Try this Butter Chicken Masala recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- salt as needed
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. garam masala powder
- 3 green cardamom
- 400 to 500 grams of chicken
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp red chili powder
- 1 to 2 tbsp yogurt
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp garam masala
- little turmeric
- 1 tbsp. butter or oil
- 1 cups cubed onions 3 medium
- 1.5 cups finely chopped deseeded tomatoes (3 large)
- 10 to 12 cashew nuts / kaju
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tsp. coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp. sugar(optional)
- 1 1/2 tbsp. butter
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 1.5 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp. kasuri methi
- 3 tbsp cream( for restaurant style)
- few coriander leaves for garnish
- Carbohydrate 0.965622537248255 g
- Cholesterol 182.2125 mg
- Fat 68.8307258979622 g
- Fiber 0.332528873632149 g
- Protein 0.841306835130044 g
- Saturated Fat 43.5504849393941 g
- Serving Size 1 1 to 5 (87g)
- Sodium 565.965995944681 mg
- Sugar 0.633093663616106 g
- Trans Fat 4.85747551070612 g
- Calories 612 calories
Step-by-step
- Marinate chicken with ingredients mentioned under marination. Set aside till we need it. Overnight marination is needed to yield restaurant style dish.
- Heat 1 tbsp butter or in a pan, fry onions till the raw smell goes away
- Saute tomatoes with salt.
- Add chili powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder along with cashews. Saute until the raw smell goes away.
- Cool and blend together with ¾ to 1 cup water.
- Heat the pan with more butter and fry cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and cardamom.
- Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off.
- Add marinated chicken and saute on a medium high until the masala dries up.
- Pour the onion tomato puree, adjust as needed chili powder and masala powder. Also adjust the consistency of gravy by adding more water if needed.
- Cook until the chicken turns tender.
- Add kasuri methi and stir.
- Add cream and stir well. You can skip cream if using little more of cashews to the puree.
- Add chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve Indian butter chicken masala with roti, butter naan or jeera rice.
Chicken tikka masala relies on yogurt-marinated meat charred in a tandoor, but this butter chicken variation builds its foundation entirely within a single skillet through an aromatic onion and tomato puree. Many versions fail because cooks rely on jarred pastes and bottled sauces that introduce excess sodium and dull acidity. Fresh ginger-garlic paste made by grinding equal parts peeled root and cloves yields a pungent bite that preserved tubes cannot replicate. Fresh deseeded tomatoes provide natural pectin to thicken the sauce without relying on commercial starches.
The most common failure in preparing this dish occurs during the initial onion and tomato reduction. Cooking the onions only until translucent leaves behind raw sulfur compounds that clash violently with the dairy. Saute the onions until they turn golden-brown at medium-high heat. Similarly, raw tomato paste must be cooked until the bright red color deepens to a brick hue and the oil separates at the edges of the pan. Blending raw aromatics directly into the cashew puree creates an astringent gravy that no amount of cream can mask.
Marination length dictates final protein texture. Letting the poultry sit in the yogurt and spice mixture for at least twelve hours breaks down surface proteins, yielding tender bites after searing. When blending the cooked onion, tomato, and cashew mixture, add three-quarters of a cup of cold water to prevent the blades from seizing. Strain the resulting liquid through a fine-mesh sieve if a completely smooth, restaurant-grade texture is desired before returning the sauce to the pan for the final simmer with kasuri methi.
