This homemade easy Butter Chicken is big on taste with little effort involved. Aromatic and creamy with chunks of tender chicken.
A complex tasting curry made easy
Whenever we felt like Indian cuisine, we would always satisfy our cravings by either ordering in or dining out. The thought of cooking Indian cuisine at home intimidated me because their dishes seem so complex, with many layers of flavours.
That was until a few years ago when I was flipping through one of my cookbooks and butter chicken popped up. Surely not! Because the recipes I was looking at promised me simple meals. I briefly scrolled through the ingredients and it surprised me because I had most of the ingredients in my pantry. I just needed to pop to the store to grab some garam masala.
Excited and full of enthusiasm, I made my first homemade butter chicken. Let’s just say it wasn’t bad, but definitely not as delicious as the ones we got at our Indian restaurants! Don’t worry because I have worked hard on my butter chicken recipe since then and have recreated a recipe I’m happy with.
I am very proud of this butter chicken recipe. The ingredients are easily accessible; the steps are simple and best of all, the butter chicken tastes authentic.
We have chunky pieces of boneless chicken marinated overnight in yoghurt and spices. It’s then cooked with butter, tomato puree and cream. Then say hello to this beloved curry! The tomato and cream curry sauce are velvety like and to die for. It’s aromatic, a little spicy, sweet and, of course, rich with tender pieces of chicken.
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Butter Chicken has me all confused
When I was in working in finance, I worked alongside a lovely Indian lady by the name of Raveena. She once randomly turned to me and asked:
‘What is butter chicken?‘
This question should’ve caught me by surprise, but it didn’t. That’s because, believe it or not, it’s not the first time someone from India has asked me that same question.
Butter chicken is my favourite Indian dish, but I didn’t tell them that, fearing I would insult them. So, I said ‘it’s a very popular dish made in every Indian restaurant here’. On hearing this, Raveena shrugged and said, ‘I’ve never heard of butter chicken until I came here‘. Again, this wasn’t the first time I heard someone from India say this.
I’m ultra confused, so the only way to solve this is to rely on the Google Gods, so off I go!
The internet seems to validate that Butter Chicken is, in fact, an authentic Indian dish. Butter chicken is from Delhi, North India. Rumour has it that a chef accidentally created butter chicken by mixing tandoori chicken in a tomato and cream sauce. I would believe that story because tandoori chicken is my second favourite Indian dish!
My guess would be that India is such a big country that not all parts of India serve butter chicken. What I know for certain is that the world has fallen in love with butter chicken.
Simple ingredients but big on flavour
All the ingredients for this butter chicken are readily available in my pantry and fridge. The only thing I didn’t have is ghee. I could’ve just used butter but wanted to try ghee because I wanted to try the traditional method. To be honest, I couldn’t really taste the difference. So, regardless of whether you use ghee or butter, this dish will still taste phenomenal.
For the minced ginger and garlic, I just placed them in a mini food processor and blitz them until finely minced. To make an extra velvety sauce, it’s better to use a mortar and pestle, but this takes a while and can be quite labour intensive.
The rest of the process is straightforward. We marinate the chicken in yoghurt and spices for at least 2 hours. I would recommend marinating it overnight to let the beautiful flavours develop.
We then cooked the chicken with its marinade and add the remaining sauce, all done over the stove on a pan. Too easy! All we need is some rice, naan bread and of course, papadams!
Ingredients for Easy Butter Chicken
For the chicken marinade
Skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets are my preferred cut because it’s much juicier and tastier than chicken breast. Breast fillets will work too, but the chicken will be slightly drier.
Garam masala is a blend of spices that may include ground ginger, pepper, caraway, fennel, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star Aniseed, bay leaf, and nutmeg. It’s commonly used in Indian and Asian cuisines. Supermarkets usually stock garam masala in the spice and herb racks.
For the sauce and garnish
Ghee is a type of highly clarified butter commonly used in Indian and Asian cooking. Supermarket stock ghee either in the international food or oil sections. Regular butter would work and make a great substitute.
Passata (pureed tomatoes) – To make passata, they puree tomatoes and strain them to form a smooth consistency. Supermarkets usually stock passata near canned tomatoes and pasta sauces. Crushed tomatoes would also work, but the butter chicken sauce won’t be as smooth.
Thickened cream (whipping cream) has gelatine added to it and contains 35% milk fat. I don’t recommend using low-fat cream as it’ll take away that beautiful richness butter chicken is famous for.
How to make Easy Butter Chicken
Step-by-step guide with photos
Slice the chicken thighs into generous bite-sized pieces. Place the chicken into a large bowl and add in all the marinade ingredients. Mix well to combine, then cover the chicken and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 or more hours. If possible, leave it to marinate overnight.
Heat ghee or butter over medium to high heat in a large wok or a deep frying pan. Place the chicken and all of its marinade into the pan. Stir regularly to cook until the chicken turns white, then pour in the passata and cream. Add in the cardamom, cloves, sugar and salt. Mix to combine, cook until the mixture bubbles, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for a further 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Give the sauce a taste and, if needed, add more salt. Garnish by drizzling some cream or yoghurt on top and finely chopped coriander.
Leftovers – Allow the butter chicken to cool completely at room temperature. Transfer the butter chicken into an airtight container and refrigerate. It’ll be good for up to 3 days. Frozen butter chicken will keep for up to 3 months.
For more simple Asian cooking, please have a look at this delicious Easy Pho or treat yourself to some perfect fried Karaage Fried Chicken.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements.
A Third-Party Application calculated the calories and nutritional information. Please use this as an approximate guide only.
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Cheers (I’ll drink to that) – Cat Tre
Easy Butter Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade
- 1 kg boneless thigh fillets (chopped into bite-sized chunks) (NOTE 1)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3 cm ginger (35g-1.2oz minced)
- ½ cup plain yoghurt (unsweetened or natural yoghurt)
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp garam masala (NOTE 2)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder (or ground cayenne pepper)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp salt
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp ghee (or butter) (NOTE 3)
- 1 cup passata (tomato puree or crushed tomatoes) (NOTE 4)
- 1 cup thickened cream (NOTE 5)
- 2 cardamom pods
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
For the garnish (optional)
- cream or yoghurt (to drizzle)
- finely chopped coriander
Instructions
- Slice the chicken thighs into generous bite-sized pieces. Place the chicken into a large bowl and add in all the marinade ingredients. Mix well to combine, then cover the chicken and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 or more hours. If possible, leave it to marinate overnight
- Heat ghee or butter over medium to high heat in a large wok or a deep frying pan. Place the chicken and all of its marinade into the pan. Stir regularly to cook until the chicken turns white, then pour in the passata and cream. Add in the cardamom, cloves, sugar and salt. Mix to combine, cook until the mixture bubbles, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for a further 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Give the sauce a taste and, if needed, add more salt. Garnish by drizzling some cream or yoghurt on top and finely chopped coriander.
