Ani's Kitchen Stories

Butter Chicken is no doubt one of the most relished dishes in the world. And here’s my take on Butter Chicken in a much simpler way with almost all the available ingredients in Indian pantry, and the best part is I’ve made it with the leftover Tandoori Chicken. The smoky flavour of Tandoori Chicken is the best element in my homemade Butter Chicken.

Let us go back to the history of making Butter Chicken. Butter Chicken is traditionally known as Murgh Makhani. The curry was first developed at the Moti Lal Restaurant in Old Delhi in the 1950s, after the partition of India by Kundan Lal Jaggi and Kundan Lal Gujral who were both Punjabi refugees from Peshawar, Pakistan. The curry was made “by chance” by mixing leftover Tandoori Chicken in a tomato gravy, rich in butter. Till date Butter Chicken is one of the most relished and searched recipes in the world.

My son loves Butter Chicken and I love it too from the time I’ve lived in Delhi during my graduation and post graduation days. I must admit that whenever I used to visit in any Indian flavour restaurant in Delhi, I never failed in ordering Butter Chicken and Butter Naan for myself. I was so addicted to it. If you happen to visit New Delhi, you must hit on to Pandara Road, where you’ll get some authentic North Indian cuisines of your choice and of course whole Delhi is a foodies paradise.

Well, after 8 years of my stay in Delhi, moving out was hard. I had major cravings for good Butter Chicken too which I couldn’t find it in any part of India especially in Southern India. Only few restaurants serve an authentic Delhi style Butter Chicken with a hint of sweetness and spice combined. Few restaurants even outrageously try to put curry leaves in Butter Chicken.

Butter Chicken is actually a simple dish where you blend all the spices, tomatoes, onion and butter to a fine consistency and straining it further to a smooth texture. And then a tandoori chicken or chicken tikka is added.

Whenever we order tandoori chicken from outside, sometimes one or two large pieces of chicken are left behind and it becomes hard to consume it on next day. So the best way to use the leftover Tandoori chicken is to make a fresh Butter Chicken out of the leftovers and I’m sure your family will relish it more.

Here, for the gravy sauce, I’ve used tomatoes, onion, ginger , garlic, chilli, smoked paprika, cumin & coriander powder, whole spices, cashew, bay leaf, butter, dry fenugreek leaves, sugar and cream.

Ingredients:

2-3 pieces of large leftover Tandoori Chicken

For the gravy

3 medium size tomatoes

2 medium size onions

1 green chilli

7-8 cloves of garlic

1/2 inch ginger

7-8 cashew nuts

1 black cardamom

3 green cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

3-4 cloves

10-12 peppercorns

2 Indian bay leaves (tej patta)

1 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Handful of fresh coriander leaves

1/2 tsp kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)

70 gms butter

2 tbsp cream

1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt (salt to taste)

2-3 cups of water (or as needed)

Method:

In a frying pan add 50 gms of butter, roughly chopped tomatoes, roughly sliced onions, garlic, ginger, green chilli and cashews. Add the whole spices, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander powder, salt to taste. Sauté for few minutes, add water, cover and simmer in low to medium flame for 8 minutes. Turn off the flame and let it cool.

In the meanwhile, shred the leftover tandoori chicken and discard the bones.

When the tomato sauce mixture is cool enough, blend it with hand blender or in food processor. Now strain the sauce mixture in a separate bowl until you get a smooth texture of the sauce. Discard the leftover sauce on the strainer.

Heat remaining butter in the frying pan, add the smooth sauce mixture, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp coriander powder and sugar. Let it bubble in low to medium flame. Now add the shredded leftover tandoori chicken. Mix it well, add the cream. Cook for another 4-5 minutes. Crush the dry fenugreek leaves (Kasuri methi) on top and a pinch of crushed Peppercorns, stir well and the Butter chicken is ready. Serve hot with Jeera (cumin) rice, roti or naan.