Indian Butter Chicken Recipe

Indian Butter Chicken

Butter chicken or murgh makhani is an Indian dish from the Punjab region popular in countries all over the world that have a tradition of Indian restaurants. Butter Chicken is among the best known Indian foods all over the world. Its gravy can be made as hot or mild as you like so it suits most palates. Also commonly known as Murg Makhani, Butter Chicken tastes great with Kaali Daal (black lentils), Naans and a green salad. This is my recipe for Butter Chicken and it is the real deal! It has been tried and tested numerous times and is loved by everybody that has eaten it. I hope you will like it too.

Reviews:

This was top notch, but I made a slight modification to the cooking process. Anticipating that waiting for the sauce to reduce by half would result in the chicken being cooked to death, I added the marinaded chicken to the already softened onions, garlic and ginger then cooked until it was just about done. I made the sauce with the residue of the spice mix, chopped tomatoes and chicken stock in a different pan. The reduction took the best part of half an hour. Once reduced I added the sauce to the chicken and all was well. Chicken cooked to perfection, and the sauce just the right consistency. Excellent! It was worth the extra work to keep the chicken tender.

• Cooking Time: 30-40 minutes

• Servings: 4

• Preparation Time: 4-6 hours

•  Category: Non Veg

Ingredients

•    Chicken    800 grams
•    Lemon juice     1 tablespoon
•    Kashmiri red chilli powder    1 teaspoon
•    Salt     to taste
•    Butter     2 tablespoons

For marinade   
•    Yogurt     1 cup
•    Salt     to taste
•    Garlic paste     1/2 teaspoon
•    Garam masala powder     1/2 teaspoon
•    Kashmiri red chilli powder     1 teaspoon
•    Ginger paste     2 tablespoons
•    Lemon juice     2 tablespoons
•    Mustard oil     2 tablespoons

For Makhni Gravy    
•    Butter     50 grams
•    Ginger paste     1 tablespoon
•    Green chillies,chopped     4-5
•    Red chilli powder     1 tablespoon
•    Salt     to taste
•    Dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)     1/2 teaspoon
•    Whole garam masala     1 tablespoon
•    Garlic paste     1 tablespoon
•    Tomato puree     400 grams
•    Garam masala powder     1/2 teaspoon
•    Honey     2 tablespoons
•    Cream     1 cup

Method and Preparation:

• Make incisions with a sharp knife on breast and leg pieces of the chicken. Apply a mixture of red chilli powder, lemon juice and salt to the chicken and set aside for half an hour.

• Hang yogurt in a muslin cloth for fifteen to twenty minutes to remove extra water. Add red chilli powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, garam masala powder and mustard oil.

• Apply this marinade to the chicken pieces and refrigerate for three to four hours. Put the chicken onto a skewer and cook in a moderately hot tandoor or a preheated oven (200°C) for ten to twelve minutes or until almost done. Baste it with butter and cook for another two minutes.

• Remove and set aside. Heat butter in a pan. Add green cardamoms, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon. Sauté for two minutes, add ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chillies. Cook for two minutes.

• Add tomato puree, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt and one cup of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Add sugar or honey and powdered kasoori methi. Add cooked tandoori chicken pieces. Simmer for five minutes and then add fresh cream.

• Serve hot with naan or parantha.

Chef's Tip

Heat kasoori methi in the oven for sometime or broil kasoori methi on a tawa/griddle plate to make it crisp. It can easily be crushed to a powder with your hand.