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Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

Name: Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian (Punjabi)
Ingredients: 800 g chicken thighs, boneless, cut into pieces; 150 g plain yogurt; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste; 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder; 1 tsp garam masala; 1/2 tsp salt; 3 tbsp butter; 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste; 500 g tomato puree; 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder; 1 tsp garam masala; 1 tsp sugar; 120 ml heavy cream; 1 tbsp kasuri methi, dried fenugreek leaves; salt to taste; extra cream, to swirl; fresh cilantro, to garnish

Charred tandoori-style chicken simmered in a rich tomato-butter-cream sauce.

Gluten-Free

Bowl of butter chicken with a swirl of cream and rice — The swirl of cream on top is traditional, not just decoration.

Prep20 min

Cook40 min

Total3 hr

Servings 4 servings

DifficultyMedium

Yogurt-marinated chicken, charred hot and fast the way a tandoor would, then simmered in a butter-and-tomato sauce finished with cream and crushed kasuri methi. Invented in 1950s Delhi to use up leftover tandoori chicken -- now one of the most-ordered dishes on earth.

Ingredients

For the marinade

800 g chicken thighs, boneless, cut into pieces
150 g plain yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt

For the sauce

3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
500 g tomato puree
1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp sugar
120 ml heavy cream
1 tbsp kasuri methi, dried fenugreek leaves
salt to taste

To finish

extra cream, to swirl
fresh cilantro, to garnish

Instructions

Combine the chicken with the yogurt, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, chili powder, garam masala, and salt. Cover and refrigerate. 120 min
The yogurt marinade is what tenderizes and carries flavor all the way into the chicken -- a quick 20-minute marinade doesn't do the same work as a couple of hours, and overnight is better still.
Preheat a grill pan or broiler to its highest heat. Cook the marinated chicken in a single layer until charred in spots and cooked through. 12 min
Real butter chicken starts as tandoori chicken -- that char is a flavor, not a mistake, and a home broiler on high gets you closer to a tandoor than a gentle pan-fry ever will.
Melt the butter in a large pot, add the ginger-garlic paste, and cook until fragrant.
Stir in the tomato puree, chili powder, and garam masala, and simmer until the raw tomato smell is gone and the sauce darkens slightly. 15 min
Stir in the sugar and cream, and simmer gently.
Add the charred chicken to the sauce and simmer until warmed through and coated. 8 min
Crush the kasuri methi between your fingers and stir it in off the heat.
This is the aroma that makes butter chicken taste like butter chicken, not a generic tomato-cream curry -- and it fades if it's cooked too long, which is why it goes in last.
Taste and adjust salt, then finish with a swirl of cream and fresh cilantro.

Notes

Murgh makhani was invented at Delhi's Moti Mahal restaurant in the 1950s, created to use up leftover tandoori chicken in a rich tomato-butter gravy -- it's a specific, dateable dish, not a generic curry.
Kasuri methi has no real substitute -- it's what separates butter chicken from an ordinary tomato-cream chicken curry, and most grocery stores carry it in the spice aisle.
Keeps 3 days refrigerated; the sauce may need a splash of cream stirred in when reheating.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (1 bowl (about 380g)) -- estimated, not lab-tested.
Nutrient	Amount
Calories	620 kcal
Total Fat	44 g
Saturated Fat	22 g
Carbohydrates	14 g
Fiber	2 g
Sugar	8 g
Protein	40 g
Sodium	680 mg
Cholesterol	170 mg
Values are estimates based on standard ingredient data, not laboratory analysis.

Photo: Vis M, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped to 3:2 and re-encoded as WebP/JPEG for web delivery.