This is the most creamy, delicious and authentic butter chicken recipe you will make. We use incredible aromas as our sauce is layered with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and more aromatics. This recipe uses no nuts and so is perfect for anyone who is looking to recreate this classic but wants to skip out on the nuts!
Why this recipe is a star?
- Authentic but simple: Before I learned how to make butter chicken, I had assumed it was a super complicated dish to make, but rest assured it’s simple to put together while still retaining the authenticity behind the dish. It is literally a simple three-step process of 1) marinating the chicken, 2) creating the sauce and finally, combining all of it together.
- Creamy and delicious: This recipe is so creamy and delicious, so if you’re looking for a creamy butter chicken recipe, you are genuinely in the right place. This recipe is super decadent, rich and actually excellent for a family dinner and when you’re cooking for your special people.
- Balanced spice levels: This butter chicken has an excellent balanced spice profile. Its not going to have steam coming out of your ears (as no butter chicken should really), but it has a nice undertone of heat, that when paired with rice or paratha is a perfect combination.
If you are looking for another curry but without cream, check out my Bengali chicken curry here, or my lamb chops curry. They are all equally delicious, whatever mood you’re in!
What is butter chicken?
Butter chicken was created as a result of placing chicken (that was cooked in a tandoor oven) in a rich cream and tomato sauce.
Butter chicken origins?
I have for years read into who is behind Butter Chicken and remember landing on the conclusion that it was founder and chef, Kundan Lal Gujral.
The story goes that Gujral was a young chef, originally from Pakistan, but had to flee amid the Indian partition violence. He ultimately settled in Dehli and founded a restaurant where he stumbled upon the creation of butter chicken.
However, the question of who really invented butter chicken has come into question with a new law suit, commenced by the Gujral family.
They claim that the descendants of Kundan Lal Jaggi (Gujrals business partner) are falsely asserting that Jaggi had instead been the mastermind behind the universally loved dish.
The case has just had its latest hearing and I know that myself and other foodies are anticipating what the court’s verdict may be.
I understand why clarifying the original creator is super important, especially for the purpose of historical records, but I have no doubt in my mind that both families produce an incredible version of the dish and to be honest, when I am in Dehli, I will absolutely visit both restaurants of the Gujral and Jaggi families.
What does butter chicken taste like?
Heaven.
In a bid for a more accurate description though, it’s a spiced creamy tomatoey gravy with perfectly succulent, spiced chicken chunks. I use chicken breast in my recipe, but you could also use chicken thighs.
Butter chicken marinade ingredients?
- Yoghurt: Greek style or normal yoghurt is perfect for this, just be sure to not use a sweetened yoghurt.
- Oil: You can use extra virgin olive oil, normal olive oil or vegetable oil. Whatever you have to hand will probably work, just ensure that the oil is not super overpowering flavour-wise. Might be obvious to say but for example, avoid a fragrant oil like truffle oil.
- Lemon: The fresh juice of half of a lemon. This is super subtle in the marinade, but it makes a huge difference, don’t use more than half as it will make the lemony flavours way too strong.
- Spices: You want to use about a tsp of all of the listed masala powders, they are all very essential to your butter chicken marinade.
- Turmeric powder
- Chilli Powder
- Cumin Powder
- Corriander Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Curry Powder
- Salt: Around 1 tsp of ground up salt.
Ingredients for butter chicken sauce?
- Oil: As per the above, don’t use a hugely fragrant oil and opt for a neutral oil instead. You will need around one tablespoon.
- One whole red onion: In my opinion, red onions will always work best in this recipe, but if you only have white to hand that should be okay too.
- Three small tomatoes or two big tomatoes: Please ensure that you deseed these. The seeds in tomatoes can sometimes be bitter, but beyond that, we want the sauce to be smooth and creamy so taking out the seeds are an essential step to this process.
- Aromatics and spices: For your aromatics and spices, you’re going to use the following essential ingredients:
- Cinnamon bark
- Cardamom pods
- Cloves
- Bay leaf
- Turmeric powder
- Chilli Powder
- Cumin Powder
- Corriander Powder
- Curry Powder
- Water: When the aromatics become fragrant and the onions have become translucent, we add our tomatoes, spices and a splash of water to help this become a gravy.
