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You are here: Home / Chicken Recipes / Butter Chicken Recipe, Indian Butter Chicken Masala Recipe

Butter Chicken Recipe, Indian Butter Chicken Masala Recipe

May 2, 2018 89 Comments

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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

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @ediblegarden on Instagram and hashtag it #ediblegardenrecipes

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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By nags Filed Under: Chicken Recipes, Most Popular, Punjabi Recipes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hema

    September 29, 2020 at 6:02 pm

    Very nice keep it up

    Reply
  2. Julie

    June 1, 2020 at 8:55 am

    Is there any possible way to make this in a slow cooker ?

    Reply
    • nags

      June 3, 2020 at 5:18 pm

      yes possibly, I don’t own a slow cooker though

      Reply
  3. Rewari

    June 25, 2019 at 10:41 am

    I tried this last week and came out so delicious!

    Reply
  4. Nat

    April 13, 2019 at 10:17 am

    Made this dish many times and it’s so delicious. Thank you very much!

    Reply
    • nags

      May 28, 2019 at 5:41 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  5. Gahana

    March 19, 2019 at 10:19 pm

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

    Reply
    • nags

      March 30, 2019 at 8:54 pm

      I typically use Delmonte

      Reply
  6. George

    February 19, 2019 at 7:42 pm

    Amazing and easy

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Minu

    September 17, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    This is the only recipe I follow for butter chicken since 3-4 years. Tastes so good.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • nags

      October 15, 2018 at 4:16 pm

      Thank you Minu!

      Reply
  8. Gemma

    August 25, 2018 at 4:48 am

    Delicious! Thank you for the recipe.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  9. AnkitSplash

    April 21, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    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
    • nags

      May 2, 2018 at 10:38 am

      thanks! and i am not sure what you mean by website name read wrong

      Reply
  10. Suzanne Rhodes

    April 7, 2018 at 5:38 am

    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
    • nags

      May 2, 2018 at 10:42 am

      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
  11. Sheralee Brindell

    February 19, 2018 at 6:45 am

    I have made this twice this month. It is sublimely good. Thank you so much!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  12. Evelyn

    March 20, 2017 at 7:37 pm

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

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  13. malika

    March 10, 2017 at 12:53 pm

    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
  14. Sunita

    January 3, 2017 at 11:50 pm

    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
    • nags

      January 5, 2017 at 10:15 am

      yes any milk you use for your coffee/tea is fine

      Reply
  15. Susan

    December 8, 2016 at 4:03 am

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

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • nags

      December 9, 2016 at 5:12 pm

      Thank you Susan!

      Reply
  16. Ruth

    October 14, 2016 at 11:51 am

    Made this for dinner last night. So, so good. Thanks Nags!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • nags

      October 15, 2016 at 4:09 pm

      aww glad you liked it Ruth! 🙂

      Reply
  17. Souma

    August 26, 2016 at 5:56 am

    Merci pour cette délicieuse recette

    ★★★★

    Reply
    • nags

      August 26, 2016 at 9:20 am

      you’re welcome 🙂

      Reply
  18. Gokul

    August 3, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    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
    • nags

      August 5, 2016 at 11:11 am

      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
  19. Abigail

    June 18, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    I made this and my family and I really enjoyed it, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • nags

      June 19, 2016 at 10:28 am

      thank you for leaving a note abigail 🙂

      Reply
  20. arun

    June 18, 2016 at 8:47 pm

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

    Reply
    • nags

      June 19, 2016 at 10:28 am

      thank you arun!

      Reply
  21. Sunjula Daniel

    April 27, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    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
    • nags

      April 30, 2016 at 5:15 pm

      thank you sunjula 🙂

      Reply
  22. yummyfoodrecipesindia

    April 22, 2016 at 7:58 pm

    Mouth watering butter chicken recipe. I’m a big fan of chicken items, really loved the way presented and provided cooking process in detail.

    Reply
  23. Marina

    April 16, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    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
    • Rosie

      April 18, 2016 at 4:54 pm

      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
      • marina

        April 24, 2016 at 7:25 pm

        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
      • Ana

        July 21, 2017 at 3:17 am

        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
        • nags

          November 14, 2017 at 10:05 am

          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
  24. cooking beginner

    April 15, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    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
  25. praveen somanna

    March 20, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    Very complicated out of my reach! I believ It can be done only by my wife.

    ★★★

    Reply
  26. saru

    March 18, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    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
    • nags

      March 19, 2016 at 3:48 pm

      thank you saru, hope it turned out well

      Reply
  27. Janet

    March 1, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    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
    • nags

      March 2, 2016 at 10:21 am

      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
  28. Aditi J

    February 28, 2016 at 9:49 am

    Hey !!Tried it for a friends family tonight. I am a vegetarian but they said it was really nice!So thank you Nags!

