Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

Marinate the chicken: rub the cubes with the yoghurt, half the Kashmiri chilli powder, some of the ginger-garlic paste, the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

2 hr

Heat the oil in a wide skillet over high heat until it shimmers. Add the marinated chicken in a single uncrowded layer and sear hard until the outside is darkly charred and golden. Move the part-cooked chicken to a plate and set aside.

Make the makhani base: melt a little of the butter in a deep saucepan. Add the roughly chopped tomatoes, onions, soaked cashews, the remaining ginger-garlic paste and a splash of water. Boil hard for 15 minutes until the tomatoes have collapsed completely.

15 min

Allow this rough base to cool sufficiently to process safely. Transfer the mixture to a blender and process it into an impossibly fine, smooth puree. For a professional finish, you must pass this puree through a fine-mesh sieve or conical strainer to discard the tomato skins and seeds, reserving only the velvet liquid.

Melt most of the remaining butter in a clean wide pan over low heat. Add the rest of the Kashmiri chilli powder and stir for 5 seconds to bring out its red colour without catching.

5 sec

Pour the strained, silky tomato-cashew puree into the spiced butter. Stir the sauce together, bring it to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 10 minutes until it thickens and turns glossy.

10 min

Season the bubbling sauce with the remaining salt, the sugar (or honey), and the garam masala. Slide the charred chicken pieces back into the pan. Simmer the unified dish gently for 5 final minutes so the meat finishes cooking while deeply absorbing the rich gravy.

Friction-crush the dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) between the palms of your hands and dust the powder over the surface of the gravy. Turn off the heat.

Gently stir the fresh cream into the resting sauce to lock in the luxurious texture. Plate the dish, applying a decorative swirl of cream over the top, and serve piping hot.