Butter chicken

TIME3 hours MAKES6 servings PORTION
0.5x 1x 2x 3x

This butter chicken is inspired by Goila’s famous butter chicken (as seen on Season 10 of MasterChef Australia) and Marion Gasby’s simple (yet classic!) butter chicken recipe.

The kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) is pretty crucial — without it, you won’t get the classic butter chicken flavour!

INGREDIENTS

  • 70g butter or ghee
  • 2 large red onions (diced)
  • 1 inch ginger (grated)
  • 4 garlic cloves (grated)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
  • 2-3 large tomatoes (roughly chopped) or 300ml passata1
  • 150ml water
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 tbsp kasoori methi
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 4 cardamom pods
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • Salt, to taste

Smoked kashmiri butter

  • 70g butter
  • 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

Marinade

  • 500-700g chicken thighs
  • 70g plain yoghurt
  • 2 tsp mustard oil
  • 1 inch ginger (grated)
  • 4 garlic cloves (grated)
  • 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1.5 tsp salt

STEPS

  1. Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl and season with 1 tsp of salt and black pepper. Add the marinade ingredients and use your hands to mix everything together well. Leave the chicken to marinate for 20-60 minutes.

  2. Place the chicken on a baking-paper lined baking tray atop a wire rack, and place it directly under the griller in your oven. Grill until slightly charred, around 5-6 minutes. Brush with melted butter, and turn to grill the other side for a further 5 minutes until also slightly charred. Remove and cut into 1 inch cubes.

  3. In a deep frying pan or cast iron pan, fry the onions, ginger, and garlic until softened and fragrant. Add the garam masala and kashmiri chilli powder for a few minutes, and then add the chopped tomatoes or tomato passata. Leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes have fully broken down.

  4. Add the water, milk, and kasoori methi, and then using a immersion blender, blend until smooth.

  5. Add the chicken to the sauce, as well as a muslin spice bag or cheese cloth with the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves, and cardamon pods, and leave to simmer for 40 minutes to an hour. Season to taste with sugar and salt.

  6. Using aluminium foil, make a ‘boat’ large enough to hold the butter and the kashmiri chilli powder. Place the butter boat on top of the simmering sauce, and place the lid on. If you have a smoking gun, you can also smoke the interior of the pot before placing the lid on — this will lead to a delicious smoked chilli butter. After 10-20 minutes, open the lid and pour the melted smoked butter into the sauce, stirring to combine.

  7. Serve the butter chicken alongside basmati rice, naan, and top with additional toasted kasoori methi and a swirl of heavy cream.

NOTES

  1. Using tomato passata will produce a redder butter chicken. ↩︎

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