Butter Chicken Curry
A proper butter chicken starts with a real marinade, not just a quick coating. The chicken sits in yoghurt and spice for at least 30 minutes, ideally longer, before it even sees a pan.
The gravy is built properly too — onions cooked until genuinely deep golden, spices toasted, tomatoes simmered and blended completely smooth before the cream goes in. That last step matters more than people think, since any texture left in the tomato base carries straight through to the finished gravy.
Serve it over fragrant basmati rice with naan on the side. It takes a bit of time, but most of it is hands-off simmering.
Butter Chicken Curry
CHICKEN · DINNER · MEDIUM
Silky, spiced, and built properly from scratch
Searing the marinated chicken in batches gives it real colour before it goes into the gravy, rather than steaming in an overcrowded pan.
Cooking the onions until they're genuinely deep golden, not just softened, is where a lot of the gravy's depth comes from. It's worth giving them the full time they need.
Blending the tomato base completely smooth before the cream goes in is what gives you that classic silky, restaurant-style gravy instead of something chunky or split.
Butter Chicken Curry
Ingredients
Chicken & Marinade
- 1 kg Chicken Thigh Boneless & Skinless
- 190 g Natural Greek Yogurt
- 3 Garlic Cloves Grated
- 15 g Ginger Grated
- 12 g Garam Masala
- 6 g Ground Cumin
- 4 g Ground Turmeric
- 4 g Kashmiri Chilli Powder Optional
- Salt & Pepper To Taste
- 22.5 ml Neutral Oil
Tomato Gravy
- 56 g Ghee
- 2 Brown (Yellow) Onion Sliced
- 3 Garlic Cloves Grated
- 15 g Ginger Grated
- 8 g Ground Cumin
- 8 g Ground Coriander
- 4 g Kashmiri Chilli Powder
- 800 g Diced Tomatoes Canned
- 10 g Garam Masala
- 11 g Granulated Sugar
- 375 ml Thickened Cream
- Salt & Pepper To Taste
Rice
- 200 g Basmati Rice Washed
- 400 ml Cold Water
- ½ Cinnamon Stick
- 1 Star Anise
- 3 Green Cardamom Pods
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Salt To Taste
Serving
- Coriander (Cilantro)
- Naan
Method
- Place the chicken and marinade ingredients (except the canola oil) into a large mixing bowl and mix to combine. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes, up to 48 hours.
- In a large, high-rimmed pan or pot, place over high heat and once really hot, pour in the canola oil. Add the marinated chicken and sear in batches for 3-4 minutes on each side or until lightly golden. Remove and place in a bowl to rest.
- Add the ghee or clarified butter to the same pot or pan and allow it to melt. Add the thinly sliced onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until deep golden, stirring frequently. Add the minced garlic and ginger and sauté for 45 seconds, stirring the whole time to prevent it from burning.
- Add the ground cumin, ground coriander and red chilli powder (optional). Toast and sauté for 45 seconds. Add the canned tomatoes and water, mix well to combine, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
- After 8 minutes, take the pot off the heat and blend using either an immersion blender or a food processor. (Flag: confirm whether the food processor caveat should be written inline here instead of referencing a separate notes section.)
- Once smooth, place back over high heat and bring back to a boil. Once boiling, add the garam masala, sugar, thickened cream, seared chicken along with any resting juices, and seasoning to taste. Mix well to combine and bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, soft and tender, and reaches an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F). Remove from the stovetop.
- In the meantime, place a saucepan over high heat, add all the rice ingredients, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, place on a lid, and steam for 14 minutes undisturbed. Turn off the heat, leave the lid on, and steam for a further 4 minutes. Remove the lid, discard the whole spices, and fluff with a spatula or fork. Remove from the stovetop.
- Place the rice into a serving bowl, top with the tender chicken thighs, and cover with the tomato gravy. Garnish with fresh coriander and naan bread. Enjoy.
Absolutely delicious, such a nice weekday treat that’s different than usual options, would highly recommend.
Anyone can make this and it doesn’t cut any corners in terms of proper food science!
Hey Tyler. Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
An absolute winner in my house!! Great website, Jack. Keep up the great work.
Thank you very much! So glad you enjoy the recipe and the website.
Fantastic recipe for a classic very tasty dish. Maybe not so easy to do if you’re a first time cook because of all steps, frying, browning, handling raw chicken, partly cooked chicken etc. Still it’s all very well explained in the video. I recommend you have a go. For me, a not so first time cook 🙂 the result was excellent using good quality free range chicken.
Thank you, Samantha. This one is full of different techniques that not only work well for this recipe but many others. Glad you enjoyed it.
This was the first time I cooked curry but this tastes really amazing!
Happy to hear, Lucy. Glad you enjoyed it.
This recipe was amazing Jack! My family were saying it tasted just as good as shop bought BC. I’ve made other BC recipes before and the list of ingredients was lengthy…this was so simple! Keep up the great work buddy! Much appreciated in Wellington, NZ
Thank you, Pita! I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed this one. The simplicity of the ingredients is what makes it so good as it can easily be whipped up as a somewhat fast weeknight dinner.
I made this several times already, and it’s reaaaally good. I love that this recipe works without a long list of fresh spices that I can’t get in my regular supermarket. Any recommendations for some greens on the side?
Hey, Linda. Glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe. As for sides, green beans work perfectly, as well as broccoli.