Butter Chicken — My love/hate relationship with my favorite recipe

Whether you’ve had the worst day of your life, the best or anything in between — Butter chicken is your answer. Well it’s the answer to almost every question. That’s atleast what I thought until I decided to cook it myself.

I’ve had this love hate relationship for years, it’s a constant debate between “OMG, that’s the best thing I’ve ever had” and “Seriously, that’s how I spent my first free Sunday in 2 weeks?”.

There are a ton of ways out there to “hack” the recipe, but trust me they all leave you high and dry. The sad reality is that if you want that perfect butter chicken, you gotta put in the time and the effort.

But enough about that, let’s jump right in!

Marination does it’s job, then ruins your chicken

You know that one friend you had? Who was great at the start and then started killing you from the inside? That’s pretty much the friendship acidic marination has with Chicken.

Acidic marinations are great because they “loosen” protein chains allowing more moisture into the chicken, but marinate too long (or use too much acid) and it actually “cooks” the meat toughening up protien chains. This forces moisture out and you’re left with a rubbery piece of chicken.

Yogurt is one of the best acidic marinades for a few reasons

1. It’s mildly acidic so you have a broad window for marination
2. It “opens” up the flavor profile of spices
3. This allows the marinade to penetrate to the core of the chicken

(PS. this is why southern fried chicken uses buttermilk, which has the same properties)

So we need to marinate the chicken in a mix of spices for about 12 hours, but no more than 24 hours. For this marination mix ginger, garlic, saffron, garam masala, kashmiri red chili, oil and salt into the yogurt and massage onto the scored chicken breasts.

Marinated Chicken breasts, after about 18 hours of resting

I usually marinate the entire chicken breast, to avoid overcooking later

Tomato — your silent super-hero

Butter chicken’s sweetness comes from 2 things — the Maillard reaction and Caramelization of tomatoes. The basic difference between the 2 is:

1. Maillard is the process of breaking down protien into amino acids, that then react with sugars, all with the help of (high) heat.
2. Caramelization on the other hand is the breakdown of just sugars, which yields an array of sweet, bitter tangy flavors.

Both these processes neeed to happen at a temp of over 300°F (150°C).

However, we have a roadblock, water. The water in tomatoes sticks that temperature to 212°F (100°C) until it all evaporates,which takes a LONG time. It’s only after all the water evaporates that the sugars and the protiens start breaking down.

Fry the spices in butter until frangrant. Make sure the butter does not burn

For the curry, you start by frying cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom and cloves in butter, then throw in ginger-garlic paste, fenugreek seed and chilis until fragrant.

Cook the tomatoes until they take on a rich dark color

Add about a pound (600g) of pureed stewed tomatoes and (optional) a tablespoon of tomato paste to get the caramelization going. Cook on high heat, stirring often to evaporate the water and avoid burning the bottom. This takes about an hour, so you’ve got some time to kick back. You’ll notice the tomatoes go from bright liquid to a red paste to finally a thick orange paste.

Do this right and you’re left with a sweet, tangy, perfectly balanced tomato paste that is naturally sweet (a taste sweetner or sugar just can’t match).

Grill, Broil or Pan Sear

While we wait for the tomatoes, we can get the Chicken started. Since we will cook the chicken in the curry later on too, we want to apply fast high heat, to get a nice char on the outside.

I pan seared the chicken breast, notice the nce browning on the surface

The best way to do this is to use an outdoor grill. Grill the entire breast on the highest zone of the Grill. Like me, if you live in a crowded city and a grill is just a stuff of dreams, a broiler will do the job. Crank it up to the highest settings and broil the entire chicken breast in for about 10–15 mins. If you still dont have a Broiler, or want to experiment, you can pan sear the chicken breast. Just make sure you have a screaming hot pan, and do not overload the pan. In all cases, you want a visible char on the surface but an undercooked inside. Let the chicken rest for atleast 10 mins.

Note: Since the chicken is only partially cooked, resist the temptation of biting into it.

Cashew Milk — Begin the Decadence

This is where it all starts coming together. I love using Cashew milk since it adds an interesting flavor profile to the curry and it gives you a texture similar to cream, without the heavyness. (Don’t worry we’ll still add a ton of cream later).

