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Butter Chicken Recipe, Indian Butter Chicken Masala Recipe

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Butter Chicken Recipe: Butter Chicken is probably one of the most popular Indian chicken recipes liked by  all for its mild flavour and deliciously rich gravy. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the most popular dish in Indian restaurants and so, this is a restaurant-style Butter Chicken Recipe.Butter Chicken Recipe, Indian Butter Chicken Masala Recipe

When you talk to non-Indians about Indian food, one of the few dishes they immediately recall is Butter Chicken. They always know Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka, “Naan Bread’, and Biryani. When I ask about Idli and Dosa, I mostly get blank stares back. So when my colleagues ask for good Indian restaurant recommendations in Singapore, I know not to suggest Murugan Idli Kadai because they may not even recognize that as Indian food!

 Anyway, Butter Chicken is Indian, I do accept that. However, it has never been my first option while eating out – not now and not when I was growing up. I guess I always preferred spicier versions of chicken recipes like maybe Pepper Chicken or Chilli Chicken.
Butter Chicken Recipe, Indian Butter Chicken Masala Recipe

However, there’s really something very comforting about a good Butter Chicken Recipe. If cooked right, it pairs fabulously with some naan made on tawa, a simple vegetable pulao, or even plain rotis or chapatis. I have used cream in the gravy for this Butter Chicken but you can just as easily substitute that with some pureed cashew paste for a different flavour.

Butter Chicken Recipe, Indian Butter Chicken Masala Recipe

I made this for some friends who were coming over for dinner, and paired it with my vegetable pulao recipe. The basic gravy is adapted from my Paneer Butter Masala Recipe. This is a restaurant-style Butter Chicken Masala Recipe – so enjoy!

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Butter Chicken Recipe, Indian Butter Chicken Masala Recipe

Butter Chicken Recipe

★★★★★ 4.8 from 18 reviews
  • Author: nags
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Chicken
  • Cuisine: Indian
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Description

Butter chicken is one of India’s most popular chicken recipes, a mild curry with a tomato-onion-cream base and boneless chicken pieces cooked in it to perfection, as the Indian restaurants would say

Scale

Ingredients

  • 500 gm of boneless chicken, cubed
  • 2 onions, minced
  • 1 tomato, pureed
  • 1 tbsp of tomato paste or sauce
  • 1 tbsp of butter, ghee, or oil
  • 1 tsp of minced garlic
  • 1 tsp of minced ginger
  • 2 tsp of coriander powder
  • 1 tsp of chilli powder (use Kashmiri chilli powder for better results)
  • 1 tsp of garam masala or chicken masala
  • 1 large pinch of kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 3 tbsp of cream or pureed cashew paste (soak and grind cashew nuts)
  • 1–2 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
  • 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
  • 1 small bunch of coriander leaves / cilantro, for ganish

Instructions

  1. Heat the butter in a pan and add the minced onions. Fry until golden brown
  2. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, chilli powder, turmeric, and salt. Fry for a minute until fragrant
  3. Add the pureed tomato and tomato paste and cook for 3-4 mins until the mixture bubbles uniformly
  4. Thrown in the kasuri methi, milk, and the cubed chicken. Cook covered for 8-10 mins until the chicken is soft. The chicken will let out more water, just check once or twice in between and give the curry a stir. Keep the flame on sim
  5. When the chicken is cooked soft, open the lid and cook for a further minute or two. If the gravy is too thick, add some water at this stage
  6. When done, add the garam masala or chicken masala and the cream or cashew paste. Give it a good stir, but don’t boil
  7. Adjust salt, garnish with the coriander leaves, and remove from fire
  8. Serve hot with tawa naan, vegetable pulao, or jeera rice

Serve hot with tawa naan, vegetable pulao, or jeera rice

Note: You can slightly fry the chicken before adding it to the gravy. I haven’t tried this but what I’d do is marinate the chicken pieces in ginger, garlic, turmeric, and chilli powder and lightly saute it until half-cooked. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe for Butter Chicken above.

For Butter Chicken recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, please use the Google Translate button on the top right of this website.

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  2. Hi There, Planning to try this recipe tomorrow, do you recommend any brand for ” tomato paste or sauce” ?

    Reply

  6. You’ve got awesome recipes. Thank you! Just a small suggestion. Please change your website name. It mostly is read wrong which turns up quite awkward

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  7. I am not used to working with grams. 250 grams is just 1/2 pound, correct? That’s not very much chicken, considering the quantity of the other ingredients. That’s probably just one piece of chicken breast or a couple of boneless thighs. Please let me know if I am wrong because I would love to make this but it just seems like I need a lot more than a 1/2 pound of chicken.

    Reply

    • thanks for your question and feedback. i usually use about 300grams chicken but i have adjusted the ingredients slightly. please use 1 lb chicken for the rest of the quantities. and of course, adjust to your taste too.

      Reply

  9. This is one of THE BEST butter chicken recipes I have had…..such a bonus that it’s easy to make too

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  10. Just wanted to check, have tried your recipe and when ever i have used milk, the milk somehow curdles. please tell me what can i do to not let the milk curdle? thanks

    Reply

  11. Hi! I want to make your butter chicken, but just want to know what milk do you use. We only use whole fat pasteurised milk for tea, milkshake, etc…

    Reply

  12. Thank you for his recipe! This is the best tasting butter chicken I have ever made, tastes like the real thing (:

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  15. Thanks a lot for the recipe and ultimately for the wonderful blog. I want to prepare this with 1 KG of chicken. So how should i increase the quantity of the ingredients?

