Does making butter chicken seem like a huge task to you? Fret not, because we’ve fetched the perfect recipe for you so that you can ace this mighty curry and impress all your loved ones. For the uninitiated, butter chicken is a North Indian chicken curry made with cream, butter, and a few spices. The curry is best eaten with naan or rice.
This reminds us of how butter chicken actually came into being. Legend has it that this murgh makhani was born out of a need to utilise leftover chicken, and the result was an aromatic and rich gravy filled with juicy chicken pieces. It was in the 1950s that Kundan Lal Gujral moved to Delhi after the Partition and started his own restaurant called Moti Mahal with his two partners. That’s when he realised that his leftover chicken couldn’t be thrown away so he devised a way to put it to good use.
Dunked in a pool of tomato and butter, he prepared a thick gravy for the chicken . And thus, butter chicken was born. Now that you’ve tasted its rich history, it is time to relish the delicious flavours of butter chicken too, with this easy recipe by Chef Vikram Simha Akula - Executive Chef, Art Of Dum, Bengaluru.
Ingredients:
• 200 gm chicken tikka
For marination:
• 60 gm hung curd
• 20 gm ginger-garlic paste
• Salt, to taste
• 15 gm deghi mirch
• 3 gm garam masala powder
• 1 gm shahi jeera
• 25 ml mustard oil
For gravy:
• 600 gm tomatoes
• 40 gm ginger-garlic paste
• 40 gm cashew nuts
• 50 ml ghee
• Salt, to taste
• 20 gm deghi mirch
• 1 green cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 2 black cardamom
• 2 gm black pepper corn
• 1 bay leaf
• 15 gm sugar
• 30 gm fresh cream
• 20 gm butter
• 250 ml water
Method:
• Cut chicken leg meat and marinate with the ingredients. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Cook chicken tikkas in moderately-heated tandoor until done.
• For the gravy, boil the tomatoes along with cashew nuts until the tomatoes turn mushy.
• Pulse the tomatoes and set aside.
• Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan and add the whole spices and bay leaf.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and roast until fat separates.
• Add deghi mirch and tomato paste and cook over medium-heat until the gravy is of sauce consistency.
• Strain the gravy and discard the whole spices.
• To finish, heat gravy in a pan, add the chicken tikkas and simmer.
• Check for seasoning. Finish with kasoori methi, butter, and cream.
• Serve with a dollop of butter.
