Butter Chicken
I have made butter chicken at least a dozen times over the years. And to me, this recipe tastes the closest to the restaurants. It's a bit different than other recipes, but just trust me.
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade
- 2 pounds chicken thighs (or breasts; i used bone-in)
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
For the gravy
- ½ cup oil
- 2 large onions
- 3 tablespoons chopped garlic (about 9 cloves)
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes (diced, whole, or crushed)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
Chicken marinade
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken and marinade ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to two days.
Gravy
- Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the onions are golden. Make sure to stir often as the onions will try to stick to the bottom.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the cumin, coriander, Kashmiri chili powder, salt, garam masala, and turmeric. Cook for 30 seconds until they smell delicious.
- Add the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, and cilantro. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes, or until the oil starts separating from the gravy.
- Now either transfer it to a blender or use a hand blender to blend until smooth. I strongly prefer the regular blender because it can get the consistency more smooth.
Grill the chicken
- Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add 3-4 pieces of chicken skin-side down. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the skin is golden brown then transfer to the gravy. Repeat with the remaining chicken. You may need to rinse the pan between batches to get rid of burnt spices.
- When all the chicken is in the gravy, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. The time mainly depends on if you used boneless or bone-in chicken.
Finish
- Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat Add the ground almonds and sugar. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the almonds are browned and toasty (careful not to burn them). Pour the mixture into the gravy.
- Add the yogurt to a small bowl. Slowly mix in ½ a cup of gravy to the yogurt, then pour the mixture back into the gravy. This is to prevent the yogurt from curdling.
- Finally, add the butter and kasoori methi. Once the butter melts, it's ready to eat!