Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken doesn’t really need an introduction. A rich, flavorful and mildly spicy Chicken gravy dish is what I would describe it as! My kids like having this with rotis as well as rice. And I even put just the chicken pieces with a little gravy and make it a roll and pack for their tiffin as well.

I don’t use a lot of butter while preparing this. But you can surely use more if you prefer it to be richer in taste. The color of the gravy is from the red chillis and the other masalas and I do not add any artificial color while preparing this.

Few things to keep in mind

• Marination of the chicken: It is preferred to marinate the chicken for atleast an hour in the refrigerator. If you do have time, you can marinate the chicken further, which will help in retaining the softness in the chicken while cooking.
• Preparing of the masala: All the masalas along with the onions and tomatoes are first cooked well, before grinding. This makes sure that the onions and tomatoes are soft and grind well. After this, the ground paste is again cooked in a little butter properly which gives the gravy it’s color and richness.

Recipe

Ingredient List

For Marination

• Chicken – 500 gms
• Curd – ½ cup
• Crushed Ginger – ½ tbsp
• Crushed Garlic – ½ tbsp
• Turmeric – ½ tsp
• Kashmiri Chilli Powder – ½ tsp
• Salt – as per taste

For the Gravy

• Ghee (Clarified Butter) / Butter – 2 tbsp
• Onion – 1, chopped
• Tomatoes – 3 medium size, chopped
• Ginger – a small piece, chopped
• Garlic – 4 – 5, chopped
• Cloves – 3
• Star Anise – 1
• Cinnamon – a small piece
• Cardamom – 1
• Kashmiri chilli dry – 2
• Cashews – 10 – 12
• Sugar – 1 tsp
• Salt – as per taste
• Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
• Kasuri Methi (Dry Fenugreek leaves) – 1 tsp, crushed
• Fresh cream – ¼ cup
• Oil – for frying chicken

Step by Step Process

1. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients mentioned under marination and let it rest in the refrigerator for an hour.
2. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of butter or ghee and add the cloves, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom and Kashmiri chilli and let it all saute for a minute, taking care its not burnt.
3. Add the onions and fry till light brown.
4. Add the tomatoes, cashews, salt and sugar and saute well till the onions and tomatoes are cooked fully.
5. Take it off heat and let it cool completely before grinding it in a mixer to a fine paste.
6. Heat a little oil in a pan and put the chicken pieces in it and pan fry it till cooked. Take care not to dry the chicken out completely.
7. Keep the chicken aside and in the same pan, add a tbsp of butter or ghee.
8. Add the ground paste to this and fry till the oil separates.
9. Add the chicken pieces to this and toss well. Add enough water to this and let the gravy come to a boil and thicken a little.
10. Add the garam masala powder, crushed kasuri methi and fresh cream and mix well. Let it come to a boil once before turning off the heat.
11. Serve it hot with rotis, bread or rice!