garam masala, and fenugreek may be used. Cashew paste is used as a thickening, and it is finished with coriander.
What To Serve With Butter Chicken
- Cooked basmati rice.
- Naan bread.
- Mango chutney or lime pickle.
- Fresh coriander.
- Lime wedges.
Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 500 g skinless boneless chicken thighs
For the marinade
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1-2 tsp hot chilli powder
- 200 g natural yogurt
For the curry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 green chilli deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
- thumb-sized piece ginger grated
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp ground fenugreek
- 3 tbsp tomato purée
- 300 ml chicken stock
- 50 g flaked almonds toasted
- To serve optional
- cooked basmati rice
- naan bread
- mango chutney or lime pickle
- fresh coriander
- lime wedges
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients with some seasoning. Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and toss with the marinade. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1 hr or overnight.
- In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, green chilli, ginger and some seasoning. Fry on a medium heat for 10 mins or until soft.
- Add the spices with the tomato purée, cook for a further 2 mins until fragrant, then add the stock and marinated chicken. Cook for 15 mins, then add any remaining marinade left in the bowl. Simmer for 5 mins, then sprinkle with the toasted almonds. Serve with rice, naan bread, chutney, coriander and lime wedges, if you like.
