Quick, Easy, dhaba style Butter chicken recipe that is my family favourite! Butter Chicken or Murgh Makhani recipe that is cooked in restaurant style chicken curry. Serve it with Naan or rice and it comes together in just about 40 minutes.
Soft melt in mouth chicken chunks in velvety smooth makhani sauce scooped up with naan or steamed rice is Arush's absolute favourite. Typical Delhi boy he loves his butter chicken and Dal makhani with Naan every now and then.
And, even though I am a vegetarian I love to indulge both my boys. Actually what encourages me more to cook this is the compliments like "This Is easily one of The Best butter chicken curry we get in Delhi"
Enough of self praise for now! let me share all my secrets behind this easy recipe to make butter chicken.
It is really easy to make creamy butter chicken recipe.
The History of Butter Chicken?
Butter Chicken, the name itself is good enough to fill the mind with heavenly aroma of delicious cooking. But if you are curious who invented the dish? Butter Chicken or Murgh Makhani was actually accidentally invented at Moti Mahal Restaurant (New Delhi). The restaurant owner Kundan Lal Gujral used the leftover tandoori chicken and made this succulent velvety creamy gravy which he named Butter Chicken.
He is the same person who made Dal Makhani and Butter chicken world famous.
Secret of Best Butter Chicken
The secret of authentic butter chicken recipe is, the gravy has perfect balance of flavours. It tastes neither too spicy nor to sweet, It is very creamy, rich, buttery. Every bite is blast of flavours with layers of spices and ingredients like tomato, ginger, cumin etc.
Some recipes are all about maintaining the perfect balance, this is one of them. I like to follow the exact measurements for such recipes and each time there is same fabulous tasting chicken curry .
How To Make Butter Chicken
This flavourful butter chicken recipe is not only super easy to make but pretty much one pot recipe. There are two parts of making butter chicken.
- First one is marinating and grilling the chicken
- Second one making butter chicken sauce (makhani gravy)
In this recipe, I am sharing with you my method of how to easily marinate and grill the tender chicken pieces. This is totally fuss-free easy makhani sauce which can be used in many recipes.
Marinate the Chicken
Any good chicken recipe starts with marinating the chicken. I first make a curd/yogurt based marination. Chicken pieces are coated in yogurt and spice mix and chicken is marinated. Now the more time you keep chicken in marination more flavourful is the butter chicken.
Ideally I keep marinated chicken in the fridge for 4-5 hours in the fridge. But you can make it without long hours of marination as well.
Grill Chicken and Make Butter Chicken Sauce
After marination I either grill the marinated chicken in oven/ grill or directly pan fry over stove top. Basically you need slightly crispy chicken pieces in makhani gravy.
I finally make the buttery and creamy butter chicken sauce. And add grilled chicken pieces this buttery-creamy aromatic tomato based curry.
Dhaba Style Butter Chicken Recipe Video
Butter Chicken Sauce
The secret of any good curry is the gravy or sauce plus texture of the veggies or meat. The base of this butter chicken curry is my basic makhani sauce. As always I have added my own twist to the recipe and made it one notch healthier than the typical butter chicken recipe.
At times I go all cream and butter and make the gravy. But in the video recipe shown you can us less cream and more milk to make the gravy of the butter chicken. This will give a great taste to the sauce while keeping it healthier side. I am not saying this is healthy but we can do what we can do 😀
Recipe Notes and Tips
- More you marinate the chicken, more flavour it absorbs. From one hour to overnight you can marinate as per your convenience. If in pinch you can make it immediately after marination.
- You can either grill chicken in oven or pan fry to make it crispy that makes it taste good. However if you want to make it without grilling it's your taste preference actually.
- I always cook the chicken pieces in pan on medium heat for 5-6 minutes until they are 80% cooked and then make the sauce.
- Making the creamy sauce for butter chicken is my favourite part of the recipe. This time while I was cooking the gravy instead of using cashew (cashew is typically used while making the gravy) I used 2 tablespoons of melon seeds and around 10 almonds. I swear, this gave my gravy a creamier texture than regular.
- Never skip using kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) for authentic taste. That is a must!
How to Make Butter Chicken in 20 Minutes?
One quick hack is using rotisserie chicken or tandoori chicken. This way you can reduce the time and effort by 50%. Cut the rotisserie chicken or tandoori chicken into small chunks and make makhani sauce and follow this recipe to make quick 20 minutes butter chicken.