    Reply
    • nags

      February 28, 2016 at 3:35 pm

      aww thanks aditi. that was really nice of you to cook for them 🙂

      Reply
  29. Rida Zahra

    February 27, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    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
    • nags

      February 28, 2016 at 9:21 am

      thank you so much!

      Reply
  30. pratima

    February 23, 2016 at 1:57 am

    it was gret tast maya i like it thanks

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • nags

      February 23, 2016 at 4:15 pm

      thank you pratima!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
  31. Praneeta

    February 15, 2016 at 5:46 pm

    Lovely and quick recipe

    Reply
    • nags

      February 16, 2016 at 8:35 pm

      thank you praneeta

      Reply
  32. Poornima

    February 3, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    Awesome recipe … Tasted exactly like restaurant version !!!

    Reply
    • nags

      February 7, 2016 at 1:58 pm

      Thank you Poornima

      Reply
  33. Michaela Urbas

    January 26, 2016 at 12:59 am

    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
    • nags

      January 26, 2016 at 10:36 am

      thank you!

      Reply
  34. Rachael

    January 13, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    Delicious! My family loves this

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • nags

      January 14, 2016 at 11:19 am

      thank you rachel!

      Reply
  35. Jess

    January 8, 2016 at 5:45 am

    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
    • nags

      January 8, 2016 at 9:20 am

      what a great idea to use up leftover turkey. Glad you liked it 🙂

      Reply
  36. Smita

    January 6, 2016 at 2:42 am

    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
    • nags

      January 6, 2016 at 9:57 am

      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
  37. Sabrina

    December 18, 2015 at 10:53 am

    I love butter chicken and your version looks amazing!

    Reply
  38. Unknown

    October 21, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    made it and it came out awesome thank u

    Reply
  39. Maya

    April 11, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    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
    • Nagalakshmi V

      October 23, 2015 at 5:22 am

      thank you maya!

      Reply
  40. anubhavati

    March 18, 2013 at 3:05 am

    Nags…I just saw that your butter chicken pic was gawked and favourited in the last week…lovely!!!

    Shobha

    Reply
  41. Agnieszka

    March 16, 2013 at 8:10 pm

    I`ve made it:)) It`s my the best chicken masala. Thank you for recipe:)
    Best regards from Poland.

    My dish:
    http://kuchnianaparterze.blox.pl/2013/03/Hinduski-Butter-Chicken-Masala.html

    Reply
  42. dassana

    March 15, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    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
  43. dassana

    March 15, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    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
  44. Anonymous

    March 13, 2013 at 1:04 pm

    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
  45. Anonymous

    March 13, 2013 at 5:42 am

    hi dear..I tried the Butter Chicken…it turned out to be awesome. All of them loved it…

    Reply
  46. Anonymous

    March 13, 2013 at 5:33 am

    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
    • nags

      January 6, 2016 at 9:55 am

      Thank you, so glad you like the butter chicken recipe 🙂

      Reply
  47. Manju

    March 12, 2013 at 6:42 pm

    Have been thinking of making butter chicken from a long time now…it was the first dish I ever prepared by myself when I was in 7th grade…sigh, the memories!
    Yours is looking creamy and awesome!

    Regards,
    Manju
    http://manjuseatingdelights.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  48. divya

    March 12, 2013 at 5:12 pm

    Looks tempting n delicious… Awesome clicks

    Reply
  49. Dipti Joshi

    March 12, 2013 at 10:23 am

    Love the color of the gravy….Delicious..

    Reply
  50. Priya Suresh

    March 12, 2013 at 8:17 am

    Rich,creamy and very tempting butter chicken,one of my fav pair with naan.

    Reply
  51. Vijayalakshmi Dharmaraj

    March 12, 2013 at 6:35 am

    Nice…

    Reply
  52. Maya Mathew

    March 12, 2013 at 6:15 am

    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
    • Nagalakshmi V

      March 12, 2013 at 6:37 am

      thank you maya 🙂

      Reply
    • somindra mukhopadhyay

      November 3, 2015 at 7:20 pm

      Thanks for such an awesome recipe… My 4 yr old son goes GAGA with this butter chicken along with the naans my wife makes..

      Reply
  53. Sangeetha Nambi

    March 12, 2013 at 5:02 am

    Lip smacking butter chicken….

    Reply
  54. Archana Kumar

    March 12, 2013 at 4:49 am

    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
  55. APARNARAJESHKUMAR

    March 12, 2013 at 4:33 am

    last post i thought it was paneer butter masala ! lovely photos !

    Reply
  56. Spice Counter

    March 12, 2013 at 10:07 am

    Looks yummy!!

    Reply

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I am Nags, the face behind Edible Garden, a food and recipes website for the busy (and sometimes lazy!) cook since 2007. My recipes are meant to be quick yet healthy and delicious - Nothing fancy, nothing too difficult. Follow Me On Instagram for real-time food and life updates.

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