- [Narrator] Butter chicken is a traditional
North Indian dish that is creamy, rich,
and packed with aromatic spices and flavor.
Butter chicken, or murgh makhani,
is believed to have originated in a restaurant
as a means to use up leftover tandoori chicken.
The tomato gravy, butter and cream
proved to be a delicious way to soften the leftover chicken
and keep it from drying out.
Like all Indian dishes, (bright music)
there are countless versions, with nuanced variations.
Today, we're gonna show you our favorite recipe
for this popular Indian classic.
One of the things that makes butter chicken so tasty
is garam masala, which is a rich blend of spices
that's unique to most Indian households.
Now, you can use store bought,
but we found creating your own spice blend
makes the dish richer, smokier and more aromatic.
If you do use store-bought
just make sure to double the amount.
Every Indian household has
their own version of garam masala.
For ours, we're using bay leaves, cinnamon sticks,
cloves, cardamom pods, peppercorns, cumin seeds,
coriander seeds, and nutmeg.
We'll toast these spices for about one to two minutes
until they're fragrant, but definitely not burnt.
Doing this brings out their aromatic oils
and intensifies their flavors.
So please, really, don't skip this step.
Once they're toasted, we'll let them cool
and then add them to a spice grinder
to create a fine powder.
You don't have to buy a spice grinder.
A coffee grinder dedicated to spices works just as well.
A mortar and pestle also works,
but that can be pretty labor intensive
and you won't get as fine a powder.
Quick tip, save whatever spices you don't use
in an airtight container for future recipes.
Next, we'll make ginger garlic paste.
It's used in traditional Indian recipes
for a smooth texture.
You can also use store-bought for this, but again,
when testing, we found fresh won by a long shot.
For our paste, we'll use ginger root,
garlic cloves, oil and salt.
We'll peel the ginger and blitz all our ingredients together
until they form a smooth mixture.
Don't forget to scrape the sides of your mixer as you go.
Now, it's time to marinate our chicken.
You can either use chicken thighs or breasts,
but we prefer chicken thighs
because they are more flavorful and less likely to dry out.
We've cut them into strips instead of cubes,
because strips tend to hold onto the sauce better,
but you can really do whatever is your preference.
For the actual marinade you'll combine
the ginger garlic paste, and garam masala, turmeric,
ground cumin, ground coriander, salt,
fresh lemon juice, and Kashmiri red chili powder.
This is an important spice because it gives the chicken
it's signature color and it's not overwhelmingly spicy.
And lastly, we'll add full fat Greek yogurt.
We're using full fat because more fat equals more flavor
so don't try to skimp out with the non-fat variety.
We also found that marinating with yogurt
is key to getting creamy, tangy chicken,
and it also keeps it more tender and moist
compared to the chicken we made without the yogurt.
We'll combine all these ingredients in a bowl
and then add our chicken.
Once the chicken is coated,
we'll let it marinate in the fridge overnight.
That might seem like a long time, but trust us,
the yogurt will start to slowly tenderize the meat
and the spices and aromatics
will season the chicken throughout.
But if you really can't wait that long,
marinate it for at least three hours.
Now, when it comes to cooking your chicken,
there are a few ways to go about it.
Traditionally, tandoori chicken is grilled in a tandoor,
which is a large cylindrical oven made of clay or metal
filled with hot coals or wood-fire.
We found the best way to mimic
the cooked flavor of a tandoor
is to place the chicken on skewers and broil for 15 minutes.
While our chicken cooks, let's make our gravy or sauce.
In India, some people call it a gravy.
some people call it a sauce,
but whatever you call it, it's the star of the show,
and it's what makes butter chicken, butter chicken.
To begin, we have to choose our fat.
Ghee is often used in Indian cooking.
However, when we tested butter versus ghee,
we found that while ghee made the gravy richer
butter made it creamier.
So in a pan you'll combine butter and oil on medium heat
until the butter melts, then add in cumin seeds,
a cardamom pod, a bay leaf, four cloves,
green chilies and turmeric.
Once you can smell all of these wonderful spices
and hear them sizzle add in a chopped onion
and cook for about five minutes until it lightly browns.
Then add some of that homemade ginger garlic paste
and cook for another minute.
Finally, add ground cumin, Kashmiri red chili powder,
ground coriander, garam masala and stir until well combined.
Can you see a theme here?
We use a lot of spices in Indian cooking.
We use them in whole and ground form
to layer the dish and reinforce the flavors.
Next, we'll add in the tomatoes.
They add substance and acidity to our sauce,
as well as cut through the richness of the butter.
We tested with both canned and fresh tomatoes
and surprisingly we found the canned tomatoes
were sweeter and more flavorful.
This can really depend on where your
fresh tomatoes come from, but we preferred the canned.
Next, we're gonna let you in on a little secret
to extra creamy gravy, cashews.
A lot of Northern Indian dishes include nuts like cashews
to add richness to a sauce.
They can definitely be omitted,
but when testing we found they added a wonderful
sweetness and lusciousness to the dish
that just can't be replicated.
So, if you don't have a nut allergy, put them in.
Trust us, it's going to be worth it.
And finally, we'll add a pinch of salt
and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the tomatoes
are a deep red color and the cashews are soft.
We mean soft.
If we don't wait for the cashews to cook down
before moving on to the next step,
we won't get that silky smooth sauce.
So take your time. Don't rush this part.
Next we'll transfer the spiced tomato mixture
into a high-speed blender.
Add half a cup of water and blitz until completely smooth.
Now that our gravy is super smooth
pour it back into the pot, add more butter,
because this is butter chicken after all,
then sugar to balance the acidity,
and finally the cooked chicken.
Cook on low with the lid on for 10 minutes.
This is going to allow the flavors in the sauce to develop
and for everything to come together beautifully.
Finally, stir in heavy cream and fenugreek.
It's worth going the extra mile to find dried fenugreek
at your local Indian market.
It really balances the dish and adds a nice earthiness.
Add a little more salt here if needed.
You can thank us later for how delicious
your kitchen is smelling.
When it comes time to serve,
there are a variety of options to plate
with your butter chicken, like rice, onion kulcha,
naan, roti and paratha.
We love to serve ours over basmati rice
and top with fresh cilantro, alongside some garlic naan.
Finally, it's time to dig in. (upbeat music)
And the best way to do that is to take our naan
and grab the chicken to create the perfect succulent bite.
Butter chicken is one of those dishes
that brings people together around the family table.
It's a taste of home, comfort and love.
We hope you love it as much as we did making it for you.
You can find this recipe and many more on tasty.com.