Mamta's Kitchen

Butter Chicken Curry 2

Murga Makhani 2

Mamta Gupta

IndianMainMeat

Butter chicken has chicken pieces in a thick, creamy, buttery sauce, as the name suggests. Makhani means 'buttery' or 'creamy'. It is not very highly spiced and has delicious, gentle flavour. There are many ways of making it. Some cooks use chicken cooked in tandoor first, some used pan fried chicken and some just chicken cubes. It is not a difficult dish to make, in spite of the long list of ingredients.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 700 gm. to 1 kg. chicken pieces of your choice, skin removed Breasts are easier to cut into cubes

  • Marinade for chicken

  • 1 level tbsp. ginger, finely grated*

  • 1 level tbsp. garlic, finely grated *

  • 1 -1/2 tsp. salt

  • 1 tsp chilli powder

  • For cooking chicken

  • 2 tbsp. butter

  • 2 tbsp. oil

  • For curry sauce

  • 1 tsp. black cumin seeds/Shahi jeera. Use plain jeera, if you don't have it.

  • 2-3 bay leaves

  • 1-2 inch piece of cinnamon stick

  • 3-4 brown cardamoms

  • 4-5 green cardamoms

  • 3-4 red dry chillies, broken up

  • 1 full tsp. grated/crushed/ground garlic

  • 1 full tsp grated/ground ginger

  • 2 medium or 300 gm. onion, chopped finely

  • 500 gm. tomatoes, chopped roughly or 350 gm. tinned tomatoes

  • 1 tbsp. dry fenugreek/methi leaves (optional)

  • 3 tsp. coriander powder

  • 1 tsp. chilli powder, adjust to taste

  • 1 tsp. turmeric powder

  • 2 tsp. paprika powder for colour

  • 1 tsp. sugar or honey

  • 1 1/2 tsp. Tandoori Masala or Chat Masala, adjust to taste.

  • 2-3 tbsp. cashew nuts, soaked for 1 hour

  • Salt to taste

  • 1/2 cup or 125 ml. water to blend, if needed

  • To finish off

  • 2 tbsp. butter

  • 1/2 cup double cream at room temperature. Sour cream can be used

  • 1 tsp. Garam masala

  • A handful of coriander leaves, chopped

Instructions

  1. Wash and pat dry chicken pieces.

  2. Add all marinade ingredients to the chicken pieces and mix. Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

  3. Heat butter and oil together in a heavy bottomed pan or karahi. Adding oil to butter stops it from burning/turning brown.

  4. Add a few marinated pieces of chicken at a time to it and fry on high heat. If you try to fry all the pieces together, they will leave a lot of liquid and make chicken mushy. Take out and keep aside.

  5. To the same oil, add black cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon, black and green cardamoms, and fry for 20-30 seconds. Add whole red chillies, ginger, garlic and onions and stir fry.

  6. When onions begin to look translucent, add sugar/honey. Sugar helps to caramelise the onions. Cook until onions turn brown.

  7. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric, salt, dry fenugreek leaves, cashew nuts and either tandoori powder or chaat masala. Stir-fry until water is evaporated and oil separates at the edges of the mass. Turn heat off.

  8. Cool a little and blend to a puree. It should be smooth. Add a little water, if required for blending it.

  9. Heat a clean pan, add butter to it. When it melts, add blended masala sauce. Bring to boil.

  10. Add chicken pieces, stir until well coated, cover and let it simmer until chicken is tender. This should not take too long, as chicken is already fried.

  11. When the dish is ready, the gravy turns to a brighter colour and the fat separates.

  12. Turn the heat to minimum, add 2/3rd of the cream, 1/2 the garam masala and 1/2 the coriander leaves. Stir well. The sauce should be of a coating consistency, not too thin.

  13. Remove any large whole spices that are easily visible.

  14. Adjust salt/chillies/tandoori masala to taste and turn the heat off.

  15. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and remaining cream.

  16. Serve hot with Nan or Chapatties or Tandoori Roti

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