Butter Chicken is one of the most popular curries at any Indian restaurant around the world. Aromatic golden chicken pieces in an incredible creamy curry sauce, This Butter Chicken recipe is one of the best you will try! You will love how easy it is to make in the comfort of your own home.
It’s simplified and cooked all in one pan and goes great with a side of rice or naan! You shouldn’t even consider eating this recipe without naan.The naan bread is so easy to make, the only time consuming thing is when the dough needs to rise. I will link the recipe for it in separate post.
The sauce is perfect when creamy and not too thick or too thin. The level of salt and spices can be suited to your taste.
Still, this recipe isn’t difficult, despite the long ingredient list. Just follow the step by step directions, and you’ve got creamy butter chicken right at home.
Also, with a little weekend prep work, this recipe can be made weeknight friendly. Just make the sauce and marinate the chicken on Sunday and pull it together in about 20 minutes on a Monday. That’s faster than ordering take-out and trust me, it tastes better too.
I can’t say I take all the credit for this recipe. I have tried a few times to cook butter chicken and it was always missing something. At the end I just combined a few ideas from recipes I found and voilà.
To make this butter chicken curry you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Chicken breasts
- Onion
- Garlic
- Spices
- salt
- Sour cream
- Tomato sauce
- Basmati rice
- Fresh Parsley or Cilantro.
You can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts. We prefer chicken breast meat, but go with what you like.
- First, mix your yogurt marinade together.
- Marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes, or overnight if time allows. (The longer it marinates, the more tender your chicken will be.)
- Sear chicken in a pan.
- Finally, make your curry sauce in the same pan,
The spices are easy to find, but in case you don’t have some Garam masala you can substitute it with some of the actual ingredients that are inside the Garam Masala. All you need to make a great sauce is : Turmeric, Cumin, Red Chili Powder, Cloves, Curry, Nutmeg and Salt. You may even already have some of these in your kitchen cupboards!
Butter Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade:
- 600 g chicken thighs or breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 1/2 cuo plain yogurt
- 1 lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tbsp minced ginger (or finely grated)
- 2 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tbsp salt
For the sauce:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 50 g ghee or 50g butter + 1 tbs oil
- 1 large onion sliced or chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced or finely grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp ground cloves
- 200 g tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp red chilli powder adjust to your taste preference
- 1 1/2 cup sour cream you can use heavy cream instead
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the chicken with all of the ingredients for the marinade, let marinate for at least an hour (or overnight if you have the time).
- Heat oil in a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces in batches of two or three, making sure not to crowd the pan. Fry until browned for only 4-5 minutes on each side. Then set aside.
- Heat butter or ghee in the same pan. Fry the onions while scraping up any browned bits stuck on the bottom of the pan.
- Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute, then add the rest of the spices. Let cook for about 1 minute while stirring occasionally.
- Add tomatoes sauce and salt. Let simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens.
- Remove from heat, scoop mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour the puréed sauce back into the pan. Stir the cream and sugar through the sauce. Add the chicken with juices back into the pan and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick and bubbling.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro or parsley and serve with fresh, hot rice.