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Butter chicken for the strong hearted

By Monish Gujral | September 23, 2010 28 Comments

The recipe for Butter chicken is actually a dual recipe – one of the tandoori chicken and the other for the makhani gravy or the butter gravy – the mother of all north Indian –mughlai sauces.This was invented in motimahal by the founder Kundan lal Gujral .As goes the old saying necessity is the mother of all inventions – it was mere need to sell the chicken tikka , which went a little dry hanging by the side of hot tandoors that lead to the invention of this makhani gravy , so that the chicken could be sauted in this sauce to over come the poor tikka`s dry spell .

As goes the old riddle “ whether the egg came first or the chicken “ it is hard to tell but in the case of butter chicken and tandoori chicken , it is the tandoori chicken which hatched before the butter chicken .

So lets see how to cook the tandoori chicken first and transform it into the Butter chicken later.

Butter chicken

By Monish Gujral Published: September 23, 2010

Yield: 3-4 servings
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 35 mins
Ready In: 59 mins

First is the -recepie for the tandoori chicken (FROM MY BOOK MOTIMAHAL`S TANDOORI TRAIL). Then we make the makhni sauce alias butter gravy.

Ingredients

600-700 gm Chicken pat dried
1 tsp Red chilli powder For the first marinade
1 1/2 tbsp Lemon- juice For the first marinade
Salt to taste For the first marinade
1/2 cup Yoghurt For the second marinade
1 tbsp Garlic paste For the second marinade
1 tbsp Ginger paste For the second marinade
1/2 tsp Rock salt(kala namak) For the second marinade
1 tsp Garam masala For the second marinade
Red colour (optional) a few drops For the second marinade
1/2 tsp Dry fenugreek (kasoori methis)powder For the second marinade
2 Onions cut into rings For the second marinade
1 Lemon wedges For the second marinade
1 Tandoori chicken For the Makhni Sauce
800 gm Ripe red tomatoes For the Makhni Sauce
2 tbsp Oil For the Makhni Sauce
1 Onions chopped For the Makhni Sauce
1 tbsp Red Chili powder For the Makhni Sauce
1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste For the Makhni Sauce
Salt to taste For the Makhni Sauce
2 tbsp Cashew paste For the Makhni Sauce
1 tbsp Garam masala For the Makhni Sauce
1 tsp Zeera powder For the Makhni Sauce
50 gm Butter For the Makhni Sauce
50 gm Double fresh cream For the Makhni Sauce
1 tsp Dry fenugreek powder(kasoori methi) For the Makhni Sauce
2 Green chili deseeded For the Makhni Sauce
1 tbsp Fresh green coriander chopped For the Makhni Sauce
1 tbsp Fresh cream for garnish For the Makhni Sauce

Instructions

Tandoori Chicken Process- Make two deep incisions each on breast and the drum sticks.
For the first marinade- mix all the ingredients in a bowl and rub all over the chicken and keep aside for 1 hr.
For the second marinade – mix all the ingredients in a bowl and rub on the chicken pieces and keep for at least 3 hours.
Preheat the oven at 180 deg. Place the chicken on the grill rack , place the tray underneath to collect all the drippings. Grill for 8-10 minutes .
Brush with oil , turn upside down and grill for 3-4 minutes till tender. Remove from the grill and keep aside.
For the Makhni Sauce- Take a pan , put oil and heat it over fire. Put onion and sauté for few seconds.
Put chopped tomatoes , bayleaf and salt in the pan and let it simmer , stirring occasionally till the oil sepearates from the sides.
Strain the sauce. Pour in a pan and heat over fire. Add all the spices. Add in the Tandoori Chicken , stir for a 3-4 minutes.
Add butter and stir till it melts in cream and remove quickly. Garnish with green chilies and coriander with a drip of cream.

Cuisine: Indian
Course: Entrée
Skill Level: Moderate

28 Comments

Priyanka

November 13, 2010 at 6:43 am

delicious

- Monish Gujral
  
  June 12, 2013 at 1:52 pm
  
  Thanks, Priyanka
  
jasbir

February 27, 2011 at 5:33 pm

Hi chef bit confused about ur makhni sauce do we puree the sauce and strain it or just strain it with channi.thanks

- Monish Gujral
  
  June 12, 2013 at 1:51 pm
  
  Hi..Jasbir,
  You can use tomato puree if you dont want to strain.
  If you are using chopped tomato then you can strain the sauce.
  
