This is my version of the Indian takeaway classic, and one of our favourites - butter chicken. You are going to LOVE it!! While it may not be totally authentic, it's a super simplified recipe and is so quick to make! And both Josh & I think it's as good as any we've had from an Indian place and so much better than any sauce that comes from a jar. There is no marinating involved - mostly because I always get mad when I'm frantically looking for inspiration at 5...ok 6pm and come across a recipe that looks perfect except that I needed to start it 4 hours ago.
The other amazing shortcut with this recipe is that you can make the spice mix up in advance (similar to my Burrito Spice Mix) and keep it in a jar in the pantry so that you can whip up this butter chicken recipe at a moments notice. You know, for those times when your husband calls at 2pm to request curry for dinner, even though you asked him at 7am and got nothing. The instructions for making a large batch of the spice mix are in the recipe notes.
Authentic Butter Chicken Recipe Nz
There are quite a few different spices in this easy butter chicken recipe, but nothing fancy and definitely all things you will either have or can buy from the supermarket. The spices are ground coriander, paprika, cumin, cinnamon and the key spice in butter chicken - garam masala. You can also add chili powder but I usually leave it out. I definitely like my butter chicken to be mild. Plus, Sadie is at the stage now where she eats whatever we eat so I don't want to scare her off certain foods with a bit hit of chili!
The spices are what pack the flavour punch in this butter chicken so the sauce is a simple combination of tomato paste and water with cream added at the end to thicken it and create that amazing luscious, silky sauce that we all love. Plus a knob of butter thrown in for good measure...and because it's butter chicken right? ? The good news is, I've also made this with coconut cream and it was just as good, so for anyone out there who is dairy free, you don't have to miss out! You can also just skip the butter at the end.
Hey Laura! I'm gonna try this recipe this week & I can wait. I'm gonna prep it the day before and put it in the fridge overnight to cook the the S.C the next day. My question is; when prepping in this way, are we bothering to coat the chicken, or are we putting the spices in with everything and give it a good stir? Tu meke!
Hi there! Looking forward to trying this recipe as have done the meal prep and put in freezer. I was just wondering what the final instructions are for the slow cooker method. The final instructions given are 'thaw in the fridge overnight and add to the slow cooker and cook according to instructions.' But I can't find these instructions anywhere. How long should I put it in for and when would I add the final ingredients of cream and butter?Thanks for your help.
Hi Jess! Sure thing - to make enough spice mix to make the recipe 4 times, mix together 8 tsp ground coriander, 4 tsp ground cumin, 4 tsp paprika, 4 tsp garam masala, 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp chili powder (optional) and store in a jar in the pantry. When following the recipe, add 2 TBSP of the made up spice mix to the chicken before cooking. I've also added these instructions to the recipe notes, so they will be there if you print it off. Hope you enjoy it!
Delicious restaurant-style butter chicken made right at home with simple ingredients. This recipe is exactly how they make butter chicken in restaurants -- and i've had people tell me it's actually better! Trust me when I say it's finger lickin' good!
Fan of dark meat chicken? You can replace the cubed chicken breasts with cubed boneless, skinless chicken thighs for more added flavor.
GHEE: If you can't find it you replace it with 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil.
TANDOORI MASALA: is available in powder/ paste form. I prefer the powder but some of my readers recommended Patak's brand tandoori paste. You'll need about 2-4 tablespoons of the paste (to preference).
CHILI POWDER: optional! If you prefer milder food, you may want to leave it out as the tandoori masala already has heat. Traditionally, a spicy pepper similar to cayenne is used. If you can't find Indian or Pakistani chili powder (usually sold at Indian stores), replace it with cayenne. 1 teaspoon can be a lot so if you prefer a milder flavor, replace with 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon.
I just found this recipe today and made it for lunch! YUM. We went to our favorite Indian restaurant last week and evidently the chef had changed, because the butter chicken was not as good as it normally is. So, when I saw this recipe, I had to try it.
Hey Rebecca! The previous butter chicken recipe is almost identical to this one. I just swapped out homemade ginger/garlic paste for store bought to make it a little easier. But of course, making it fresh right before you make the butter chicken will definitely make this recipe more delicious.
