Rich & creamy Butter Chicken Masala Recipe is worth a try!

Butter Chicken Masala Recipe – Let’s learn how to make this rich and creamy Butter Chicken Masala at home.

The rich and creamy texture is from the blend of nuts and seeds and fresh cream. This is a smooth onion and tomato-based gravy with mild spices available at home.

You could make this with boneless chicken but I prefer to use chicken with bone for this recipe. The yogurt marinade makes the chicken tender and juicy.

The best part is that this Butter Chicken Masala Recipe is also easy to make. The gravy turns out to be amazingly flavourful, rich, and creamy that you just cannot give this recipe a miss.

How to make Butter Chicken Masala

You can make this Butter Chicken Masala at home for your parties or get-togethers. You could also make this in advance and freeze it before your event. To serve just reheat it in the microwave.

To make Butter Chicken Masala we first marinate the chicken in yogurt and mild spices and allow it to rest for a few hours. In restaurants, the marinated chicken is then grilled either in a barbeque or a tandoor.

But since we are making this recipe at home, we just sear the chicken pieces in an open pan. This ensures that the chicken absorbs the entire marinade making it more flavourful.

But if you want a smoky flavour for your Chicken Butter Masala recipe, like the one you get in restaurants. Simply heat coal and place it in a small bowl in the center of your chicken pieces. Then drop in a dollop of butter or ghee and immediately cover the vessel. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes and you have a wonderful tandoor effect for your chicken.

In the next step, we make the gravy with onions, tomato puree, nuts, and seeds. We then combine the chicken pieces with this sauce and add fresh cream. The delicious gravy and the tender, juicy, and flavourful chicken pieces make an utterly rich and creamy Butter Chicken Masala.

The Recipe for Butter Chicken Masala

Though there are different ways, I prefer this recipe of Butter Chicken Masala. Not because it is awesomely delicious but for its simplicity and ease.

To make this recipe, let’s first go through the ingredients list. To make Butter Chicken masala you will need –

CHICKEN – You could even use boneless chicken but I like to use chicken on bone for this recipe. The juices from the bones make the gravy more flavourful and you will not need to use any stock.

YOGURT & FRESH CREAM – These are the two important ingredients for a rich and creamy Butter Chicken Masala. Use fresh yogurt and good quality fresh cream, it could be either store-bought or homemade. We need yogurt for the marinade and fresh cream for the gravy.

RED CHILLI POWDER – Generally, we prefer Kashmiri chilli powder over the other chilli powders. Kashmiri chilli powder is low in spice and also imparts a beautiful orange-red colour to the recipe. Red chilli powder in this recipe is for the marinade as well as for the gravy.

GARAM MASALA POWDER – You could use either homemade or store-bought Garam Masala Powder. Use this in the gravy towards the end of the cooking process. Moreover, using Garam Masala powder towards the final stages of cooking ensures that the flavours of the spices remain intact. You could also check out the recipe link in this blog for regular and Mughlai Garam Masala Powder.

GINGER-GARLIC PASTE – We use Ginger-garlic paste in this recipe for the marinade and also for the gravy. Homemade paste or even the store-bought ginger-garlic paste would work just as fine.

KASURI METHI – Kasuri Methi is dried fenugreek leaves and is easily available in all grocery stores. Do not skip this in the recipe as Kasuri Methi gives an authentic taste to the Butter Chicken Masala.

NUTS & SEEDS – You could use a blend of cashew nuts, almonds, and melon seeds. This could be optional but it gives a rich creamy texture to the gravy. Blend a few cashew nuts or almonds and a tablespoon of melon seed with water or milk to make a smooth paste.

Butter Chicken Masala Video

Butter Chicken Masala Recipe with Step by Step Instructions

STEP I

Marinate 750 grams chicken with-
- Chilli powder – 1 tbsp
- Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp
- Juice of half a lemon
- Yogurt – 1/2 cup
- Salt to taste

STEP II

Heat butter and oil in an open pan and sear the marinated chicken pieces on a high flame. Cook till the chicken is tender and the moisture dries up. Set this chicken aside for use in the gravy later. You could smoke the chicken pieces at this stage if you like.

STEP III

Let’s make the gravy for the Butter Chicken Masala:

Heat 1 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp oil in a Kadai or vessel. Add a few whole spices like 2 black cardamoms, 1-inch cinnamon, 4 to 5 cloves, and 1 bay leaf

When the spices begin to splutter add ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell vanishes.

Now add the paste of 01 medium Onion and continue to saute till the onion turns translucent.

Add the dry spices such as red chilli powder and coriander powder and stir for a minute. Add a dash of water if you feel that the dry spices are sticking to the vessel.

Now add the blended tomato puree and fry well till the oil oozes out. This will take you about 4 to 5 minutes on a medium flame. Also, add a little salt.

When you find that the tomatoes are cooked well add in the paste of almonds & melon seeds. Mix well and add a cup of water. Let the gravy simmer for a minute or two.

Now add the Garam Masala powder and the roasted Kasuri Methi, We are adding this towards the end so that they retain their flavour and aroma.

Combine well and then add the seared chicken pieces. Add more water to adjust the thickness of the gravy, if required.

Add in the cream and let the gravy simmer on a low flame for a minute or two and then switch off the flame.

You can now garnish with coriander leaves and slit chillies, if you wish.

Serving Suggestions

Serve Butter Chicken Masala with Rotis or Rice. You could also serve with Jeera rice or East Indian Wedding Rice.

East Indian Wedding Rice Video

Other Chicken Recipes you may like

BOTTLE MASALA CHICKEN CURRY

CHICKEN MOILEE

CHICKEN FRITHAD