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Butter Chicken

Tender chunks of warmly spiced, melt in the mouth chicken fillet marinated in yoghurt and lemon juice with cumin, coriander, cardamom, chilli and garam masala, swathed in a heavenly sauce loaded with tomatoes, ginger, spices, cream and butter.

Course Dinner, Supper
Cuisine Indian
Keyword basmati rice, butter chicken, chicken, chicken tikka, naan
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Author Susan

Ingredients

For the chicken tikka:

  • 500-600g marinated chicken tikka (See Recipe Notes)

For the butter sauce:

  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped (roughly 125g-150g) (See Recipe Notes)
  • 16g/4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped (See Recipe Notes)
  • 16g peeled ginger, finely chopped (See Recipe Notes)
  • ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes
  • 80g tomato puree
  • 40ml/40g water
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon Indian curry powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • 125ml double/heavy cream
  • 125ml milk

Instructions

Ideally you should start this dish a few hours, or even the day before, you are cooking it. The chicken benefits from a minimum of 1 hour to marinade but overnight in the fridge, will add a greater depth of flavour. For tips and tricks and all the details on preparing tender, melt in the mouth Chicken Tikka, please refer here.

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Butter Sauce: heat the butter in a pan over a moderate heat. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook on a low heat for 5 – 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the vegetables are soft and slightly caramelised.

  3. Add the garam masala, curry spice, chilli, salt, pepper and sugar and cook for 1 minute until aromatic.

  4. Add the tomato puree and water and stir well. Turn the heat quite low, put the lid on and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring every now and then.

  5. Add the cream and milk and mix thoroughly.

  6. Cook the Chicken: you should start cooking the chicken when you have added the tomato paste and water to the sauce. You can cook it either on a barbecue, the oven or on your griddle. For barbecue and oven cooking see here.

  7. Using a griddle: spray your griddle with vegetable oil and heat over a high temperature. When it is very hot, add the chicken and let it cook for 3 – 4 minutes.

  8. Turn, and cook the other side of the chicken for a further 3 – 4 minutes until just cooked. It is important that the pan is very hot so you can slightly char and caramelise some of the edges.

  9. When the chicken is cooked, take it out of the pan and let it sit for 5 minutes to rest.

  10. After 5 minutes, slice the chicken ready to go in the sauce.

  11. Bring it all together and serve: add the cooked chicken, and any juices from the chicken, to the sauce, mix and cook on a moderate heat until everything is piping hot.

  12. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

  13. Serve over freshly cooked rice, scatter with fresh coriander and serve a slice of lemon on the side.

  14. Delicious with freshly cooked Naan Bread. For recipe, see here.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

  • chopping board and knife
  • kitchen scales and measuring spoons
  • mini food processor/blender (optional)
  • griddle or barbecue or a baking sheet lined with foil
  • cast iron casserole or saucepan

To serve:

  • Pilau rice
  • Naan bread
  • Sprinkling of chopped coriander
  • ¼ lemon per person
  • tomato and cucumber salad with red onions

Onion, Garlic and Ginger:

I chop these in a mini food processor. Its a wonderful time saver and ensures everything is very finely chopped. You can, of course, do this by hand as well.

Naan Bread:

For Naan Bread recipe, see here.

Chicken Tikka:

For Chicken Tikka recipe, please refer here.