Best Butter Chicken is flavorful with a spice rub, a marinade and a creamy cashew sauce. It is rich in a healthy way and does not involve grilling in a tandoor oven. If necessity is the mother of invention, I would argue that the ubiquitous Butter Chicken may be India’s most prolific creation.
Origin:
The story behind the dish starts in Peshawar in pre-partition India. While the tandoor chicken has an origin story that can be traced back to prehistoric times when the humble tandoor oven was invented, the Butter Chicken was a consequence of economic choices. Left hanging with other sheekhs over a busy tandoor oven, chicken has an unfortunate tendency to dry out and become at best tasteless and dry, and at worse, somewhat inedible. Realizing this, the owner of the Moti Mahal, K.L Gujral came up with an astute idea of cooking the tandoor in a basic sauce of tomatoes, butter, cream, and spices that both rejuvenated the chicken but also had the added benefit of amplifying the tandoor flavors in a rich sauce.
Over the years, I’ve tried different versions of Butter Chicken. From different types of tandoor recipes to a smoked rose petal version, there are a myriad versions each with its own level of ingredients, preparation, and of course, effort. My recipe for the Best Butter Chicken is efficient and comes closest to the best version I’ve had in Delhi at the Mughal Mahal.
How to make the Best Butter Chicken:
- How to rub the chicken:
- Add the ingredients and rub onto the cubed chicken breasts and let it rest for 15 minutes.
2. How to make the marinade:
- Mix together the ingredients for the marinade.
- Add the chicken cubes and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. How to make the Best Butter Chicken:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and bake the marinated chicken pieces for 30 minutes on a wire rack placed on a baking tray or until the chicken is charred a little on the edges.
- Soak the cashew nuts in milk for 15 minutes and grind to fine paste.
- Wash the sliced onion in cold water to reduce the bite and purée it.
- Heat the pot with butter and add the star anise and black cardamom.
- Then, add the onion purée and sauté until caramelized for 2 minutes. Add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, and salt and sauté for 2 minutes on medium heat.
- Now add the tomato purée and Kashmiri red chili powder. Cover with the lid, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add a cup of water and the jaggery and let it simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the baked chicken pieces and cook on medium heat for a minute.
- Finally, add the fenugreek leaves, garam masala, the cashew cream and whisked Greek yogurt.
- Turn off the heat. Garnish with some cashew cream, cilantro, cashews and saffron. Serve hot with naan, roti or rice.
1. Puréed onion must be sautéed for a couple of minutes to eliminate the raw smell and taste.
2. Chicken pieces can either be grilled or baked for this recipe. Slightly charred edges on the chicken pieces give a more authentic and best taste to the Butter Chicken without the use of a tandoor oven.
3. Saffron and dried fenugreek leaves are optional.
Storing:
This Butter Chicken tastes best when eaten within a couple of days of making it. Leftovers can be frozen for three months in airtight containers. It can also be made a couple of days ahead of any occasion. Try the Chicken Galouti Kebab if you enjoy Indian chicken dishes!
Best Butter Chicken
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
For the rub:
- 1¾ lb chicken breasts
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tsp white pepper ground
- 1½ tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
For the marinade:
- 1 tsp birds eye chili minced
- ½ tsp cumin ground
- coriander ground
- 1½ tbsp Greek yogurt
- ¼ tsp turmeric ground
- ½ tsp rice flour
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
For the sauce:
- 1 cup cashew nuts
- 1½ cup whole milk
- 2 star anise
- 2 black cardamom
- 1 onion large
- 3 tomato puree
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted
- ¼ tsp turmeric ground
- 1½ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves
- ½ tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tbsp Greek yogurt nonfat
- ¼ tsp jaggery powdered
- ½ tsp saffron strands
- few sprigs cilantro
Instructions
How to rub the chicken:
- Add the ingredients and rub onto the cubed chicken breasts and let it rest for 15 minutes.
How to make the marinade:
- Mix together the ingredients for the marinade.
- Add the chicken cubes and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
How to make the butter chicken:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and bake the marinated chicken pieces for 30 minutes on a wire rack placed on a baking tray or until the edges of the chicken are charred a little.
- Soak the cashew nuts in milk for 15 minutes and grind to fine paste.
- Wash the sliced onion in cold water to reduce the bite and purée it.
- Heat the pot with butter and add star anise and black cardamom.
- Then, add the onion purée and sauté until caramelized for 2 minutes. Add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, coriander powder and salt and sauté for 2 minutes on medium heat.
- Now add the tomato purée and Kashmiri red chili powder. Cover with the lid, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add a cup of water and the jaggery and let it simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the baked chicken pieces and cook on medium heat for a minute.
- Finally, add the fenugreek leaves, garam masala, the cashew cream and whisked Greek yogurt.
- Turn off the heat. Garnish with some cashew cream, cilantro, cashews and saffron. Serve hot with naan, roti or rice.
Notes
- Substitute the cashew cream with whole cream based on your preference.
Nutrition
Hello, I have been following your blog for a few months. My family and I love curry and we tried this Butter chicken. It was very easy to make and it had a wonderful and creamy flavor. It was spicy but not hot. Tha nkyou very much. I will keep following
I am glad you liked the recipe, thank you for the wonderful comment!