Indian Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
Yogurt-coated chicken thighs broiled until charred at the edges, then folded into a smooth, gently spiced tomato sauce finished with cream and butter, the Delhi restaurant classic made with a home broiler instead of a tandoor.
Butter chicken, or murgh makhani (makhani means made with butter), is chicken from the tandoor simmered in a tomato sauce rich with butter and cream. Wikipedia says it was developed in Delhi by Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi, Punjabi refugees from Peshawar after the 1947 Partition, reportedly by chance, as a way to use leftover tandoori chicken, and that their Moti Mahal restaurant in Daryaganj, Old Delhi, popularized it in the 1950s. Al Jazeera adds that Gujral had learned to cook in a sweets shop in Peshawar and opened the first Moti Mahal in Delhi in 1947.
Who invented it is DISPUTED, and in 2024 the question went to court. Moti Mahal's owners sued the newer Daryaganj restaurants, run by Jaggi's heirs, over the slogan "By the inventors of butter chicken and dal makhani": Moti Mahal says Gujral created the dish (and Gujral's grandson now places that in Peshawar in the 1920s or 1930s), while Daryaganj says Jaggi was Gujral's partner at Moti Mahal in 1947 and shares the credit. Al Jazeera reported a 2,752-page suit seeking 20 million rupees (about $240,000), a first hearing on January 16, 2024 and another set for May 29, 2024. We found no ruling. Abroad, butter chicken is often mixed up with chicken tikka masala, which Britain claims (see our Chicken Tikka Masala recipe).
Why it works the kitchen science
Yogurt under the broiler
The milk proteins and sugar in the yogurt brown fast, so a home broiler gives the chicken the charred, smoky edges a tandoor would.
Tomato paste, not canned tomatoes
ATK uses paste and water for deep tomato color and tang without thinning the sauce, then a full cup of cream and a final hit of butter give it the velvety body the dish is named for.
Step by step
- Step 1
Melt 2 tbsp of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and serrano and cook, stirring, 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and just starting to brown.
- Step 2
Stir in the garam masala, coriander, cumin and pepper and cook about 3 minutes, until fragrant. Whisk in the water and tomato paste until smooth, add the sugar and 1 tsp salt, and bring to a boil.
- Step 3
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cream. Blend with an immersion blender (or carefully in a blender) 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth. Bring back to a simmer over medium heat, whisk in the remaining 2 tbsp butter, cover and keep warm.
- Step 4
Set an oven rack 6 inches below the broiler and heat the broiler. Toss the chicken with the yogurt and 1 tsp salt, then arrange it on a wire rack set in a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Step 5
Broil 16 to 20 minutes, flipping halfway, until charred in spots on both sides and the thickest piece reads 175°F (never less than 165°F).
- Step 6
Let the chicken rest 5 minutes while you rewarm the sauce over medium-low heat. Cut the chicken into 3/4-inch chunks and stir it into the sauce with 2 tbsp cilantro. Season with salt, sprinkle with the last 1 tbsp cilantro and serve with basmati rice or naan.
Indian Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
Serves 4 · about 6 cups · 1 hr total
Sauce
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 4 pieces
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded and minced
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp table salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
Chicken
- 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
- 1/2 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp table salt
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, divided
To serve
- Basmati rice or naan
Method
- Melt 2 tbsp of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and serrano and cook, stirring, 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and just starting to brown.
- Stir in the garam masala, coriander, cumin and pepper and cook about 3 minutes, until fragrant. Whisk in the water and tomato paste until smooth, add the sugar and 1 tsp salt, and bring to a boil.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cream. Blend with an immersion blender (or carefully in a blender) 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth. Bring back to a simmer over medium heat, whisk in the remaining 2 tbsp butter, cover and keep warm.
- Set an oven rack 6 inches below the broiler and heat the broiler. Toss the chicken with the yogurt and 1 tsp salt, then arrange it on a wire rack set in a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Broil 16 to 20 minutes, flipping halfway, until charred in spots on both sides and the thickest piece reads 175°F (never less than 165°F).
