My kind of butter chicken

Butter chicken or Chicken Makhani is possibly my favorite Indian meat dish. Gently spiced but highly flavorful. Every mouthful is a joy. Over the years, I've tried a number of recipes and the one below is now part of my repertoire.


My kind of butter chicken (based on Attica's butter chicken and Restaurant style Indian butter chicken)

- 10 chicken drumsticks, skin removed; or 800g chicken boneless thighs, skinned and cut into big chunks
- 2 teaspoons of tandoori chicken masala powder (or garam masala)
- 2 teaspoons of tumeric powder
- 2 teaspoons of cumin powder
- 4 tablespoons of plain full fat yogurt (regular or Greek)
- 3-4 drops of liquid smoke or 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Marinade chicken with all ingredients listed above for one hour or overnight. Roast drumsticks or chicken thighs at 180C for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven while you prepare the sauce.

Butter sauce
- 50 g butter, melted
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon of grated ginger
- 1 cinnamon bark
- 1 tablespoon of chicken masala powder (or garam masala)
- 1 can of tomato (400g)
- 1 cup of double cream
- 1 tablespoon of fenugreek leaves
- 3 tablespoons of ground almond
- chopped fresh coriander leaves

In a big saute pan, melt the butter and fry the onions until they are lightly golden brown. Add in grated garlic, grated ginger, cinnamon bark, and chicken masala powder. Stir to mix everything and cook the spice mixture on medium heat for 3 minutes.

Add in one can of tomato. Bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook the sauce for 20 minutes. Add in cream and ground almond. Crush the fenugreek leaves between your palms and let it fall into the pan. Stir to combine. If the sauce is too dry, add some stock. If too loose, reduce the sauce until it looks like thick smoothie. At this point, stir in roasted chicken. Cook the curry on the medium heat for 10 minutes. Sprinkle coriander leaves before serving.