Go Back
Print

Butter Chicken (Murgh Makani)

It is a classic Indian dish featuring tender chicken in a rich, creamy tomato-based gravy.
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Marinating Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 40 minutes
Author Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook

Ingredients

  • 500 g chicken thighs fillets

Marinade:

  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 inch peeled ginger
  • Half of green chili
  • ¼ cup Greek full fat yogurt
  • 2 tbsp chickpea flour
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • Pinch of cinnamon
  • 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
  • ½ tsp cumin powder
  • Pinch of saffron

Gravy:

  • ¼ stick butter
  • Half of green chili
  • 2 tbsp ginger paste or grated ginger
  • ½ inch cinnamon stick
  • 6 pods green cardamom
  • 6 whole cloves
  • White onion finely chopped
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • 1-2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika (optional)
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1-2 tbsp honey (or to taste)
  • 1-2 tsp of dried fenugreek leaves
  • 250 ml heavy cream
  • Salt (to taste)

Instructions

For the marinade:

  1. Add garlic, ginger & chili to a food processor, and make a paste.
  2. In a bowl, add the paste, chicken and the rest of the ingredients under “marinade ingredients”. Mix and marinate for 30 minutes or up to overnight. I marinated mine overnight.
  3. When the marinating time is up, skewer the chicken pieces and place under the grill oven/broiler for 20-30 minutes or until cooked & charred, flipping halfway thru cooking.

  4. OPTIONAL (see notes): When the chicken skewers are cooked, place them in a heatproof bowl/oven dish. Take a bowl and add small amount of butter (about 1 tbsp) or oil. In a naked flame, burn a magic coal for a few minutes. Turn off the flame and put the magic coal in the small bowl with butter (you will notice a smoke coming from it) and then cover with aluminum foil. Let it stay covered for 10 minutes.

For the gravy:

  1. Melt butter in a pan over low-medium heat.
  2. Add chili, ginger, cinnamon stick, cardamom, and cloves, then cook for a minute. Add onion and cook until soft.
  3. Add tomato paste, chili powder, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, coriander powder, honey, and cream. Mix. Season with fenugreek leaves. Cook until the gravy reaches your preferred consistency. Season with salt. Perform a taste test and adjust as per your liking.
  4. Add the cooked chicken thighs and mix.
  5. Serve with naan bread, paratha, or rice.

Recipe Notes

  • You can use boneless & skinless chicken breast instead of chicken thigh fillets, but I believe that chicken thighs retain more moisture than chicken breasts.
  • The use of magic coal is optional but adds a nice smoky taste to the butter chicken, and it’s AMAZING!
  • The addition of smoked & sweet paprika is also optional but makes the color of the gravy more vibrant. My colleague suggested that I add more Kashmiri chili, but I couldn't add more heat to the dish.
  • Although I have yet to try, I believe the chicken thighs can be cooked in an air fryer.