1 hour 10 minutes

4.67 from 3 votes

11.16.11

Updated: 04.23.19

Butter Chicken

Name: Butter Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 6 cloves garlic (minced); 2 tsp ginger paste; 2 lb chicken breast (boneless and skinless, cut into small pieces); 2 tbsp coriander (ground); 1 tbsp chili powder; 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste); 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 large onion (chopped); 3 cups water; 1/4 cup cashews; 1 green chili (diced); 3 tomatoes (cut into small pieces); 4 tbsp butter (unsalted); 1 tbsp ketchup; 1 tsp sugar; 1/2 cup half and half; 1 tbsp garam masala; 1/4 cup parsley (chopped for garnish)

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The best butter chicken you will ever taste, recipe with step by step instructions.

Let me tell you about butter chicken. It is the best chicken dish you will ever eat. I remember the first time I had butter chicken was about 10 years ago when I first went to an Indian restaurant for lunch and tried all sort of Indian dishes. Butter chicken was by far my favorite dish and every time I go to an Indian restaurant I have to have it.

Now there are many variations of butter chicken, and I’ve tried to make it many times and I haven’t really succeeded to get that restaurant taste. Until now! I have finally found a recipe online on www.vahrehvah.com that finally held up to my expectations. If you think butter chicken is cooked with a lot of butter, not so, contrary to its title, there’s not much butter in it. I believe it’s called butter chicken because of how silky and smooth the sauce is, but feel free to correct me.

The sauce is not really that difficult to make and all in all it took me about an hour to make the entire dish. The secret really is to have all the spices, and seeing how much I love Indian cuisine I do have a lot of the spices, but if you don’t, you can easily find them at your regular grocery store.

The main ingredients are chicken, garlic, ginger, onion, chili pepper, chili powder, cream, cumin seeds, cashew, tomatoes, salt, coriander powder, and garam masala. I have to say the sauce did not really get that restaurant taste until I added the garam masala, and then the sauce literally transformed and had this delicious butter chicken taste.

Once you get all your ingredients together it really is a piece of cake. So I learned this from watching Chef Vah and he really made it easy to make this dish. I used boneless skinless chicken breast for this, which I cut into small pieces. First you’ll need to add half the garlic and ginger to the chicken, coriander powder, chili powder and salt. Mix the chicken with these spices and garlic and ginger well.

Heat up the oil in a large skillet to which you will add the prepared chicken. We don’t need to cook the chicken fully, because it will fully cook in the sauce, later on. You just want to cook it enough, to get those nice brown bits in the bottom of your skillet. The reason to cook the chicken before adding it to your sauce, is because if you add raw chicken to your sauce, it will ooze out water, making your sauce watery and giving it a different texture.

Remove the chicken from the skillet so now you should have all the oil left in the skillet with all the brown bits which are full of flavor. Add the cumin seeds, the onion and remaining garlic and ginger to the skillet and saute for a couple minutes, just to cook the onion a bit. Add a couple cups of water to the skillet and stir. Add the cashew nuts, cumin seeds, add the remaining coriander powder, remaining red chili powder, green chili, the tomatoes and stir well.

Next, we need to let the sauce cook slowly over medium low heat for about 30 minutes. You’ll notice that after 30 minutes the sauce reduced, but before adding more water, we have to blend in a blender. Be careful with pouring hot liquids in a blender, make sure you let the sauce cool a bit before turning on the blender, or you could burn yourself. After blending the sauce well, pour it back in the skillet.

You’ll now notice the sauce is already looking silkier so the sauce right now it’s pretty thick, so I added another cup of water because it will get even thicker later on when we add the cream. Add the butter at this time and you’ll notice how smooth and silky the sauce will get. Now they say that in restaurants to get the sauce that nice red color they add some kind of food coloring to it, however I didn’t do that. One thing that Chef Vah recommended though, is to add a bit of ketchup to the sauce, and a little bit of sugar to give it a nice sweet taste. Also it’s time to add some more salt to the sauce, and make sure you taste as you go along and season until you’re happy with the taste. It’s finally time to add the cream to the sauce and the chicken. Cook for a few more minutes, you want to make sure you cook the chicken properly now and keep tasting and add salt if necessary. At the end when the chicken is cooked, it’s finally time to add the garam masala. Trust me, if you follow these steps, you will end up with a delicious butter chicken and you will love it. This butter chicken will go perfectly well with naan which you can also easily make yourself.

If you guys love this recipe, and most importantly make it yourselves, please let us know. Take a picture and tag it #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!

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Butter Chicken

4.67 from 3 votes

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 50 mins

Total: 1 hr 10 mins

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Serves:

Print Pin Rate

The best butter chicken you will ever taste, recipe with step by step instructions.

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp ginger paste
2 lb chicken breast boneless and skinless, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp coriander ground
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 large onion chopped
3 cups water
1/4 cup cashews
1 green chili diced
3 tomatoes cut into small pieces
4 tbsp butter unsalted
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup half and half
1 tbsp garam masala
1/4 cup parsley chopped for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Add half the garlic and ginger to the chicken, 1 tbsp of the coriander powder, 1/2 tbsp chili powder and salt. Mix the chicken with these spices and garlic and ginger well.
Heat up the oil in a large skillet to which you will add the prepared chicken. Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes then remove it from the skillet.
In the same skillet add the cumin seeds, the onion and remaining garlic and ginger to the skillet and saute for a couple minutes, just to cook the onion a bit. Add a couple cups of water to the skillet and stir. Add the cashew nuts, add the remaining coriander powder, remaining red chili powder, green chili, the tomatoes and stir well.
Let the sauce cook slowly over medium low heat for about 30 minutes. Pour the sauce in a blender and blend it until it's nice and smooth. Pour the sauce back in the skillet. Add another cup of water and the butter. Add the ketchup and the sugar and stir well. Season the sauce with salt.
Add the cream and the chicken to the sauce. Cook the chicken for a few more minutes, making sure it's cooked through. Add the garam masala and stir well.
Garnish with fresh parsley.

Recipe Notes

Half and half is a simple blend of equal parts whole milk and light cream. It averages 12% fat.

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 400kcal (20%)Carbohydrates: 11g (4%)Protein: 35g (70%)Fat: 23g (35%)Saturated Fat: 13g (81%)Cholesterol: 124mg (41%)Sodium: 532mg (23%)Potassium: 897mg (26%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 1520IU (30%)Vitamin C: 20.9mg (25%)Calcium: 73mg (7%)Iron: 2.1mg (12%)

Course:Main Course

Cuisine:Indian

Keyword:butter chicken

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Nutrition Facts

Butter Chicken

Amount Per Serving

Calories 400 Calories from Fat 207

% Daily Value*

Fat 23g35%

Saturated Fat 13g81%

Cholesterol 124mg41%

Sodium 532mg23%

Potassium 897mg26%

Carbohydrates 11g4%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 35g70%

Vitamin A 1520IU30%

Vitamin C 20.9mg25%

Calcium 73mg7%

Iron 2.1mg12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Meet jo

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

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