This is the first mention I've seen in all the recipes that actually mentions that milk or cream will separate if you cook it too long. Whenever making any cream or milk sauce or soup, add it at the very end.I'm also surprised that this blogger says that cooking chicken longer will make it more tender. Over cooking chicken makes it into rubber and makes it dry, regardless of how much sauce is on it. Stew beef is something that gets more tender and not dry if you cook it longer, but certainly not chicken.
Yes I agree with Noella, add cream at the end. I've used this recipe 4 times but made changes to make a healthier option by using less butter by 2 tablespoons.I add 1/2 cup water to spices before combining with onions. Also I whizz up 2 large onions (instead of 1) with tomatoes (I use a can of diced tomatoes, or plum peeled) in NZ. I put in a glass bowl to do this then add bk to pan with chicken & cream. I also add a little flour in water to thicken sauce. Delicious. My family love it.
One more tip, when the chicken is shallow fried or browned, use the same pan to make the gravy as well. The burnt chicken crust at the base of the pan adds flavor. You can even grill the chicken with Tandoori masala and add it to gravy. Or use left over tandoori chicken to make the butter chicken, its quick and super yum... Happy cooking.
Great recipe...flavorful, not too spicy. Made your naan too. I only had whole chickens in the freezer, so after it thawed, I cut it up and cooked it with everything but the cayenne (which we omitted completely) and the milk on med in the oven for 1.5 hours, added milk and let simmer til it thickened a bit. consensus was that it was AWESOME and I have kids 3-15....all scarfed it right up. Thanks for sharing!!
I made this recipe last night for dinner. I love Indian food and have always wanted to make it, but have usually been intimidated by a long and exotic ingredient list. I saw this on Pinterest and thought I could definitely do it.We are up in Duluth MN where we are in the midst of our January -20 degree cold snap and my sister in law was driving up from the Twin Cities for a visit, so I wanted to make something delicious and warming.I did as the recipe suggests and made the naan, which was very easy. I used more than a half a cup of milk for sure.Then the chicken - I used 1.75 lbs of boneless skinless thighs, which I generally prefer instead of breasts. There was more than enough sauce for it an next time I would maybe add a little more chicken. Also, I did the 1 c milk & 1 c cream mix, since I am doing the calorie counting thing, I thought the substitution worked well. And my final slight modification was that I threw the sauce in the vitamix to get it nice and velvety (before adding the chicken back in of course). Next time, too, I might skip the final 2 tbsp of butter, for calorie sake.Thanks for the super delicious recipe!!
I made this last night and let me just say DELICIOUS! This is definitely a keeper in our house. Modifications I made was I subbed one cup of 2% milk for one of the cups of cream and I did not add in the 2 tablespoons of butter at the end. I loved the flavor of the sauce as it was. I did add a few more spices just for flavoring but all in all this was so yummy! Thank you for the recipe!
I thought "life changing" really did sound a bit dramatic! Nonetheless, I tried this recipe because it did sound pretty damn good, and life changing is an understatement! So amazingly good! I'm vegetarian, so I substituted the chicken with paneer and it might be the best dinner I've ever made! Piece of cake to make too. Thanks so much for sharing!
I've made this a couple times now. I turned this into a low fat, low cal version of itself, surprisingly not sacrificing flavor. Still tastes much like what I get from the local Indian joint. I subbed cream with unsweetened plain almond milk, which has a very creamy texture, but only adds 60 calories and 5 grams of fat (unsaturated). I also omitted the butter completely (I guess I can't call it butter chicken!), using olive oil for the chicken browning and sautéing of the onion/spices. Coconut oil would probably work great too, but I have an unfortunate allergy. I also upped the chicken from 1 lb to a 2.5 bag of chicken breasts. Feeds my family of 6, with leftovers. And there is still plenty of sauce with all that extra chicken. Thank you for the great recipe!
Thank you for your recipe. It is freaking delicious! My husband can't get enough of this butter chicken ? I modify the recipe for our slow cooker though. I make the sauce, and then cover raw chicken on high for 3 hrs. I usually throw in chick peas too. We have been making this once a week! Thanks!!
This recipe was outstandingly delicious, and from my limited experience rather authentic as well. Much like Autumn, I'm going to cut back on the fat next time by using whole milk or even 2% instead of cream, but we will definitely be enjoying this recipe again. Thank you so much for sharing it (and for the naan recipe). 2ff7e9595c
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