Summary: Delicious restaurant-style butter chicken can be easily made at home by following the step-by-step instructions given by the expert chef of Amritsr Restaurant. However, to master the authentic butter chicken recipe, one needs to be a little patient.
Butter chicken is a popular Indian food, especially in Northern India. It is a tender and juicy dish due to tasty spiced yogurt marinade. The healthy butter chicken recipe is easy to make at home, provided one knows the right procedure to make this lip-smacking dish.
The aroma of this chicken dish is likely to transport you to another world. For those who love the bold and amazing flavour of simple butter chicken recipe, here’s the butter chicken recipe step by step.
Why Butter Chicken Is Called Butter Chicken?
Butter chicken is called butter chicken because it is made with makhani (butter) gravy, which requires a lot of butter in the recipe.
While preparing a creamy butter chicken recipe, you’ll figure out that a lot of butter is used with a very little amount of olive oil so that the butter does not burn easily in the pan or taste like smoky coal.
Since it contains a lot of makhani gravy; this recipe is called butter chicken. Some restaurants also serve it with other names like makhani chicken, makhani murgh, etc.
What Do You Serve With Butter Chicken?
With butter chicken, usually, you can serve naan (or you may substitute it with Pita bread if you like), pilaf, roti, or plain white basmati rice. The common accompaniment to this spicy and creamy Indian dish is cucumber and yogurt salad (also known as raita).
What Veggies Go With Butter Chicken?
Usually, many Indian vegetables go with easy butter chicken recipe. Some of them include stir-fried green beans, carrots, cauliflower, etc. You may pick anyone to make it easier for you. The best thing about butter chicken is that it can be varied depending on what you like.
Which is Better Butter Chicken Masala or Butter Chicken?
Both butter chicken masala and butter chicken are amazing dishes. It depends on your taste and preference what you like. However, the main difference between the two delicious dishes is that butter chicken includes lesser tomato intensity compare to chicken tikka masala.
Moreover, chicken tikka masala is less creamy than butter chicken. Tikka masala is a dry dish cooked in tandoor, whereas butter chicken is cooked in a pan on a stove. Now that you know the difference between the two, you may decide which one you like the most.
Is Butter Chicken Authentic Indian?
Butter chicken is known to be a popular Indian dish. It is said to be invented by Kundan Lal Gujral of renowned Moti Mahal chain of restaurants, who used to add leftover cooked tandoori chicken into tomato gravy.
Later, this leftover dish recipe became so popular that now many people across the globe enjoy it. But if there’s a debate, you can undoubtedly say that it’s an Indian dish unlike its counterpart Chicken Tikka Masala that’s invented in the UK and is spicier than butter chicken.
Why is Butter Chicken So Popular?
The unique blend of flavour and healthy spices make butter chicken a popular Indian dish. Since it’s not too spicy, many people can enjoy it without the fear of too spicy flavours burning their tongue.
It is popular all across the world due to its rich aroma and texture that makes it not only appealing to look at but tasty as well. In Dubai or Bangkok, you can enjoy the authentic Punjabi butter chicken recipe inAmritsr Restaurant.
How Do You Make Butter Chicken Sweeter?
Butter chicken has a natural sweetness due to tomato sauce and the use of cream and butter. So, you don’t have to add more sugar to it.
However, if you sill like the sweet flavour in butter chicken, you can add salt and sugar in equal portions or just a pinch of sugar into it to balance out both flavours.
While the salt helps in bringing out the natural sweetness of butter chicken curry, sugar balances out the saltiness and bitterness if any.
Is Butter Chicken Spicy?
Butter chicken is mildly spicy and slightly sweet, so it’s accessible to all tastes. Unlike chicken tikka masala that usually spicy food lovers enjoy, butter chicken is loved by many people – even those who cannot have a single bite of spicy food.
How Many Calories Does Butter Chicken Have?
Here’s a breakdown of around four to five-ounce serving of butter chicken:
- Calories:438
- Carbohydrates:14 grams
- Fat:28 grams
- Protein:30 grams
The nutritional information of this dish varies as per the recipe and its serving size. On average, one serving of butter chicken consists of boneless chicken breast with a sauce that carries about 4 to 5 ounces and may contain 438 calories, as mentioned above.
However, to balance out your daily calorie intake, you need to indulge in regular exercises to maintain your weight. Most healthy and moderately active adults who engage in any form of physical activity like walking or mild low-impact workouts can maintain a healthy weight by consuming about 1,800 to 2,800 calories each day.
