Butter Chicken is a curry, cooked with chicken in a rich sauce made with butter. In the Northern part of India, they are known as ‘Murgh Makhani’.

It is a popular dish among Indians and other foreigners because of it being a less spicy and creamy delicacy.

It is a perfect fix for your impromptu party at home or when guests arrive in, unexpectedly as this recipe would demand no rarely available ingredients. Bonus, the whole process can be easily made with ingredients available in the pantry with just a few steps.

Butter chicken is one of the dishes that are most famous with ‘Restaurant wala Indian’s, and a very mildly spiced Indian dish you can always go for it!

This famous restaurant-style dish is overdone in some restaurants, which may taste ‘oh, so delish!’ at the moment may sometimes turn out to be the worst nightmare. yay! but don’t worry that’s being sorted out here in this recipe.

Ok, let me tell you the interesting part of how the butter chicken came into existence!

History behind Victory

This accidental recipe is first prepared by a chef in Moti mahal in Delhi !

what?! Accidental!

you read it right.

surprised? me too!

This accidental dish succeeded by adding leftover chicken in tomato gravy rich in butter and cream.

Now, you would understand why you shouldn’t skip the marination step here in this recipe.

To know more about its sweet history head on to Wikipedia

Picking the right amount just for you!

It might be a ‘BUTTER’ chicken, but anything more than the required amount is not good right? Come on, ya. Who wants to be a victim of overdosed butter dishes? Sound like you?

The recipe curated here is the right amount. So, trust me you don’t want to worry about bloating!

Searching for any other vegetarian option dish for your guests? Try out our Rajma Masala recipe

How Easy, it is to make Murgh Makhani (Butter chicken)

Its one of the simplest and Easiest way to make because, butter chicken ingredients are readily available in your pantry so, that you could fulfil your cravings almost at any time of the day.

It’s one of the quickest recipes to make if you have the marinade handy. If not, the cooking time and marination might take a bit longer. You might be worried and ask for how long? But, trust me not too long!

I have covered marination details below, don’t forget to take a clear read, friend!

Getting the creamy butter chicken (Murgh Makhani) right!

Ready to dive into creamy deliciousness? Here you go!

Chicken in a creamy, mildly spiced tomato sauce. A famous restaurant style recipe, right here for you!-

GUIDENCE TO MARINATION

Clean the chicken and wash it thoroughly in cold running water. If you are using chicken after freezing, make sure it’s entirely at room temperature.
Collect all the Ingredients ready for marination.
In a bowl, add all the ingredients for marination, ginger garlic paste, chilly powder, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, and salt, add chicken, curd and at last, give it a mix with all of them and close it with a lid and leave overnight in the fridge. I mentioned the refrigerator, not in the freezer.
You could also store them in your chiller if you have that extra time for thawing.
You may be short of time under some situations, but I still recommend you to marinate them at least for 1 hour, as the marination gives a juicy texture to the chicken and authentic taste.

GUIDENCE TO MAKING GRAVY

Take the marinated chicken out of the refrigerator and give it some time to return to the average temperature.
Switch on the stove, and keep the Non-stick pan over it. Let it become warm. Now, add butter to it. Make sure not to brown the butter.
Now add the marinated chicken and roast them well in butter till the sides get golden in colour. Always make sure the chicken is at room temperature before cooking.
Chop onions, tomatoes, chillies and keep aside.
Remove the chicken from the pan, once it is cooked add the chopped onions to it and cook till translucent.
Now add the tomatoes, chillies and cook till tomato loses its state.
Let it cool for sometimes.
Now, add them in a mixie jar and grind them to fine paste once it is cooled.
Transfer the puree to separate container.
Add 1 tbsp butter to the same pan and heat it.
Now, add Kasuri Methi/ Fenugreek leaves to it.
At this time, Add red chilly powder and take care not to burn it. Then add the ground mixture along with it.
Add chicken and cook for a minute.
Meanwhile, make a smooth paste out of cashews.
Add the cashew paste to the chicken.
Now add cumin, coriander and garam masala powder to it.
Mix them well and add 1/2 cup of fresh cream.
Simmer it, till it boils, and tiny bubbles appear.
Sprinkle it with some coriander and top it with that extra cream if needed so.

Tips

Always thaw the chicken before cooking, else it may cause any food poisoning.
Drain the water after washing thoroughly; otherwise, the marination will be watery and makes it difficult for the spices to bind the chicken.
For marination, use lemon juice if your curd is not slightly sour. I recommend to marinate it for a minimum of 1-hour marination.
while marinating for an hour, you need not allow to stay it in refrigerator
Alternatively, You could also try marinating the chicken overnight as I did here.
You can also substitute ghee in place of Butter.
Avoid adding cream while cooking on high heat; it might make the cream to curdle.