Creamy, rich, flavourful and finger licking Butter Chicken!

Want to impress your family and guests? Then this is all time famous Indian gravy must be on your menu. Serve this with a basket of roti or jeera rice and watch the gravy disappearing just like that!!

I adapted this recipe from my Paneer Butter masala recipe. I just added some extra spices as this is a chicken gravy. I have also added cream in this version. If you don't want to add cream, you can just follow my Paneer Butter masala version for this recipe too.

Today I am also going to share some tips that will improve the flavour and colour of your gravy,

• The first and foremost tip - onion! Always take your time to cook them, you want them to be cooked and start to caramelize ( Chop them finely to speed up the cooking process but you need them to brown slightly )
• When frying the onion tomato paste, make sure that you fry them until the oil separates. This adds a great depth of flavour.

 

Classic Butter Chicken

 Creamy, rich, flavourful and finger licking Butter Chicken!
 Prep time: 10 min | Cook time: 30 min
 Total time: 40 min |Yield: 4 or 5 people

INGREDIENTS:
For the Marinade: 
Chicken: 300 g 
Hung Curd: 2 tbsp 
Salt: to taste 
Turmeric Powder: 1/8 tsp 
Chilli Powder: 1/4 tsp 
For the Gravy:
Onion: 4 ( finely chopped )
Tomato: 3 ( finely chopped )
Ginger Garlic paste: 3/4 tbsp
Cashew: 12
Oil: 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Butter: 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon: 1" piece
Cloves: 1
Red Chilli Powder: 1 and 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1 tsp
Garam Masala: 3/4 tsp
Kasoori Methi: 2 and 1/2 tsp
Cream: 5 tbsp (and for drizzling on top )
Water: 1 and 3/4 cup ( or as required )
Salt: to taste

METHOD:
1)First marinate the chicken in hung curd ( refer notes for how to make it ), salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder for 1/2 hour.
2) Heat 1 tbsp oil in a kadai. Fry the onions until it starts to caramelize ( it should be turn brown, but don't burn it as that will yield a bitter taste )

3)Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute until the raw smell goes. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry until it turns mushy. Let the mix cool to room temperature.

4) Pulse the cashews in the mixer. Add the cooled onion-tomato mix and grind to a fine paste.

5) Heat oil and butter in a kadai. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon and cloves. After the cumin seeds splutter and nice aroma comes, add the onion-tomato paste.

6) Add the chilli powder and coriander powder. Fry well till oil separates and the mix doesn't stick to the pan.

7) Now add water and let it come to a boil. Add the marinated chicken pieces.

8) Give it a good mix and wait till it boils again. Close and let it simmer for 13 - 15 minutes. Add the garam masala and kasoori methi leaves ( crushed in between your palms)

9) Finally add the cream and give it a good mix. Turn it off and add the coriander leaves.

There you have it....One of the most delicious Indian gravies of all time - Butter Chicken!!!

Just drizzle some cream on top for extra richness before serving....

NOTES:

1) To make hung curd, just hang your regular curd in a veshti cloth ( or a muslin cloth ) over the sink for 2 hours. 

2) I have used medium sized chicken pieces. If you use big chicken pieces for your gravy then increase the cooking time accordingly.


Happy Cooking,
Sindhiya.S