Butter Chicken – A Beautiful Mess

We order take out maybe once a week at our house. And our number one, go-to is Indian food. One of my goals for the year is to work on homemade versions of some of our favorite take-out meals. This butter chicken recipe is one of those. It’s super flavorful, healthy, easy to make and delicious!

What is butter chicken? Butter chicken is a classic Indian curry made with marinated chicken and a creamy tomato sauce. We usually serve it with steamed rice, but Naan is a great addition as well. I also think this butter chicken recipe makes great leftovers as you can easily reheat it on the stovetop, much like leftover soup.

Related: Next up try a homemade chai latte or iced chai latte.

Ingredients

• Chicken
• Kashmiri chili powder
• Salt
• Lemon juice
• Greek yogurt
• Garam masala
• Cumin
• Butter
• Cinnamon stick
• Green cardamom pods
• Cloves
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Onion – yellow or white
• Tomato sauce
• Tomato paste
• Granulated white sugar
• Dried fenugreek leaves
• Heavy whipping cream
• Cilantro

Yes, this is a lot of ingredients. But don’t get intimidated! Most of these are shelf stable dried spices or canned goods. Plus, that’s what makes Indian food good—all the flavor!

How to make Butter Chicken

First marinate the chicken. Start by cutting the chicken into small, bite size pieces. Try to get all the pieces similar size so they will cook for the same amount of time. Place in a mixing bowl and toss / stir with the kashmiri chili powder, salt, lemon juice, greek yogurt, garam masala and cumin. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the chicken marinates start the rice. I like to use a rice cooker.

Next make the gravy / curry. Finely chop the onions, mince the garlic, peel and mince the ginger. In a large pot or dutch oven melt the butter. Cook the onions over medium / high heat for 3-4 minutes until very soft and brown. Toss in the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Then add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, kashmiri chili powder, garam masala, cumin, slat and sugar. Cover and allow to simmer while you cook the chicken.

Add the remaining butter to a large skillet and cook the chicken until it reaches 160°F internally (cooked through). If you don’t have a meat thermometer, I recommend it, but you can also cut open the largest/thickest piece to check it’s done. It should be white in color with no pink remaining.

Returning to the gravy / curry. Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Add the dried fenugreek leaves. Use an immersion blender (or you can pour into a blender and then return to the pot) puree the sauce. Then stir in the cream and cooked chicken. I usually add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of water as well, as we like our sauce more on the thin side. But this is up to you. Top with a chopped cilantro when serving.

Tips and Substitutions

• I typically use boneless skinless chicken breasts in this recipe but other cuts of chicken can work just as well.
• Kashmiri chili powder is worth seeking out and can be easily bought online. But, if you don’t have it you can substitute it for paprika and small amount of cayenne.
• Green cardamom pods are not always easily found at the grocery stores I typically shop at, but they are easily found online. I LOVE the smell of these and will add a couple to the rice while it cooks. But, if you can’t find them you can simply omit them from this recipe.
• Dried fenugreek leaves can easily be found online if you can’t find them in stores. If needed you can substitute celery leaves or simply omit them.

More Homemade Curry Recipes

If you are interested in learning more about traditional Indian cuisine I recommend Julie Sahni’s Introdution to Indian Cooking or Classic Indian Cooking.