RESTAURANT QUALITY Butter Chicken Recipe

Recipe: Butter Chicken Recipe »

This butter chicken recipe is something special. It comes from my friend Divya who has been making it for 20 years now - she is known for her butter chicken among other delicious Indian dishes. This butter chicken can be done in 2 parts and has very little active time and the delectable sauce comes together in around 15 minutes. But there's a couple of tips to making this a restaurant quality butter chicken but for an affordable price. The chicken is juicy with a silky smooth sauce. This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

As soon as I tried this butter chicken I asked Divya for the recipe and she gave it to me. I was so excited because she told me that she has won competitions with her butter chicken and chefs had quizzed her about her methods comparing hers to theirs. This butter chicken is best made over 2 nights and can be made ahead of time so it's great to serve guests because you do most of the prep the day before. You can also cook it up until adding the cream and then heat it up and add the cream just before serving. This recipe also uses chicken thighs which are an economical cut of meat to use!

10 Helpful Tips For Making The Best Butter Chicken

1 - I recommend using chicken thighs for the juiciest butter chicken. You can use chicken breast or tenderloins and if you do, just marinate the chicken for 48 hours in the yogurt marinade to tenderise it. If you use chicken thighs, you only need to marinade the thighs overnight.

2 - There looks to be a lot of spices in this and there are but many are used in both the marinade and the sauce.

3 - A key ingredient for butter chicken is kashmiri chilli powder. This chilli powder imparts a mild spice but with a vibrant red hue giving butter chicken its signature look. You can find this at Indian grocery stores (I recommend a visit to buy the supplies for this).

4 - Black cardamom is different to green cardamom. Black cardamom has more of a menthol aroma to it. It's worth seeking this out especially if you do a lot of Indian cooking.

5 - One tip is to make the sauce the night before and let all of the whole spices develop in the sauce overnight. The flavour change is worth it, trust me. Then on the day you want to make it just heat the sauce up and add the chicken.

6 - The next tip is to lightly grill the chicken before adding it to the sauce. You can do this on the grill (we did it in the pizza oven as we were cooking pizzas too). You're looking for a bit of charring on the chicken for a lightly smokey flavour but you don't want the chicken to cook right through.

7 - Another tip to achieve a gorgeous silky sauce is to sieve the spices out just before you heat the sauce up. At this point they've done their job and imparted their flavours and aromas.

8 - The last cooking tip is to add the cream right at the end once the chicken is cooked. Take it off the heat and stir the cream through. That way the sauce won't split.

9 - Some recipes call for the addition of soaked, ground cashews but this recipe keeps it nut free and more budget friendly and still tastes wonderfully creamy.

10 - To serve, sprinkle kasuri methi or fenugreek leaves over the top of the butter chicken. This really elevates the flavour of the butter chicken. Kauri Methi can be found at Indian grocery stores.

Butter Chicken Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minutes plus overnight marinating time

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4 along with rice and sides

For marinade

• 500-600g/1.1-1.3lbs chicken thighs, skinless
• 80g/2.8ozs Greek or natural yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 25g/0.9oz crushed ginger
• 25g/0.9oz crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

For Sauce

• 60g/2ozs butter, divided
• 180g/6ozs onion, chopped (1 large, any colour onion)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 black cardamom, whole
• 1 star anise
• 4 green cardamom, crushed, seeds only
• 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 40g/1.4ozs crushed garlic
• 30g/1oz crushed ginger
• 400g/14ozs tomato passata sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 280ml/9.8flozs pure or thickened cream
• Kasuri methi or fenugreek leaves and coriander leaves to garnish

Step 1 - Start this recipe the day before. First mix all of the marinade ingredients (yogurt, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, chili powder, garam masala, coriander and cumin) in a bowl or container and mix well. Cut chicken thighs into bite sized pieces. Mix into the marinade and cover and allow to marinate in the fridge overnight.

Step 2 - The also on the day before, add half of the butter to a frying pan and sauté the onions on medium heat until fragrant and translucent (around 8-10 minutes). Then add the remaining half of the butter and melt and add all of the spices (cinnamon stick, bay leaves, black cardamom, star anise, green cardamom seeds, chilli powder, garam masala, coriander, cloves, cumin) and cook for 1 minute. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute. Add the tomato passata, sugar and salt and stir. Place the lid on and allow to simmer for 5-6 minutes. It is ready when you get little oil or butter pools in the sauce. Cool and place in a container and refrigerate overnight.

Step 3 - The next day grill the chicken with the marinade so that you get little charred parts on the chicken. You don't need to cook the chicken through, just give it a char flavour.

Step 4 - Sieve the sauce removing the cinnamon stick, black cardamom, star anise and bay leaves. Blitz the sauce in a food processor with 1/4 cup/60ml/2floz of water until very smooth.

Step 5 - Heat the sauce in a frying pan and add the lightly charred chicken. Place the lid on and simmer for 8 minutes to cook the chicken fully through. Remove from heat and stir in the cream mixing well. Ladle into a serving bowl and sprinkle kasuri methi or fenugreek leaves and coriander over the top.

• Other Indian Curry and Accompaniment Recipes You Might Like:
• Beef Vindaloo Recipe
• Indian Channa Dahl on the Stovetop or Pressure Cooker
• Raita
• 15 Minute Garlic Naan Bread

I actually made this butter chicken for Monica during her last week living in Sydney. When we holidayed on the Central Coast she came across a place that sold butter chicken pizza. We were so excited to eat it but when we tried it, we were disappointed. It was nothing that we wanted it to be. It had a few small pieces of chicken but it didn't have any of that incredible sauce on it and it was really just a chicken pizza with a bit more spice.

I promised her that we could make our own butter chicken pizza at home using our Gozney. Most of my friends have come over for pizza but she and Marco hadn't and we decided that she had to have this butter chicken pizza because while it seemed relatively easy to find here, I know that it won't be common in Northern Italy where she is moving.

So far her "farewell tour" has been all about having dishes she may struggle with finding in Italy. We also made an amatriciana pizza and a clam pizza based on her favourite pizza at Bella Bruta with clams, pecorino bechamel and fermented chilli sauce. It tasted just like it so I felt like if she ever missed the food here she could recreate it at home.

When we sat down to eat them it was full of happy moments with eating delicious food but also sad that she would be moving away and we wouldn't see each other as regularly as we have. Maybe she'll make this butter chicken to top a pizza with and we won't feel so far apart and maybe next time I make this I'll think of that butter chicken pizza dinner.

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried butter chicken on a pizza? Do you have a lot of spices in your spice cupboard?