I usually use a fistful of cashews and about 2 cups of water blitzed in a food processor. Add it in batches to the caramalized tomatoes and bring the curry to a boil for about 5 mins. Then leave to cool until the liquid is at a manageable temperature.

While you wait, you can cut the chicken into bite sized cubes.

You’re left with a curry packed with flavor from the spices, tomatoes and cashews

Strain it like you mean it

This probably is the most heartbreaking bit the first time you cook butter chicken. You need to strain out the entire curry liquid you have. Rest assured you’re just removing the fibers and whole spices from the mix — we’ve already extracted all the flavor into the liquid. Using a strainer and a flat spoon, give the remaining fibers a good squeeze to pull out as much of the precious liquid as possible.

Throw it all in

As counter productive as it all seems, we can now bring the strained curry to a boil. Then, add the chicken pieces, fenugreek leaves, garam masala and salt (I also add 1 tsp chili powder for a richer color and an extra kick).

Leave on medium heat until the chicken is fully cooked (~20 mins).

Cream Level — North Indian

“Add a half cup of cream” is one of the most beautiful things you can say to a North Indian, and you do just that here! Make sure you save some to drizzle on top when you serve.

So in summary, here’s the recipe

Serves : 2

Active cooking time : 3 hours

Total time : 2 days (Includes marination)

Ingredients:

Marination

• 2 cloves garlic — crushed into paste
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger — crushed into paste
• 1 lb (600g) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt (Hung curds will do too)
• Vegetable oil
• 1 tsp Garam Masla
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder (Can substitute with smoked paprika)
• 1/2 tsp Saffron
• Salt

Curry

• 1 tbsp Butter (Unsalted prefered)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 1 black cardamom pod
• 3 cloves
• 3 cloves of garlic — crushed into paste
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger — crushed into paste
• 1 tsp chopped green chilies
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 lb (600g) Stewed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (Optional)
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1 tsp fennugreek leaves
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 Cup Cream

Steps:

1. Score the chicken breasts.
2. Mix all ingredients for the marinade and massage onto the chicken breast.
3. Rest chicken in marinade for atleast 2 hours, overnight if possible.
4. To make the curry, melt butter in saucepan and fry the cardamom pods, cinnamon and cloves on medium heat, until fragrant.
5. Add Garlic and Ginger paste, chilis and fenugreek seeds. Cook for a few mins making sure not to burn the butter
6. Puree the stewed tomatoes and add to saucepan and stir
7. Add the tomato paste once the mix starts bubbling
8. Leave on high heat for about 45 mins as the tomatoes caramalize stirring frequently. (When you notice splattering, turn heat to medium and partially cover, allowing vapor to escape)
9. While the tomatoes caramelize, sear chicken breast (You can either Grill/Broil/Pan Sear). This will leave the outside charred but the insides uncooked
10. Rest chicken for atleast 10 mins
11. In a food processor blitz cashews with 2 cups water to make cashew milk
12. Once the tomatoes are reduced to a deep reddish brown paste with close to no water, add cahew milk in batches. Stir in and bring liquid to boil. Boil for 5 mins.
13. Cool to a manageable temperature.
14. While the curry cools, cut chicken into bite sized pieces (retain all the juices that collected during resting).
15. Once cool, strain the curry into another pan, extracting as much liquid as possible.
16. Add chicken pieces, fenugreek leaves, garam masala, chili powder and salt to the strained liquid and boil. Cook for 20 mins (longer if the chicken remains uncooked).
17. Remove from heat and add cream. Stir to incorporate.

Serving:

To serve drizzle some cream on top of butter chicken. Serve with Chapatis, Naan or Paratha.

About the Author

Gaurav Jagiasi, Author (Instagram — @gjagiasi)

Gaurav is a home chef and professional carnivore. He works for a San Francisco software start-up and lives in Bombay, his hometown. Love for food and a mission to eat something different every day encouraged him to step into the kitchen and learn everything about cooking from scratch. He aspires to show the world how great home cooked meals can look beautiful and taste delicious. Follow Gaurav’s Instagram here.