🍽️
🇮🇳 Curry · India
Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
Yoghurt-marinated chicken charred at the edges and drowned in a velvety tomato-cashew-butter sauce with kasoori methi.
Marinate overnight
Yoghurt-spice bath, 4+ hours minimum for full depth
Char before saucing
Genuinely dark edges under the broiler — flavour anchor
Cashew velvet
Blended into the gravy for body without flour-thickening
Kasoori methi finish
Crushed between palms — the dried-fenugreek lift
Ingredients 4 servings
- 800 g boneless chicken thighs, cut into 4 cm pieces
- For the marinade: 200 g full-fat yoghurt, 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste, 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala, juice of half a lemon, 2 tbsp neutral oil, 1 tsp salt
- For the gravy: 800 g ripe tomatoes (or 1 large can chopped tomatoes), 60 g raw cashews, 1 large onion quartered, 4 garlic cloves, 3 cm piece of ginger, 4 green cardamom pods, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 1 bay leaf
- 80 g unsalted butter, 200 ml double cream
- 1 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp sugar, salt
- Fresh coriander to finish
How to make it
- 1Mix the marinade in a wide bowl, add the chicken and turn each piece until well coated, then cover and chill at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- 2For the gravy, soak the cashews in 100 ml of hot water for 20 minutes; put the tomatoes, onion, garlic, ginger and whole spices into a heavy pan with 200 ml of water, bring to a simmer and cook covered for 20–25 minutes until the tomatoes have collapsed and the onion is fully soft, then fish out the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf, and blend everything — including the soaked cashews and their water — to a velvety purée and pass through a sieve.
- 3Heat the broiler high, line a tray with foil, spread the marinated chicken in a single layer with space between the pieces and broil 5–6 cm from the heat for 6–8 minutes per side, until the edges are charred and the meat is just cooked through — let the edges go genuinely dark.
- 4Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium heat, pour in the strained gravy and add the chilli powder, sugar and a teaspoon of salt, simmer gently for 10 minutes stirring often until the colour deepens to a rich brick-orange; pour in the cream, stir until the gravy turns velvet, then slide in the charred chicken with any juices from the tray and let everything bubble together for 4–5 minutes more.
- 5Crush the kasoori methi between your palms over the pan, stir in the garam masala and taste for salt and sugar, scatter coriander leaves on top, and serve with naan or basmati rice.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Calories 720 kcal
Protein 42 g
Carbs 28 g
Fat 48 g
Fiber 4 g
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
🍚 Steamed basmati rice
🫓 Warm naan or roti
🥒 Cool cucumber raita
🥭 Mango chutney