- Cream: This adds to the richness of the butter chicken gravy and not to be missed!
How to make a butter chicken sauce?
Essentially there are about three steps to making my butter chicken sauce.
- Frying your aromatics in oil: You fry these until they become fragrant and once they do, you add the onions to become translucent.
- Adding tomatoes, spices and water: Once you add your tomatoes, spices and water, allow that to cook all together. The tomatoes need to melt, the spices need to cook and form into a gravy (before we blend).
- Adding cream and blending: Once the gravy has formed, we’re going to add cream and allow the gravy to turn into a delicious deep yellow and golden colour. Once we achieve that colour, we blend it all together (including the aromatics, but excluding the bayleaf).
Step-by-step instructions on how to make butter chicken
Place the diced chicken in a bowl and add all of your marination ingredients.
Give that a really good mix and allow that to marinate for one hour, minimum.
In a pan, add some olive oil and once heated, add in your aromatics (those being the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom pods and bayleaf). Once those are slightly fragrant, add in your roughly chopped onions and allow this to cook together until the onions are translucent.
Next add in your tomatoes (with all of the seeds removed) and then all of your spices and salt. Splash in about a half a cup of water, stir and cover until the tomatoes are melted and have formed into a gravy.
Pour in around one quarter cup of cream and give that a good stir in.
Once well combined, carefully transfer all of the sauce to a blender (including the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, but not the bayleaf), and blend together until the sauce is smooth and creamy. If you are finding that the sauce is too thick, you can add a little bit of water to your blender to loosen it.
Pour the sauce back into your pan and add around a half cup of water to loosen it up.
Add in your butter, you can also add in your coriander and chopped chillis at this stage too, but I find it is fresher to go in nearer to the end. Allow the butter to combine together and place on the side (off of the heat), while you cook your chicken.
Once your chicken has finished marinating, heat up a fry pan (on medium heat) with some olive oil and pan fry your diced chicken breast.
Note: if you are using chicken breast, cook for not less than 12 minutes.
Note: I had to pan fry my chicken breast in two batches. After the first batch, I transferred all of the cooked chicken to a bowl, including the crispy garlic bits and oil. It’s essential that you remove the crispy garlic from the fry pan, as if you are cooking in two batches, these will just overcook and burn during the second batch.
Place your saucepan with the sauce back on the heat and add in your coriander, and chopped chillis. Give that a good stir and allow it to combine super well.
Next, add in all of your chicken with the juices and oil from the cooked chicken, this is going to make it super delicious.
Note: at this stage, I added a splash of water to loosen up the gravy further. If necessary, you can also add some salt to taste.
Allow the chicken and the sauce to come to a bubble and garnish with more cream and coriander.
Tikka masala vs butter chicken?
Firstly, the origins are different.
Butter chicken is an inherently born and bred Indian dish, whereas a tikka masala, while being grounded in Indian flavours, is a British Indian dish, catered to the British palette. I guess it makes sense that the two get confused as both are creamy and perhaps on the milder side of curries.
From my observations, a tikka masala hones in on the tomato element of the curry and the colour is usually a deep red.
Expert Tips?
- Marination time: Please marinate for one hour minimum and overnight preferably. The longer you marinate, the more deliciously flavoured your chicken will be.
- Blending the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom: Remember not to blend the bay leaf, we want the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to be layered throughout the sauce but not the bayleaf because the job of the bayleaf is just to infuse our sauace.
- Cooking the chicken: Whether you air fry or pan fry your chicken, it will naturally release juices. Do not waste those juices, they are essential to creating a rich gravy. If you are frying in batches then transfer the cooked chicken with all of the fragrant oil, cooked garlic and chicken juices into a bowl and do not waste any.
Substitutions and variations?
- Aromatics: You can add to your aromatics and the following additions would compliment the dish well: cumin, fennel or star anise.
- Cream substitutions: If you are trying to avoid dairy, a non-dairy cream will work excellent here as well, just ensure that it’s not sweetened. My recommendations would either be a soy or oat cream.
FAQ's
Yes it is an authentic Indian curry, with Indian origins, rooted in Dehli.
