Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
This Butter Chicken is the dreamiest creamiest Indian curry that you can make in the comfort of your own home, even down to the iconic bold orange-red color. It rivals your favorite restaurant's Chicken Makhani and is best when indulged with basmati rice or homemade garlic naan.
Servings: 4 - 6 servings
Calories: 505kcal
Ingredients
Marinade
- 2 lbs chicken thighs cubed
- ½ cup dahi *see notes
- ½ lemon juiced
- 2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 green chili finely chopped (optional)
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Butter Chicken Sauce
- 4 tablespoon butter divided
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 1 star anise
- 1 black cardamom pod
- 4-5 green cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 14 oz canned tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt to taste
- 5-8 cashews optional
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi
- cilantro, red onion, heavy cream to garnish
Instructions
- Trim the fat from the chicken thighs. Cube the chicken into 1-inch pieces.
- In a large bowl, mix together the items for the marinade - the dahi, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, finely chopped green chilis, garam masala, turmeric, ground cumin, kashmiri chili powder, and salt. Once the marinade is ready, add the chicken into the bowl and toss so that it's fully coated.
- Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
- Crush the green cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle or under the flat of a knife. Remove the black seeds inside the pod and discard the green part.
- Melt two tablespoons of butter in a pot on medium heat. Add the star anise, black cardamom, seeds from the green cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and cumin seeds and allow the flavor to infuse with the butter for a minute.
- Add the chopped onions and ginger garlic paste into the butter. Sauté until the onions start to brown.
- Add the ground spices - the garam masala, coriander, cloves, and kashmiri chili powder. Give everything a good stir and let it cook for 1 minute so the spices can bloom in the butter. Don't let them sit for longer, otherwise the spices will burn.
- Stir in the tomato paste, canned crushed tomatoes, cashews (optional), sugar, and salt to taste.
- Switch the stove to low to medium heat, and allow the sauce to simmer. It'll start to thicken and darken significantly. This can take 5-10 minutes. The fat will start to release on the sides and form little pools. Switch the heat off.
- While the sauce is simmering in the step above, heat the cast iron skillet on high heat. Add a tablespoon of ghee or neutral oil in the pan and add in the marinated chicken. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 ºF and the chicken has browned. Set aside once done.
- Remove and discard the black cardamom pod, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Transfer the contents of the pot into a blender along with the rest of the butter. Blend the sauce until it's completely smooth. If it's too thick, add a tablespoon of water at a time. Add up to a ½ cup of hot water based off of preference if you’d like a looser curry.
- Transfer the sauce back into the pan and bring it back to a soft simmer. Add the chicken with all of the juices and spices into the pan. Stir to coat and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, until the fat begins to separate again.
- Slowly pour in the heavy cream while stirring. Continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sauce is thick and creamy. This is a great point to taste and adjust for spices.
- Remove from heat and finish off the sauce with a pinch of kasuri methi. Crush the dried leaves between your hands to extract the flavor before adding it directly into the curry.
- Garnish the butter chicken with heavy cream, cilantro, and finely diced red onions. Serve hot with rice or garlic naan.
Notes
* Substitute dahi with plain whole fat yogurt.
- If you have a glass blender, be very careful adding the hot contents of the pan into it otherwise it may break! You may need to allow it to cool a bit before blending, or use an immersion blender.
- If, for some reason, the spices aren't accessible, I'd highly recommend the MDH Butter Chicken Masala. Use a quarter of the box for the marinade, and another quarter for the makhani sauce. I adjust the MDH masala with an additional 1 teaspoon garam masala, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon freshly ground green cardamom, and ½ teaspoon coriander to the makhani sauce.
- The servings are listed as 4-6 depending on what you are serving the butter chicken with. A typical Indian household will serve butter chicken family-style with several other dishes and sides that will accommodate up to 6 people.