Butter Chicken - Murg Makhani

Butter Chicken is probably one of the most popular Indian chicken recipes liked by all. Butter chicken curry or murg makhani is a curry of chicken in a spiced tomato, butter and, cream sauce. It originated in India as a curry. The curry was developed in 1947 by the founders of the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi, India. The curry was made "by chance" by mixing leftover chicken in a tomato gravy, rich in butter and Cream In 1974, a recipe was published for "Murgh Makhani (Tandoori chicken cooked in butter and tomato sauce)". In 1975, the English phrase "butter chicken" curry first appeared in print, as a specialty of the house at Gaylord Indian restaurant in Manhattan. In Australia and New Zealand, it is also eaten as a pie filling. This curry is common in India and many other countries.

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Total Time 45

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chicken, Curry, Indian

Servings Servings

Ingredients

Chicken:

300 grams Chicken breast boneless 12 ounces
1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste or mix ground ginger and ground garlic
1 tbsp Red chilli powder optional
Salt to taste
Oil to pan fry

Gravy

500 grams roughly slit tomatoes
100 grams roughly cut onions
1 tbsp garlic paste
50 grams cashew
1 tsp kasoori methi
1/2 tsp garam masala
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
5 tbsp butter
3 tbsp cream
2 tbsp malt vinegar / 1.5 tbsp White Vinegar
Salt to taste

Instructions

Marinate the chicken with ginger paste, garlic paste, red chili powder, and salt and keep it aside for 15 to 20 minutes
In a pan heat, some oil then fries the marinated chicken pieces in it, once done place it into a bowl.
In the same pan add onion, oil, a spoonful of butter and once the onions are cooked add tomatoes and cashew nuts
Add some water and garlic paste, salt, malt vinegar, sugar, garam masala powder, and chili powder. Evenly mix it and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes
Churn the mixture into a fine puree.
Strain it back into the same pan make sure there is minimal wastage.
Add butter, cream, chicken and kasoori meethi and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes.
Garnish it with cream and kasoori meethi
Butter Chicken is ready to be served!

Video

Notes

Here is an easy American version of this from Sunny Anderson:

Marinade:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 tablespoon hot Hungarian paprika

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken tenders, cut into 1-inch sections

4 tablespoons salted butter

Sauce:

1 cup crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon sugar

2 frozen ginger pods (or 2 inches ginger, grated)

2 frozen garlic pods (or 2 cloves garlic, grated)

3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Serving:

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more to garnish

2 cups cooked basmati rice

Instructions:

For the marinade: In a bowl, add the yogurt, chili powder, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir until everything is one color. Scoop into a large resealable bag and add the chicken. Leave on the counter at room temperature for 2 hours.
To cook the chicken: In a large pan with straight sides on medium-high heat, add the butter and then the chicken chunks from the bag, discarding the marinade. Cook, turning until some parts are browned but most are still white about 8 minutes.
For the sauce. Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, ginger and, garlic to the pan. Things should be bubbly and hot. Stir to marry everything and when the pan smells like garlic and ginger, add the heavy cream and stir again until everything is the same color. Partially cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
For serving: Stir in the cilantro and serve over rice with another sprinkle of cilantro

To see how they make it in India watch this: https://youtu.be/l3Wlf-o-Qyo.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!