Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken Masala | Murgh Makhani is very much loved and famous recipe of Mughlai Cuisine. Grilled or fried, boneless chicken cubes are cooked in spicy onion-tomato-cashew based gravy. Thick, silky smooth and creamy gravy makes this recipe perfect to serve with any Indian bread and flavoured rice.

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About This Recipe

Butter Chicken is one of the popular recipes around the globe. You will find tons of variations and methods of making this recipe. My recipe of butter chicken is simple and easy to make. You can even make this easily on a busy day.

Marination is the key to flavour in any non-vegetarian recipe. Well marinated chicken pieces are always full of flavour and taste.

Earlier getting boneless chicken was a task. I used to debone the chicken pieces and use accordingly. Thanks to online meat shops for coming up with variety cuts that suits every need.

I usually prefer using skinless and boneless chicken cubes in making butter chicken recipe. You can either grill or fry the chicken pieces before adding them to the gravy. The gravy of butter chicken is thick, creamy and mildly spicy.

Main Ingredients For Making Butter Chicken

Chicken – Prefer using skinless and boneless chicken chunks. Marinating the chicken pieces will help in cooking them fast and bring flavour in the pieces. Marinated chicken cubes are either grilled in oven or fried on stove top in a normal pan or grilled pan.

Butter – I use low-fat butter. For frying or grilling the chicken cubes, I use oil and for making gravy, I use butter. Butter will bring shine in the gravy. By this way, use of butter is less and the taste is maintained too.

Ginger-Garlic Paste – This is a key ingredient in any Indian non-vegetarian recipe. Brings in flavour and aroma in the recipe.

Garam Masala – This spice powder is the heart of many Indian curries. Garam masala is a perfect blend of spices which bring flavour, aroma and taste in any recipe.

Kasoori Methi – Dry fenugreek leaves bring distinct taste and flavour in the curry.

Fresh Cream – Cream generally thickens the curry and makes it rich and silky smooth. A dash of fresh cream as garnish on the curry, makes it look appetizing too.

Best Indian Chicken Recipes

Achari Chicken

Dum ka Murgh

Hyderabadi Murgh Korma

Shahi Mughlai Chicken Korma

What Is Makhani Sauce Made Of?

Makhani, the name itself has makkan which means butter. Makhani sauce is buttery soft, thick, creamy, flavourful and mildly spicy gravy. The basic makhani sauce is made by combining tomatoes, onions, cashew nuts and spices. You can easily make this and store in a freezer safe jar for later use.

Makhani sauce is used in variety of recipes like paneer makhani, veg makhani, egg makhani, prawn makhani, etc; This same sauce is used for making tikka biryani too.

If the makhani sauce is handy, then making murgh makhani less than 30 minutes to cook.  As promised, here is a simple recipe to make makhani sauce.

How To Make Makhani Sauce?

Ingredients:

• 4 Tomatoes, cut into wedges (seeds removed)
• 3 Onions, cut into wedges
• 1 tbsp. roasted Coriander powder
• ½ tbsp. roasted Cumin powder
• ¾ tbsp. Garam Masala
• 15 Cashew nuts
• 1 tbsp. Ginger-Garlic Paste
• Salt, to taste
• Pinch sugar
• 4 tbsp. Butter

Preparation:

• In a pot, bring water to boil and add tomato, onion wedges along with cashew nuts.
• Cook till onion turn soft. Drain the water and grind this till smooth.
• Using a strainer, sieve the ground paste.
• In a pan add butter and add the above sieved paste. To this add salt, roasted coriander powder, roasted cumin powder, garam masala and ginger-garlic paste.
• On low flame, by continuously stirring cook till butter starts to leave the sides of the pan.
• Stir in sugar and turn off the flame. Leave this cool and store in an airtight freezer safe jar. Close the lid properly and store in fridge. Stays good for a month.

Tips To Make Delicious Murgh Makhani

As mentioned, marination is the key to make best murgh makhani. Try to marinate for at least 60-90 minutes before grilling or cooking chicken pieces. Marinating chicken cubes overnight make them tender, juicier and full of flavour.

To bring that authentic vibrant orange color in the recipe, use Kashmiri red chili powder and good quality turmeric. You can even add few drops of orange food color to gravy, to bring in color. I do not use food color.

Instead of fresh cream, you can use full cream or low-fat milk. You can even use cashew or almond milk. Nut milk will bring unique taste to the recipe.

Pan roast the kasoori meethi and gently crush it with your fingers and add at the end, just before adding cream. This will bring nice taste and aroma in the recipe.