Creamy, fragrant butter chicken is easy to make at home. Photo / Fresh Media
Butter chicken is one of the most popular Indian takeaways ever, but it’s easy to make your own at home. It’s usually a very fragrant but mild curry, but you can add extra chilli powder if you like it hotter.
Butter chicken
Serves 4
Ingredients
Marinade
750g chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
½ cup plain yoghurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp cinnamon
Curry
2 Tbsp ghee or oil
1 400g can crushed and sieved tomatoes
2 ½ Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp malt vinegar
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp chilli powder
¾ cup cream
Fresh coriander, to garnish
Method
- Marinate the chicken: Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl, add the chicken pieces, and stir to coat the chicken with the marinade.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Sear the chicken: Heat the oil or ghee in a large pan over a high heat. Place the pieces of chicken in the hot oil (don’t wipe the marinade off the chicken) and cook for about 8 minutes, turning every so often. You want to cook off the marinade and get some brown spots on the chicken.
- Make the sauce: Mix all the sauce ingredients except the cream in the bowl with the remaining chicken marinade. Pour over the chicken and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and sprinkle with some chopped fresh coriander. Serve with steamed rice and naan bread.