Best Butter Chicken Recipe Ever

Little did I know that when one reader asked for an
easy Butter Chicken recipe, it would take me
SEVEN tries to get it right (seven ain’t a lucky number
for nothing).

I tried 7 different versions until I
settled on the recipe below. It was one of those things I
just had to get right. Some recipes have butter in them and
some don’t but what I learnt is that traditional Indian
cooking doesn’t use butter, but Ghee instead, which is
clarified butter. It is a technical detail and I am not
entirely sure how important it is to the end flavour but
I thought I would mention it. This recipe however uses
neither! The creaminess is imparted by the cream and tastes
perfect – trust me!

I must also thank Rehana Cajee, one of our readers and my mom
for sending me Butter Chicken recipes to try! Thank-you!!!

Another thing I came across in my research is that some
recipes add an onion to the sauce and some
don’t. The more authentic ones seemed to omit the onion and
the recipe below doesn’t include onion either, however, there
is no rule to say you can’t add one!!

The one thing that I do know about Indian
cooking is that the spices need to develop and meld
over time! This is why I recommend marinating the chicken
overnight or for 24 hours for best results. If you really
don’t have time, then try and marinade for at least 30
minutes before cooking although I have not tried such a short
marinating time myself.

I should also mention that this recipe calls for 100ml of
cream. When I made this with 250ml cream, it neutralised all
the gorgeous spicy flavour. You may prefer your curries very
mild in which case you would add more cream but you can
easily adjust this at the end by tasting the final result.

The thing I LOVE about this recipe is that most of the work
(if you can even call it that) is in preparing the marinade.
Once that is done, the actual cooking part is SO easy because
you only have to add a handful of ingredients and cook up
some Basmati rice.

After marinating, the chicken is fried for approximately 3-4
minutes to cook the outside and to add a little more
flavour before adding in the liquids and simmering on
low heat. Be careful to time the 3-4 minutes – you really
don’t want a tough butter chicken after all that time
marinating.

Indian curries goes well with sambals, naan bread or papadums
and a dash of coriander. And of course, fluffy Basmati rice,
my favourite! Curry served with all of those things = curry
love, at least in my life anyway! Hah!

Print

Best Butter Chicken Recipe Ever!

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• 
  Author:
  Louise
  


• 
  Prep
  Time: 12
  hours
  


• 
  Cook
  Time: 25
  mins
  


• 
  Total
  Time: 12.5 hours
  


• 
  Yield:
  4
  

Description

Tried and tested Butter Chicken recipe that is full of
flavour yet easy to make. For best results the chicken
needs to marinate for 24 hours or overnight.

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Ingredients

Marinade

Curry

• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (or butter)
  


• 250ml tomato puree*
  


• 1/2 tablespoon sugar **
  


• 1 teaspoon salt
  


• 100ml cream ***
  

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Instructions

1. Cut the chicken breasts into cubes and mix the
   marinade ingredients with the chicken, making sure the
   chicken is well coated. Cover the bowl and place in the
   fridge overnight, ideally for for 24 hours, however 12
   hours is fine too.
   


2. In a medium-sized pan, heat the oil and take the
   chicken out of the marinade and place in the pan –
   don’t scrape all the marinade out of the bowl and into
   the pan, we just want the chicken!
   


3. Fry for 3-4 minutes on high heat to seal the
   chicken and develop the flavours.
   


4. Turn the heat down to low and add the tomato puree,
   sugar and salt and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
   


5. Add the cream and taste whether or not you would
   like to add more.
   


6. Serve with basmati rice, sambals and coriander. (a
   few naan breads would be great too!!)
   

Notes

• * If there is any opportunity to buy an Italian
  tomato puree – try and buy that one. I usually find
  they are WAY better and not as bitter.
  


• ** Omit the sugar if the tomato puree is sweet
  enough. Some of the standard grade tomato purees can be
  quite bitter and hence the need for the addition of the
  sugar. You may even need 1 tablespoon sugar however I
  would not add more than that. We don’t want a
  sweet curry we just want to ensure the tomato puree
  doesn’t impart an overpowering bitter taste.
  


• *** Add more cream for a milder curry but I suggest
  tasting before adding more.
  


• If you had a slow cooker, this recipe would work
  well too – after frying the chicken, I would add the
  puree, sugar and salt and cook on low for 6 hours
  before adding the cream.
  


• This recipe has been modified from
  RecipeTinEats.com who drew inspiration from Luke
  Mangan, an Australian chef. I have made modifications
  to the amount of chicken, oil, sugar, salt and cream.