North India’s delicacy, Butter Chicken. A treat for all and the perfect meal to have with your friends and family. It is the true comfort food of the North Indian Households.This recipe of Butter Chicken has been taken from Moti Mahal. Moti Mahal is a very old, very famous North Indian restaurant of New Delhi. The restaurant specialises in it’s Butter Chicken and this is the recipe for it.Somewhat different, I find this recipe easier than most other Butter Chicken Recipes. I say this because it requires no fine chopping. All your vegetables would only be required to be chopped roughly.You prepare the Makhani Sauce (Gravy) beforehand. In the case of this recipe, you can prepare the sauce a couple of days in advance to save time for when you’re actively indulging in this recipe.Accompaniments?There are a lot of ways to have this Butter Chicken. There are traditional ways BUT there are also these new fusion recipes, which use the Butter Chicken or even just the Makhani Gravy to make different variants.Traditionally speaking, you can have the recipe with Indian Breads like Roti’s, Naan’s & Paratha’s. You can only have the recipe with long grained Basmati Rice.If you want to fusion your Butter Chicken a bit. Here are some ideas!- Serve them in coupes, wine glasses or cups with Rice - Make small canapes out of it with bite-sized roti or tortillas- Have it inside a Kolkatta Kathi Roll- Serve as a Pao Sandwich- Have them in Hard Shell Tacos These are just a few ideas for you on ways of how you can try out this recipe. If your imagination runs wild, do share your ideas with me as well.Let’s get to it! Here is the list of Ingredients Required:
Equipment
- Kadhai
- Blender
- Spatula
Ingredients
For the Chicken Marinade:
- 450 gm boneless and skinless chicken thighs or breasts. cut into small elongated pieces
- 1 tbsp grated garlic
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 100 gm plain greek yoghurt or hung curd
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp kasuri methi
For the Makhani Gravy
- 1 tbsp oil
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 3 large tomatoes (500 gms approx), roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/3 cup /50 gms cashews
- 3 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp /30gm sugar
- ¼ tsp cumin
- 1 cup 240 ml water
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- ⅓ cup /80 ml cream
- ½ cup chopped coriander
- 1 green chilli
- 1 kashmiri dried red chilli
- 1 tsp kasuri methi
Instructions
- Take a large bowl for marination. Add the oil and all the spices and mix well using a whisk. Add hung curd to it and make a marinade out of it. Add the chicken into it and mix well. Season the chicken with all the ingredients mentioned above (ingredient list for Marination).
- Let it sit in the refrigerator for 2-24 hours to marinate properly. If you are making Paneer, marinate for only 10 minutes!
- After marination, cook the chicken and when cooked, shred the chicken into smaller pieces before adding them to makhani gravy. Before cooking, you can smoke the chicken with coal and ghee as an alternative.
- In the same pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add chopped fresh garlic, ginger and onions. Sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, cashew nuts and water. Season with garlic paste, salt, chili powder, garam masala, cumin, sugar and a bit of vinegar. Simmer over low-medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Until it becomes brownish in colour and tomatoes are soft and done.
- Blend the sauce with a hand blender or in a food processor until smooth. Strain through a sieve.
- You can use this makhani gravy for upto 3-4 days and then combine with chicken when needed!
- Now take a kadhai or a sauce pan and add bit of garlic and add bit of onions and then add all of your makhani gravy
- Mix well, let it start boiling a bit and then add your shredded cooked chicken to it and mix well.
- After 5-10 mins add some butter, cream and toasted kasuri methi. Mix well. Do a Taste Check! Check for salt and chillies. If you want it to be more orange in colour, add some Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder.
- Garnish with coriander and serve with accompaniments of your choice.
Closing Note
A homemade dish full of warmth! Enjoy with your loved ones.
If you’re looking to fusion it up, here are some recipes you can try:
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