Elson Sequeira

June 12, 2013 at 12:33 pm

do we need to strain the sauce? there is a step missing i guess

- Monish Gujral
  
  June 12, 2013 at 1:52 pm
  
  Elson, Yes you need to strain the sauce. Please read step no 8.
  
vikram

July 31, 2013 at 10:08 am

Hi chef … just two questions about this recipe … how much puree should one use if not using fresh tomatoes … and when do we add the cream ? thanks …

- Monish Gujral
  
  April 26, 2018 at 9:41 am
  
  Hi Vikram, you can use the same amount of fresh tomatoes and add the cream when the sauce is done simmering.
  
basel Maksousa

August 17, 2013 at 3:39 pm

I am going to try that ,I think it is going to be very tasty
I need recipe for mutton Korma and other mogul food BBQ

- Monish Gujral
  
  August 17, 2013 at 3:45 pm
  
  You can join https://www.facebook.com/iluvindianfood ,our facebook page. It will keep you updated on new BBQ recipes.
  
Shabdita Singh

November 7, 2013 at 11:05 pm

Hi chef. This recipe seems pretty good and when backed by the legendary moti mahal name, it comes on my must try list. I have a question though. Can the same makhani sauce be used for pander butter masala? And a request for you to post some more vegetarian friendlt recipes too. Thanks!

- Monish Gujral
  
  November 8, 2013 at 4:14 am
  
  Thanks Shabdita, and yeah you can use the sauce to make paneer butter masala. Stay in touch the next post will be vegetarian.
  
desinl

November 25, 2013 at 1:34 am

i tried this recipe from the “trail of butter chicken” but it didn’t result in the thick gravy as i expected. Is some step missing? how do you go from chopped tomatoes to a thick gravy?

- Monish Gujral
  
  November 25, 2013 at 6:50 am
  
  Please chop and simmer and then strain.
  
  - raju datla
    
    October 30, 2015 at 8:40 pm
    
    sir this recipe is different from which you have shared in the book “on the butter trail” why is that ?
    
Arun

August 10, 2014 at 2:25 pm

Hi Monish, thank you for sharing this. I’m a big Moti Mahal butter chicken fan.

Just to know, instead of straining the tomato mix, can we just blitz it to a blend? Or would that alter the taste?

- Monish Gujral
  
  August 10, 2014 at 3:00 pm
  
  Hi Arun, ya blending is also an option but be sure to pull the bay leaf out of the mix before blending. Enjoy cooking!
  
  - Arun
    
    August 11, 2014 at 11:58 am
    
    Ah ok, will definitely keep that in mind. And thank you for the really prompt reply.
    
Nabila abid

March 21, 2015 at 11:57 am

Hi chef
I want to buy your book (on the kebab trail) your other books I allready bought but this book I can not find on (Ebay) (amazons) and I checked other website.i live in USA .can you plz tell me how I can buy this book .
Thanks

- Monish Gujral
  
  March 22, 2015 at 1:49 pm
  
  Hi Nabila,
  You can buy it from amazon.com, I am sharing the link below. Hope it helps you.
  http://www.amazon.com/Kebab-Trail-Moti-Mahal-Cookbook/dp/0143419382/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427012263&sr=8-1&keywords=on+the+kebab+trail
  
- Monish Gujral
  
  June 12, 2020 at 12:49 pm
  
  Try kindle
  
Rajesh Bhargava

April 1, 2015 at 4:37 pm

It’s all in the garam masala. Could you elaborate the actual recipe of garam masala used at Moti Mahal. I think that little bit of difference always persists.

jitendra singh

April 22, 2015 at 10:54 pm

Hi
Sir moti mahal butter chicken no 1 every time

Nihar Desai

August 21, 2015 at 3:11 pm

Hello
I am an ardent fan of your recipes.i have both your books in my collection. I have tried Many recipes from your books but paneer kadai and dal makhani comes amazing.
Recently i tried to make butter chicken but i am not getting the red colour of the gravy. When i add jeera powder and garam masala,gravy turns brown. How to slve this problem without adding any food colour.
Many Thanks
Regard
Nihar

bipin singh

January 26, 2016 at 12:01 am

chef I want to know butter chic is boneless or with bone . what is actual..?

- Monish Gujral
  
  February 10, 2016 at 11:25 am
  
  Hi Bipin,
  The original butter chicken is with bone.
  
Anjana K

November 12, 2017 at 8:19 am

Hi Manish,

I’ve been on the lookout for a really authentic Butter chicken recipe and it probably doesn’t get better than Moti Mahal legendary recipe.

Just one question, the ingredients list cashew paste for the makhani gravy but the recipe steps do not mention when to add it. Can you please clarify?

Thanks.

- Monish Gujral
  
  April 26, 2018 at 9:36 am
  
  You can add it once the tomato sauce is cooked.