Method
- Marinate chicken in yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri chili, garam masala, cumin, salt and lemon for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. The yogurt's lactic acid tenderises and the spices penetrate.
- Roast the chicken: skewer or spread on a foil-lined tray, broil 8 minutes per side under a hot grill until charred at the edges and cooked through. The char is essential — without it the dish tastes pale.
- Simmer the tomatoes whole with 200ml water and a knob of butter for 20 minutes until completely soft. Blend smooth, then push through a fine sieve back into the pot — discard the seeds and skin pulp. The sieving is the step that separates restaurant butter chicken from home versions.
- Add half the butter to the strained tomato puree and simmer 10 minutes, stirring, until the colour deepens to a glossy red-orange and the oil starts to separate at the edges.
- Stir in cream, honey, half the kasoori methi (crushed between palms to release oils) and a slit green chili. Simmer five minutes; the sauce should turn salmon-pink and silky.
- Add the charred chicken with all its juices. Simmer five more minutes. Finish with the remaining butter swirled in off the heat, the rest of the kasoori methi, julienned ginger and the second slit chili. Rest covered five minutes before serving with naan or basmati rice.
Common questions
Can Butter Chicken be made ahead?
Butter Chicken is best made and eaten the same day, but the components can be prepped earlier — chop and measure the ingredients up to a day ahead, refrigerated separately. Final cooking takes about 45 minutes.
Is Butter Chicken spicy?
Butter Chicken as written is mild to mildly warming — the heat comes from aromatics rather than chili. Add fresh sliced chili or chili oil at the end if you'd like to push it spicier.
Is Butter Chicken vegetarian or gluten-free?
This recipe is suitable for most diets. If you have specific restrictions, the substitutions section in each ingredient note covers the most common swaps.
How hard is Butter Chicken to make at home?
Butter Chicken sits at intermediate difficulty — total time about 75 minutes. The ingredients are not unusual but the timing requires attention.
Can Butter Chicken be scaled up or down?
This recipe is written for 4 servings. To scale, multiply each ingredient proportionally; the cooking times stay the same up to about double the volume. Beyond that, expect to cook in batches because of pan size and heat distribution.
Cultural Note
Butter chicken was invented in 1947 at Moti Mahal in Delhi by Kundan Lal Gujral, who started reusing day-old tandoori chicken in a tomato-cream gravy. The dish is genuinely modern — older than the Indian republic by months, but younger than most things called 'Indian classics'. Restaurant versions abroad add food colouring for the orange tone; the authentic source is Kashmiri chili and the sieved tomato. Kasoori methi is the smell that, anywhere in the world, signals butter chicken before the plate arrives.
