Butter Chicken [Chicken Makhani]

Butter Chicken

Butter chicken (or murgh makhani) is part of the Indian cuisine, originates from the Mughal Empire in India, popular in countries all over the world. Butter chicken is usually served with naan, roti, parathas or steamed rice. It should not be confused with chicken tikka masala, a similarly coloured Indian chicken dish that originated among the South Asian diaspora in the U.K..

Ingredients:::

Ingredients

For marinade:::

Marinated Chicken

• 2-3 Chicken breasts (diced)
• 1 cup Yogurt
• 1/4 tsp Ground cardamom
• 1/4 tsp Garam masala
• 1 + 1/2 tsp Lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 1 Tbsp Tomato puree
• 1 tsp Garlic puree
• 1 large tsp Fresh ginger (grated)

For the butter chicken sauce::

• 1 large Onion (diced)
• Oil
• 3-4 inch Fresh ginger (chopped)
• 4-5 large Garlic (chopped)
• Handful dried methi leaves
• Handful dried curry leaves
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 8-10 Whole green cardamoms (depends on size of pods)
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper/ Chili powder
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Sugar
• Sprinkle black pepper
• 1 + 1/2 cup Sieved tomatoes/ Passata (or push some canned tomatoes through a sieve)

To finish::

• 3 Tbsp Butter
• 1/4 cup Evaporated milk or Cream

Method::: 

• Place all of the marinade ingredients except the chicken into a small bowl and mix.
• Place chicken in a separate dish that it will be marinaded in
• Pour the yogurt marinade over the chicken.
• Cover all of the chicken pieces in the marinade.
• Cover the dish and place into the fridge for a few hours.
• Heat up a large frying pan and drizzle in some oil. Add the onions and cook the onions for 5 minutes or until the onions soften.
• Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a few more minutes stirring often so that the garlic does not burn.
• Add the rest of the ingredients for the sauce, stir well and simmer for a few minutes.
• Pour into a blender and pulse into a paste.
• When you are ready to cook the butter chicken remove the tomato base from the fridge and put through a sieve into a pan. This removes any little bits of cardamom shells and seeds that did not get blended in the food processor.
• Pour the sauce into a small pan and gently heat on the lowest setting for 10-15 minutes stirring often. Do not boil the butter chicken sauce or else the spices will not be as aromatic and the tomatoes will burn, take your time.
• In a large wok/pan add the butter on a medium/high heat.
• Add the marinated chicken pieces.
• Stir well and cook for a 5 minutes.
• Pour the warmed up tomato base into the pan with the butter chicken.
• Stir well, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Stir often so that the chicken cooks evenly.
• Pour in the evaporated milk or cream, cook for another 2 minutes.
• Serve with basmati rice, roti, naan bread.