Authentic Indian Butter Chicken is possible to make at home!
Bursting with spices this Indian butter chicken has tender bites of marinated meat soaked in a rich and creamy sauce. A delicate blend of sweet and savory flavors this chicken dinner is the ultimate comfort food.
★ Why You'll Love this Recipe ★
Great for cool nights, this authentic Indian recipe will warm you up from the inside out. Packed with savory flavor from cream sauce and loaded with juicy chicken soaked in a bright, refreshing yogurt marinade, this butter chicken recipe will be one you want to curl up with.
Once made, all you need is a bowl of steamed rice or warmed-up naan bread to pair with it to make a cozy meal. It’s simple, delicious, and full of warming flavor.
This Butter Chicken recipe is:
Flavorful: This butter chicken recipe is better than any restaurant version you can grab. It’s rich, savory, and aromatic and brings the perfect flavors together.
Easy to make: Once the chicken is marinated, sauteing it and whipping up the sauce is done in about 30 minutes making it an easy dinner recipe.
Versatile: Enjoy this comfort food over steamed rice or naan bread. It’s hearty and comforting but can be made as elegant or simple as you like.
★ Ingredients You'll Need ★
The ingredients you need are broken into three sections. Each contains a few kitchen staples and lots of flavorful spices.
The Marinade: boneless chicken thighs, chili powder and lemon
Additions to the marinade: dried fenugreek leaves, ground tumeric, garam masala, oil, garlic, ginger, plain Greek yogurt.
The Sauce: butter, onion, garlic, chili, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, coriander, fenugreek leaves, garam masala, tomato puree, chili powder, cashew butter, sugar, salt, heavy cream or milk.
★ How to Make this Recipe ★
Just follow the steps and authentic Indian flavor can be achieved at home.
Here's a glance at the steps you'll take to create this dish:
★ Tips and FAQs ★
What goes well with Indian Butter Chicken?
To make this into a full meal, you could serve the butter chicken over rice with sides of naan, aloo gobi (potatoes and cauliflower) and cucumbers in lemon juice and chat masala.
As an appetizer I love the pre-made, frozen samosas with mint chutney for dipping. The brand I've tried and really like is Tandoor Chef but there might be other good ones too.
You can also make your own using puff pastry dough. Or, if you're lucky enough to live near an Indian grocery store, sometimes you can get samosa made fresh. Drool!
A fun fact about authentic Indian dining: not utensils are required!
Traditional Indian cuisine is eaten using your right hand, no utensils! Learn more about traditional Indian dining here.
Because not every has all sorts of free time...
The recipe below is adapted from Swasthi's Recipes. I've simplified the cooking process so it's very easy to follow and is simplified. There is a long list of ingredients so that is the only hard part —gathering the ingredients. However these spices are key to achieving authentic Indian flavor. And once you have a collection of Indian spices, they'll last you awhile.
★ More Recipes You'll Love ★
Want to explore other easy Indian recipes?
If you like Indian food, check out my other Indian and Indian-inspired recipes for Aloo Gobi, Aloo Gobi Cakes, and Indian-spiced Potato and Cauliflower Pockets.
This recipe for Indian Butter Chicken was featured on South Your Mouth!
Easy Authentic Indian Butter Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
15-MINUTE MARINADE
- 4 boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces, placed in large ziplock bag
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 lemon
OVERNIGHT MARINADE
- ¾ teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
- ⅛ ground tumeric
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon ginger paste
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
SAUCE
- ½ cup butter
- ½ onion diced
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 green chili diced a jalapeno will work
- ½ teaspoon minced ginger or ginger powder
- dash cinnamon
- dash ground cloves or two whole cloves and remove them later
- dash cardamom
- dash coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek leaves
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 14 oz tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ cup cashew butter
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- salt to taste
- ½ cup heavy cream
To serve
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 4 pieces naan warmed
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Instructions
- Marinate chicken. In a large ziplock bag, marinate chicken pieces in lemon juice, chili power and salt. Refrigerate for 15-20 mins. Add the overnight marinade ingredients and refrigerate overnight.
- Cook chicken: Melt butter in a large pot (I used my dutch oven) and add onion, garlic, green chili (or jalapeño) and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, corriander, fenugreek leaves and garam masala then add chicken, marinade and all. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 10-12 minutes or so depending on the size of your chunks of chicken.
- Make the sauce. Once chicken is thoroughly cooked, stir in tomato puree, chili powder, cashew butter, sugar, salt, and cream.
- Simmer and serve. Simmer for 5 minutes then serve over rice with a side of warm naan.
Video
Notes
- Marinate for a minimum of 45 minutes if you don't have time to let it sit overnight.
- Feel free to adjust the spices to your liking.
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