What to Serve with Butter Chicken
I always love to pair the chicken gravy with laccha paratha, Butter naan or jeera rice.
More Chicken Recipes You can Try
If you love this recipe you may like to try other chicken recipes like
1. Persian Chicken Recipe,
2. Achari Murgh Tikka,
📖 Recipe
Butter Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 gram Chicken boneless
For Marination
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- 1 teaspoon Kitchen King Masala
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- 3 tablespoon Fresh Yogurt
- ½ tablespoon Lime Juice
Grilling Chicken
- 1 tablespoon Oil
Butter Chicken Sauce Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 Onion
- 3 Tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Ginger-garlic Paste
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 2 tablespoon Melon Seeds/ Magaj
- 10 Almonds
- 20 grams Butter
- ¼ cup Cooking Cream
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Butter Chicken Masala/ Garam Masala
- ½ cup Milk
- 2 tablespoon Water
- ¼ teaspoon Kasuri Methi
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Take 400 gms of boneless chicken pieces and cut them into 1 inch small pieces.
- Now, take a large bowl and add the cut boneless chicken pieces in them for marinating the chicken pieces.
- Now, for the process of marination first add 1 teaspoon salt, a teaspoon of coriander powder, a teaspoon of kitchen king masala and another 1 teaspoon of Kashmiri Red chilli powder.
- After the spices add 2 tablespoons of fresh yogurt in the bowl. Now, after the fresh yogurt ad 1 teaspoon of oil and squeeze around ½ teaspoon of lime juice in the bowl.
- When you are done adding all of the ingredients in the bowl mix the chicken pieces slowly and fully with the ingredients. (You can use your hands for mixing the chicken pieces for marination or mix it well with a big spoon)
- After you have mixed all the ingredients well keep the bowl aside and let the chicken marinate for an hour to 12 hours in the fridge. The more time you let it sit more flavourful it turns out.
Grill the marinated Chicken
- Before making the sauce for the butter chicken we will grill the chicken pieces first. Do make sure that you have allowed the chicken pieces to marinate properly.
- Since, butter chicken is a one-pot recipe we will use just one pot in it. First, take a pan/pot and heat it. Add 1 tablespoon of oil in it and allow it to smoke first.
- When the oil is smoked put the marinated chicken pieces in it and cook for 5-6 minutes in medium heat. Let the boneless marinated chicken pieces be cooked till they are 80% done. When they are cooked, switch off the heat and take the chicken pieces in a plate.
Steps For Making The Sauce:
- To make the creamy sauce add 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan, add sliced onion in it. Let the onion stir and cook it until the color turns to golden brown.
- Now, add 3 whole tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste and cook the tomatoes until they are soft.
- When the tomatoes are soft add half teaspoon of turmeric, red chilli and cumin powder in it respectively.
- Since we are adding our little twist we will add 2 tablespoon of melon seeds(magaj) and 10 almonds in the mix. Stir and cook them well.
- Now, add 20 grams of butter and cook for 4-5 minutes. When the gravy is cooked add ¼ cup of cooking cream in it and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add a teaspoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of butter chicken masala in it. (You can also add garam masala if chicken butter masala is not available)
- Let the gravy cook for 2 minutes and then add ½ cup of milk and cook it for 1 minute.
- After that, we will take the puree/gravy in a blender and blend it. After the gravy is blended we will strain it . (We strain the gravy so that it becomes smooth and free from any lumps)
- After the strain brings it back to the pan and add 1 tablespoon of cream in it. (If you want you can adjust the consistency of the gravy by adding 1 tablespoon of water in it)
- Lastly, add the cooked chicken pieces and cover. Cook the chicken butter masala for another 3-4 minutes. After 4 minutes turn off the heat and finish the dish by sprinkling some kasuri methi in it.
- Serve the mouth-watering butter chicken with butter naan or jeera rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
Tried This Recipe? Please rate it in using star rating and follow Rekha Kakkar on Pinterest! Pinterest for more delicious Recipes.
Ewa says
Hello from Poland! 🙂 I'd rather use just cream, because I'm on keto diet and milk is a no-no for me. How much cream should I use then?
I also have 2 questions about nuts - do you soak them before? I just have cashews at home - how much should I use here?
I will really appreciate your answer!
Thanks, your recipes are really good!
Cheers!