What is butter chicken?
Butter chicken is a well-known and loved curry that originated from India around the mid 20th century. It was created at Moti Mahal Restaurant in New Delhi and was a combination of leftover marinade and tandoori chicken stewed together to make a creamy and tender curry. It’s named murgh makhani, or “butter chicken,” and made with ingredients that include chicken, tomatoes, ghee, cream, and a lot of other flavorful spices. My all-time favorite dish to order at local Indian restaurants like Annapoorna in Southern California, I knew I needed to figure out how to make this on my own.
Butter chicken vs tikka masala
Some say that butter chicken and tikka masala are very similar, but they actually have some differences. What distinguishes the two is that butter chicken is more creamy (due to the addition of heavy cream and ghee), whereas tikka masala has more of a gravy consistency. While butter chicken was created in India, the other was made in a completely different continent. Tikka masala is actually the national dish of Britain and its origin stories are from somewhere in the United Kingdom where Bangladeshi chefs created a new type of curry with butter chicken influences.
Type of chicken to use
This recipe calls for skinless chicken thighs because you get such juicy and tender pieces from this cut of chicken. I like to cut them into evenly thick pieces so they sear and cook at the same time while cooking. To get somewhat of a similar tandoori style sear on the chicken, I like to skewer and sear them on a hot cast iron pan before braising them in the sauce.
Butter chicken ingredients
While the main ingredients of butter chicken are chicken thighs, ghee, yogurt, cream, garlic ginger paste, and tomatoes, some spices add that extra flavorful taste to the curry. Garam masala is one of the ingredients but this is like saying “spices.” Each type of garam masala can vary wildly in taste. I used the brand Laxmi Brand garam masala I purchased from my local Indian market for this recipe. Other spices for this recipe include turmeric, Kashmiri powder, paprika, and cumin. Kashmiri powder helps give the butter chicken a vibrant red hue, but it’s also fairly spicy. Since I like my curry mild, I added a little paprika so I could have the same coloring, but less of the heat. You can choose to add more Kashmiri powder if you want a bigger kick.
How to make Indian butter chicken
To make the juiciest butter chicken, here are some tips:
Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least 4 hours (ideally overnight.) This will give you super moist and tender pieces of chicken. Skewer the meat and sear on a really hot cast iron pan. This will help get you a really nice sear on the meat and also mimic the crispy outside pieces like the tandoori chicken in the original recipe. Add all your spices in the pot (except the garam masala) and let them cook for about 1 to 2 minutes with the onions and garlic ginger to get a bolder flavor. You don’t want to cook down the garam masala because it will get too bitter. Use a blender to get an extra smooth texture in your curry before adding in the chicken to the pot. This also helps aerate the tomato puree, blend the cashews to create a thicker curry, and gives you a smoother texture.
We’re going to use a regular pot here, but there are Instant Pot or pressure cook variations of this recipe we may explore later.
What does butter chicken taste like?
Butter chicken is a somewhat mild curry made of lots of ghee, cream, and tomatoes. It’s also got a hint of sweetness that makes it even more addicting when paired with spices like Kashmiri powder, garam masala, turmeric, and cumin.
Is butter chicken really Indian?
Yes, butter chicken (or murgh makhani) was created in New Delhi at Moti Mahal Restaurant. The chefs at this restaurant combined leftover tandoori chicken with some marinade, cream, ghee, and other spices to create this new curry.
Why is butter chicken so good?
Butter chicken is so delicious because it’s got a great balance between the tanginess of tomato puree, fattiness of the ghee and cream, a mild spiciness of Kashmiri chili powder (among other spices), and a slight sweetness of sugar. It’s best served with simple turmeric rice, basmati rice (on the stove, in an Instant Pot, or rice cooker) and garlic naan. For other delicious types of curry, you can also make Vietnamese chicken curry (cà ri gà) or beef Penang.
