Make the BEST Butter Chicken at home with this authentic Indian recipe. This Murgh Makhani is flavor-packed, creamy, delicious and tastes better than your favorite Indian restaurant version. All you need is a bowl of Basmati rice or some Naans to mop up the luxurious sauce.

Butter Chicken is a classic Indian dish made with marinated & grilled chicken (Tandoori chicken), simmered in a creamy tomato gravy/curry. The sauce is super silky, buttery, aromatic and mildly spicy. This lip-smacking and delicious dish is hugely popular among the Indian food lovers across the world.

Ingredients & Substitutes

Tomatoes: I love starting with good quality fresh ripe & pulpy/meaty tomatoes that are naturally sweet and slightly tart. But you may use canned versions without added citric acid. Choose between – 1 cup (8 oz) passata / canned tomato puree or ⅓ cup double concentrate tomato paste or 1 – 14 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes. Towards the end if you feel you need more intense tomatoey flavor, feel free to stir in a bit of tomato paste.
Greek yogurt/ Hung curd: Marinade requires thick strained yogurt like this Hung curd or Greek yogurt. Using regular yogurt (with whey) will easily let out too much moisture while roasting the chicken & all the spice marinade goes over to the pan. This makes your chicken taste bland.
Spices: To make a good butter chicken you need a really good garam masala else your dish can end up being bland without any flavors. You can make your own from this Garam masala recipe or use store bought. But be sure to use an aromatic blend and adjust the quantity because every brand is different.
Kashmiri Red chili powder: is pure Indian chili powder (ground dried red chilies). It is a medium hot chili powder which also imparts brighter color to your dish. You may substitute it with Byadgi chili powder or a mix of smoked paprika & cayenne pepper .
Coriander and cumin powder : add mild flavors to your dish, tone down the strong flavors of the garam masala and helps balance the tartness of the tomatoes.
Kasuri methi : is dried fenugreek leaves : and it is the key ingredient used in this dish. There is no substitute for this and you may leave out if you don’t have but you will surely miss those magical flavors.
Cashews : impart a delicate flavor & acts as a thickener. It gives a smooth and silky richness to the sauce. You can use almonds or almond flour as a substitute but the flavors are different. To use almonds, soak them in hot water for 2 hours, peel and grind to a smooth paste/ puree. If using almond flour, grind it with water to a smooth paste.To make the dish nut-free, substitute cashews with ¼ to ⅓ cup heavy cream and cut down the amount of water to 1 cup.