- Let the chicken rest 5 minutes while you rewarm the sauce over medium-low heat. Cut the chicken into 3/4-inch chunks and stir it into the sauce with 2 tbsp cilantro. Season with salt, sprinkle with the last 1 tbsp cilantro and serve with basmati rice or naan.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Murgh Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)" by Andrew Janjigian (published February 28, 2019), serves 4 to 6. ATK's tomato-paste sauce blended with cream and finished with butter, the yogurt coating and the broiler standing in for the tandoor are theirs, as are the 175°F target for the thighs and every time and heat level below. We count it as 4 servings. The story of the dish comes from Wikipedia and Al Jazeera; the recipe is an American test kitchen's home version, not Moti Mahal's restaurant recipe. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- The sauce keeps up to 4 days in the fridge; reheat it gently before adding freshly broiled chicken (ATK).
- For more heat, mince the serrano's ribs and seeds in too (ATK).
- Thighs stay juicy at 175°F; breasts would dry out at that temperature.
- For a more involved version, Serious Eats' stovetop butter chicken adds dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) and cashews to the sauce.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Butter chicken was invented at Moti Mahal in Delhi. Disputed: Wikipedia says it is "often said" to have been invented there; Moti Mahal's family now places it in Peshawar in the 1920s or 1930s; the Jaggi family's Daryaganj restaurants say Kundan Lal Jaggi shares the credit (Al Jazeera). The 2024 Delhi case had no reported ruling when we checked.
- It was made from leftover tandoori chicken. Folklore: both families tell a version of it (Al Jazeera), and Wikipedia says "reportedly".
- Butter chicken and chicken tikka masala are the same dish. Disputed: they are close; Wikipedia separates them by sauce (tikka masala uses tomato paste, butter chicken a buttery tomato sauce), while ATK's butter chicken also uses tomato paste. Call them cousins.
- Butter chicken is a Western invention. Folklore: Wikipedia says its popularity abroad leads some people to assume so, wrongly.
Every other curry
Home-Style Indian Chicken Curry (Tamatar Murghi)
Raghavan Iyer's everyday chicken curry: onion, garlic and ginger browned in a skillet, a spice blend you grind yourself, tomatoes and a splash of half-and-half blended into a velvety orange sauce, with chicken simmered in it until just done.
Thai Green Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Khiao Waan Gai)
Green curry paste fried in coconut cream until the oil breaks free, then simmered with chicken thighs, makrut lime leaves and crisp Thai eggplants and finished with a handful of Thai basil: savory and spicy first, only faintly sweet.
Japanese Curry Rice (Kare Raisu)
Chicken thighs, potatoes and carrots simmered in broth and thickened at the end with a homemade curry roux of butter, flour, warm spices and miso, served the Japanese way: rice on one side of the bowl, curry on the other.
Jamaican Curry Goat
Bone-in goat marinated overnight in curry powder, allspice, thyme, garlic, ginger and scallions, browned and simmered for hours with a whole Scotch bonnet, then finished with potatoes until the meat falls from the bone.
Beef Rendang
Chunks of beef chuck braised in coconut milk with a paste of shallots, ginger, galangal, lemongrass, chiles and lime leaves until every drop of liquid is gone and the meat fries, dark and caramelized, in the coconut fat.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Spice-rubbed chicken breasts coated in garlicky yogurt and charred under the broiler, then cut up and stirred into a creamy, gently spiced tomato masala sauce: the British curry house favorite made at home.
Country Captain Chicken
Curry-rubbed bone-in chicken thighs browned in bacon fat and baked in a sweet-sour curried tomato sauce with green peppers and raisins, then topped with almonds and coconut toasted with cumin and coriander seeds.
Takeout-Style Red Curry Chicken
Chicken thighs glazed with fish sauce and brown sugar and seared hard, red peppers and onion charred in the same skillet, then everything simmered briefly in red curry paste and a can of coconut milk with lime: the Thai restaurant order Americans know, in 30 minutes.
One-Pot Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk and Peas
Bone-in chicken browned in a Dutch oven, then braised in a curry-powder base of onion, garlic, jalapeño, ginger and tomato paste, and finished with coconut milk, butter, fresh tomatoes and peas: the American home cook's curry, all in one pot.
30-Minute Chicken Curry with Green Beans
Browned chunks of chicken thigh, green beans and red pepper simmered in a quick sauce of curry powder, garlic, canned tomato sauce and broth, one skillet and done in 30 minutes.
Takeout-Style Chinese Chicken Curry
A takeout-style copycat from no particular restaurant: velvety stir-fried chicken and soft onion wedges in a glossy, bright yellow curry sauce thickened with cornstarch, ready in 20 minutes to spoon over rice.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.