This recipe calls for using dairy and butter but both can be substituted out for non-dairy alternatives like vegan cream and butter.
It depends what you perceive as spicy.
If we are thinking about South Asian curries in totality, then no this isn’t a spicy curry and would be on the mild end.
However, if you are not used to spice at all and generally aren’t used to the spices I have listed in this recipe, you will probably find this spicy!
Yes, however it’s usually served with either rice or bread.
If you want a gluten free meal you can have it with gluten free paratha or rice.
Authentic Creamy Butter Chicken (No Nuts)
Equipment
- 1 saucepan relatively large, especially if you are using a fair amount of chicken breast chunks
- 1 blender to blend the sauce together
Ingredients
For the butter chicken sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil or any other neutral oil
- 1 whole red onion
- 4 small tomatoes seeds removed
- 1 bark cinnamon
- 3 pods cloves
- 3 pods cardamom
- ¼ cup cream
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 handful fresh coriander
- 3 green chillis
- 2 tsp butter salted or unsalted is fine.
- 1 cup water to loosen up the sauce at various stages of the cooking process.
Butter chicken marinade
- 3 chicken breast
- 3 tbsp yoghurt greek style or regular youghurt is fine
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 and ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 half lemon
- 1 tbsp oil vegetable oil, olive oil or extra virgin olive oil is fine.
Instructions
Preparation
- Roughly chop one whole onion and your tomatoes. After they are chopped ensure that you remove the tomato seeds from the tomatoes.
- Finely chop up your garlic, coriander and green chillis.
- Cut up your chicken breast into medium sized cubes. I would suggest sticking to this size as remember that they'll reduce in size when they are cooked.
Marinating the butter chicken
- Place the diced chicken in a bowl and add all of your marination ingredients. Give that a really good mix and allow that to marinate for one hour, minimum.
Creating the butter chicken sauce
- In a pan, add some olive oil and once heated, add in your aromatics (those being the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom pods and bayleaf.)
- Once those are slightly fragrant, add in your roughly chopped onions and allow this to cook together until the onions are translucent.
- Next add in your tomatoes (with all of the seeds removed) and then all of your spices and salt. Splash in about a half a cup of water, stir and cover with the saucepan lid until the tomatoes are melted and have formed into a gravy.
- Pour in around one quarter cup of cream and give that a good stir in.
- Once well combined, carefully transfer all of the sauce to a blender (including the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, but not the bayleaf), and blend together until the sauce is smooth and creamy. If you are finding that the sauce is too thick, you can add a little bit of water to your blender to loosen.
- Pour the sauce back into your pan and add around a half cup of water to loosen it up. Add in your butter. Allow that to combine together and place on the side (off of the heat). Note: You can also add in your coriander and chopped chillis at this stage too, but I find it is fresher to go in nearer to the end. Note: Taste the sauce, just to check that the salt levels are to your liking and if necessary add in more salt to taste.
Cooking the marinated chicken
- Once your chicken has finished marinating, heat up a fry pan (on medium heat) with some olive oil and pan fry your diced chicken breast. Note: if you are using chicken breast, cook for not less than 12 minutes.Note: I had to pan fry my chicken breast in two batches. After the first batch, I transferred all of the cooked chicken to a bowl, including the crispy garlic bits and oil. It's essential that you remove the crispy garlic from the fry pan, as if you are cooking in two batches, these will just overcook and burn during the second batch.
Combining cooked chicken and sauce
- Place your saucepan with the sauce back on the hob and add in all of your coriander, chopped chillis and chicken with the juices and oil from the cooked chicken, this is going to make it super delicious. Note: at this stage, I added a splash of water to loosen up the gravy further. If necessary, you can also add some salt to taste at this stage.
- Allow the chicken and the sauce to come to a bubble and garnish with more cream and coriander.
Video
@brinsbites Butter chicken recipe, because who doesn't like a butter chicken? I have literally never met anyone who doesn't love this recipe because it is universally accepted as one of the best curries. If you're not used to south asian food or curries and our spices then butter chicken is actually a great place to start, it’s spicy but not the spice thats gonna finish you. Perfect for a weeknight meal for the family. #butterchicken dinner ideas #butterchickenrecipe
♬ original sound - BrinsBites - BrinsBites