Do You Really Need All That Butter/Cream to Make Butter Chicken?
Both of these ingredients help enhance the flavour of this amazing Indian dish. So, yes, it’s important to add it to butter chicken for the right amount of sweetness and saltiness.
Can You Use Frozen Chicken in Instant Pot for Making This Recipe?
Yes, you may use frozen chicken to make butter chicken. However, the pot will take a lot more time to come to pressure. You may increase your cook time under pressure by 1 minute to be sure.
It won’t work if the chicken is frozen into a big lump. You need to cook it once, open the instant pot and then re-cook it. So, if you want to prepare butter chicken in the instant pot, it’s best to freeze individual pieces of chicken to save your time.
Does it take double time to make butter chicken if the quality is doubled?
You can easily quadruple this recipe without any problems. However, if you double the amount of chicken, you need to ensure that all ingredients are in double quantity.
But there is no need to increase the time under pressure. The pot may take a longer time to come under pressure. Once it’s under pressure, the cooking time will be the same.
Butter Chicken Ingredients
The best thing about making butter chicken recipe at home is its interesting ingredients list. Each ingredient can be easily found in any grocery store:
For the gravy:
- 1 kg tomatoes
- 400 gm onions
- 200 gm cashews
- 50 gm ginger
- 50 gm garlic
- Green elaichi
- Some Sonf
- 100 gm Mustard oil
- 30 gm degi mirch (red chilli)
- 100 gm oil
- Ginger garlic paste
- Two tablespoons hung yoghurt
- Three leaves of tej patta (bay leaves)
- Two to three leaves of cinnamon (dal chini)
- Salt to taste
- Red chilli
- Kasuri methi
- Garam masala
- Sugar to taste
- 100 gm butter
- 100 gm cream
- Kitchen king
- Lemon
Step by step instructions to Prepare Butter Chicken:
Step 1: Take fresh ingredients in a huge utensil
Add 1 kg tomatoes, 400 gm onions, 200 gm cashew, 50 gm ginger, 50 gm garlic, green elaichi, some sonf (fennel), 100 gm mustard oil, 30 gm degi mirch, and 1/2 kg water.
Step 2: Boil the mixture and blend
Now, boil all the ingredients for 5 minutes. After boiling, let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes and then blend it to form a puree.
Step 3: Prepare tadka for gravy
Add 100 gm oil into another pan and add ginger garlic paste to it. Stir it for a while and now add three leaves of tej patta, three cinnamon leaves (dal chini). Once these ingredients are slightly brown, add the prepared gravy to tadka.
Step 4: Cook gravy properly
Now cook the gravy for 5 to 7 minutes. After that, add two tablespoons salt, some red chilli powder, kasuri methi powder, garam masala and sugar to the gravy.
Mix everything well. Add 100 gm butter and 100 gm cream into the gravy for smooth buttery flavor. This will give a nice orange color to the gravy. Let it boil for a few minutes and then keep it aside.
Step 5: Marinade chicken
Take chicken thighs in a bowl and add ginger garlic paste, two tablespoons of hung yogurt, degi mirch, garam masala, kitchen king, kasuri methi, mustard oil (1 tablespoon) and squeeze some lemon into it. Now mix it well and leave it in the fridge for 10 minutes for marination.
Step 6: Cook chicken in a tandoor
After 10 minutes, take out the marinated chicken from the fridge and put it on a skewer. Now, place it in a hot tandoor for around 5 to 7 minutes.
Step 7: Take out cooked chicken
When chicken is ready, take it out from the tandoor and place it on a plate. Now, chop the chicken into pieces for butter chicken.
Step 8: Mix gravy and chicken together
Take some gravy for one serving in a pan and warm it for a while. Add chicken into the gravy while stirring it well. Lastly, add some cream to the butter chicken to enhance its taste.
Finally, serve the dish in a bowl and garnish with some cream and butter. It can be enjoyed with rice, roti, naan, or rumali roti as per your preference.
Important Note:
This recipe was prepared in large quantity for the restaurant. However, the ingredients can be reduced depending on how much quantity you want to prepare.
Conclusion
Making the best butter chicken recipe at home is not that time-consuming. Butter chicken recipe is easy to prepare at home and takes under an hour from start to finish.
All you need to do is follow the instructions given by the chef of Amritsr Restaurant to make butter chicken easily at home. However, if you don’t have much time, you can anytime order it from our restaurant to enjoy it in the comfort of your home.