    Reply

    • You can increase the rest of the ingredients in proportion too. Just be mindful that you should add chillies and other spices per your preference. So go light and then layer on more if needed.

      Reply

  17. Really a fab n AwXm reciepie. …!!!! I prepare this butter chicken many times…!!! I’m loving it. ..___________!!!!!!!too much….

    Reply

  18. Thank you for the recipe! Tried it out last night and paired with with parotas.. Was yumm!!! What was unique was the minced ginger.. It gave a very nice flavour to the curry.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  20. Hi nags, I prepared this recipe twice and both the times the milk curdled. Is there any way I can avoid this. Of course both the times I didn’t have to throw away … But is there any solution., and yes it tasted nice…
    Rgds n tk care
    Marina

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • This happened to me as well. And its also happened when i cooked a thai curry. My solution for the thai curry was to cook the chicken first. It shouldnt curdle then once you add it in.

      Reply

      • hey rosie. thanks for your reply… will do that next time … will add milk after the chicken is cooked … thanks a lot …
        rgds n tk care
        marina

        ★★★★★

        Reply

      • I have had this happen to me as well. I haven’t seen curry made with milk…the curdling seems to happen due to the the milk not having a high enough fat content when added to hot liquid. Most recipes add cream. I plan to make this using coconut milk. My curdling also happened with low fat coconut milk so will be trying this recipe with full fat coconut milk…hope it turns out ok!

        I do however need a substitute for the fenugreek leaves….ideas or can I omit?

        Reply

        • that’s right! try using thicker milks/cream to make the gravy smoother. but more importantly, make sure the heat is minimal because that also makes the gravy curdle. you can substitute fresh coriander leaves for the fenugreek. not the same, but will give it a nice flavour too

          Reply

  21. We just made it and oh my gosh. It was so good! We do a bunch of different Indian recipes several times a month and my husband and I both agreed that this one just jumped to the top of our list.

    Reply

  23. thank you so much for giving so nice n easy recipe I will first time cook chicken I selected this butter chicken recipe as it was very easy ..I hope I make good ..fingers crossed 🙂

    Reply

  24. Hi – Love the look of this recipe for butter chicken but as a beginner with Indian cooking I am unsure of how to prepare the marinade that you mention in your note at the end. How much of each ingredient should I use and should I add a liquid of some sort ?

    Reply

    • Hello! So for that marinade, for 250 grams chicken, I would add 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp paprika or chilli powder (adjust this to your taste) and mix well with some salt. You can add a few drops of water but don’t make it too watery. Set aside for 30 mins and shallow fry in some oil before proceeding with the remaining steps. Of course, adjust chilli and turmeric in the recipe afterwards.

      Reply

  26. I tried this out today. this was the very first desi handi I’ve ever made so i was a bit nervous about it; but it turned out sooooo good. I mean just what i wanted. Thank you soo much. It was yum.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  30. Best recipe ever. It just tasted like the curry at my favourite india Restaurant.
    I would have never believed it. It was delicious! Thank you so much!

    Reply

  32. I made this with leftover Christmas turkey from the freezer! Just defrosted, cut it into chunks and put it in at the same stage as you said for fresh chicken. Also subbed cream for natural yoghurt and it worked a treat. New fav, easy to cook curry recipe! Thanks 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  33. Hi. Loved the look of your butter chicken. How do I adjust spices for a kilo of chicken as I have a large family? Would appreciate your help as I don’t want to mess it up

    Thanks
    Smita

    Reply

    • The quantities I have mentioned is for 250 gm chicken so if you have 1 kg chicken, just add 4 times the rest of the ingredients. Please adapt to your taste things like chilli and other spices.

      Reply

  36. Turned out to be an excellent dish. Had some guests for lunch last week. Every one loved it. Home made butter chicken has never tasted so ' restaurant like' .. Thanks so much for the recipe

    Reply

  39. there was time when i would just love the butter chicken gravy, without having the chicken. so now i make the same gravy with paneer for hubby or tofu for myself. the curry has a lovely color and looks so creamy.

    Reply

  40. there was time when i would just love the butter chicken gravy, without having the chicken. so now i make the same gravy with paneer for hubby or tofu for myself. the curry has a lovely color and looks so creamy.

    Reply

  41. Good recipe!!
    The original butter chicken in Punjab was of course merely tandoori chicken put into a mostly cream, tomato and ghee sauce! Which is the recipe I have from donkey's years ago. Of course, if you should ever find yourself in Ludhiana, you might try the famous Baba chicken: great butter chicken sauce, pretty spicy.

    Reply

  43. Hi. Nag…i tried the butter chicken …it just turned out to be awesome. All my family members loved it. it was simple and turned out to be excellent. your awesome and your cooking is brillant.
    Keep up the good work….and kepp posting new Receipes

    Reply

  50. Made your Kerala chicken roast twice last week and turned out yum. Loved the colour too. Surely going to try this one.. Your recipes are simple and easy to make, and none of the recipes i have tried so far has disappointed me.. all yum..

    Reply

  52. Looks awesome…I totally understand how the only thing they associate with Indian food is chicken tikka and naan. I made chicken chettinad and rice for an Irish guest and he loved it, though he was a little surprised that the colour and flavour was not like a butter chicken 🙂

    Reply
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