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This post is from 2020 but has been updated in June 2025 with updated images.
Watch the recipe
The secret is in the sauce. For this butter chicken recipe, I follow my classic Makhani Sauce - The Ultimate Butter Sauce recipe. Makhani sauce was born from the first Butter Chicken made in a small sweet shop, eventually renamed to the first Moti Mahal by businessman called Kundan Lal Gujral. He sought to revive drying skewers of tandoori chicken and created a basic sauce with tomatoes, butter, cream and some Indian spices. This gave the world its first Butter Chicken.
Is Butter Chicken Sweet or Spicy?▼
What if I told you that butter chicken is actually supposed to be neither sweet nor spicy? An authentic butter chicken is actually supposed to be a nice balance of both! We have a bit of heat coming from the red chili powder (I recommend Deggi mirch for some mild heat and to get the lovely red colour), and we’ll balance it out with the honey. The kasoori methi completes this dish by making it very aromatic and fragrant. Also, adding in our cream will help dilute the gravy and give it its richness, so you won’t have much heat.
Alternatively, a dish that has a bit more heat to it is Chicken Tikka Masala. We use less honey here, and our aim in that dish is to really emphasize the smoky flavor coming from those chicken tikkas!
Things to Avoid in an Authentic Butter Chicken Recipe
This butter chicken recipe is a modern re-imagining of the traditional butter chicken. This murgh makhani recipe uses all the elements that makes a great makhani sauce. If you want a visual representation of the mistakes made in butter chicken, be sure to watch the video below:
Watch the recipe
No Onions!
If you see a butter chicken recipe or paneer makhani recipe that uses onions to bring “body” or “thickness” to the sauce, turn around and run away. But seriously, traditionally, a makhani sauce is made of butter, tomatoes and cream, hence the name “makhan” which is Hindi for butter.
A Balanced & Tangy Flavour
Most people either associate the sauce to a spicy Indian curry or an overly sweet dish. This can be made with Tandoori chicken or paneer for vegetarians. When in reality, the sauce should strike the perfect, playful balance between sweet and spicy.
A great time saver and alternative to using fresh tomatoes is using strained, sweet Italian tomatoes, also known as Passata.
It is great for creating a perfectly smooth gravy, since it is already strained and contains no tomato peels.
It is sweet and tangy and is consistent in flavour, so you can guarantee each batch of the sauce will taste the same.
And lastly, it is such a time saver!
Ingredients for Authentic Butter Chicken
You can find all ingredient quantities and the complete recipe instructions by scrolling down to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD! You can adjust the recipe based on how big of a crowd you’ll be serving this amazing butter chicken recipe to - all individual ingredient quantities are automatically adjusted for you!
Aromatic & Rich Gravy
Butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can have complete control over the flavour of the dish. Butter adds a shine and smoothness to this sauce and is an essential part of, well, makhani (buttery) sauce. You can adjust the amount of butter to your liking, but be aware that the final gravy may not taste the same.
Cardamom: Known as the Queen of all spices due to its extravagant, intoxicating aroma. Usually associated with green cardamom, the flavours are slightly sweet, minty and pine-like and adds a wonderful scent to the sauce once the tomatoes are blended in the food processor. There are also several healing and health benefits from cardamom, you can read more about it here.
Mace: Usually used in Indian cuisine, this spice grows on the outside kernel of the nutmeg. In terms of flavour, it is a much more subtle version of nutmeg and helps enhance the sweetness and spiciness in the sauce.
Cashews: These really help add richness and naturally thicken the sauce. I enjoy roasting the cashews with the whole spices and butter to lightly roast the cashews. *You can omit cashews if you have a nut allergy
Ginger-Garlic Paste: An essential to a ton of dishes, Indian and otherwise. This mixture is made up of 1 part ginger : 2 parts garlic, and helps add a grounded heat, and spiciness to the dish. Since this is a restaurant style recipe, the amount we use is more than usual.
Deggi Mirch: This ingredient is key to add a natural red colour to the gravy without the use of any artificial colours. Made from mild Kashmiri red chilies, they are not too spicy and can be easily found at an Indian grocer. You can also find it on Amazon.
Honey: Although sugar can be an alternative to honey, I strongly recommend using honey. I find the sweetness from sugar is too intense, while honey carries a much softer, smoother sweetness which is much easier to control to reach the perfect level of balance between sweet and spicy in the sauce.
Dried Fenugreek Leaves: Also know as Kasoori Methi in Hindi, these leaves are crushed before adding to the gravy. While bitter in taste when dry, once added to gravy, they “wake up!” and add a beautiful fragrance and sweetness to the sauce.
Garam masala: Usually added at the end of the cooking process, this combination of several roasted whole spices add the final touch of warmth and spice to the sauce.
Cream: Traditionally heavy cream is used to finish of the sauce and give it the signature orange colour, I find it is sometimes too rich. Instead, I prefer adding 10% cream, which helps thin out the gravy to my liking.
Chicken Tikka: The final addition is the chicken tikka. You may be surprised to learn that the chicken is cooked separately from the gravy. If you read more about the history of butter chicken, the basic tomato sauce was created to revitalize pieces of tandoori chicken that were drying out.
How to Make the Best Homemade Butter Chicken
For the Chicken TIkka
Check out how to makeHow to Make The BEST Chicken Tikka at Home, either broiled in the oven or pan-seared, depending on your preference!
Traditionally, the char from the cooking process in the tandoor adds a lot of flavour and character to the sauce and really helps create an memorable dining experience.
For the Butter Chicken
In a large pot on medium heat, melt 1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter. Add cardamom, mace and cashews. Sauté for a few minutes or until fragrant.
Add ginger-garlic paste, mix well and stir often to prevent it from sticking. Cook until the rawness of ginger and garlic has been cooked off, about 4-5 minutes.
Add passata, mix well and bring to a simmer. Add deggi mirch and 1 tsp of salt. Mix well, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. Stir every 2-3 minutes.
Add honey and remaining butter, mix well and cooking while stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes. Turn off the heat, transfer mixture to a food processor. Puree the sauce completely, about 1-2 minutes.
Place a fine mesh sieve over the pot, pour the pureed sauce over the sieve, and using a spatula or wooden spoon, work the sauce through the mesh. This step requires some work but is well worth it to get an incredibly smooth sauce.
Crush the kasoori methi between the palms of your hand and add to the sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes to "wake up" the dried fenugreek leaves. The sauce may seem too thick at this stage, we'll fix that soon.
Pour cream and garam masala and stir well. The cream will bring the desired consistency.
Add the chicken tikka pieces, simmer for 3-5 minutes. Any further cooking will make the sauce too thick. If this happens, add more cream to adjust consistency.
Add more cream and sliced ginger and green chilies for garnish.
Serve and enjoy!
Breads to Pair with Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)
Low on Time? Bring Out Your Instant Pot!
If you are running low on time, I have this great recipe to prepare the same great taste within a few minutes in your Instant Pot. I have adapted this same great recipe and this will help appreciate your Instant Pot even more. Check out the Instant Pot Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken) Recipe!
2 comments
I wonder if there is much difference between using passata and tomato sauce? Sauce is also smooth and (at least in the western US) more widely available.
hey, sorry for the late response. I'm pretty sure tomato sauce and passata are very similar in that they are both pureed tomatoes. Just make sure you're not adding tomato paste and that your sauce has no added herbs or flavours and I think you should be good!
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