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
