Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)

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Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)

Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) is a modern Indian recipe (from New Delhi) for a classic curry of chicken that’s double marinated and served in a spiced ghee gravy with cashew nuts and pumpkin seeds. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken).

prep time

30 minutes

cook time

40 minutes

Total Time:

70 minutes

Serves:

4-6

Rating:

Tags : Curry Spice Recipes Chicken Recipes Milk Recipes Indian Recipes

This is a classic curry recipe from Amritsar in India. It is one of the flagship dishes of Indian gastronomy, even though the recipe only dates back to 1950. Its creator was Kundan Lal Gujral, a restaurant owner from New Delhi. It invariably ranks within the lists of ‘best curry’… and for a good reason!

Ingredients:

4 large chicken breasts, each skinned and cut into 2 or 3 pieces

For the First Marinade:
Juice of 2 limes
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp salt

For the Second Marinade:
4 tbsp natural yoghurt
4 tbsp double cream
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
5cm (2 in) piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
¾ tsp ground cumin seeds
½ tsp beetroot powder (for colour)

For the Sauce:
4 tbsp ghee
5 garlic cloves, finely crushed
5cm (2 in) piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
400ml (1 2/3 cups) passata
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
½ tsp ground coriander seeds
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp desiccated coconut
1 ½ tsp salt
200ml (4/5 cup) water
25g (1 oz) cashew nuts
25g (1 oz) pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp boiling water
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
½ tsp caster sugar
3 tbsp double cream
Generous pinch of chaat masala
Handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves, coarsely chopped
3cm (1 in) piece of ginger, finely shredded

Method:

For the first marinade, mix together the lime juice, chilli powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces to the marinade, toss to coat, rubbing in the mixture, then cover and transfer to the refrigerator for 1 hour to marinate.

For the second marinade, transfer all the ingredients apart from the chat masala into a mini food processor. Blend until smooth, then add this to the marinated chicken and stir well to coat. Cover and transfer to the fridge to marinate for 4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 240°C/Gas 9 (or 220°C if your oven doesn’t go that high).

Thread the chicken on to lightly oiled metal skewers (you can put more than one piece per skewer, but leave space between them) then suspend the skewers above a roasting tin. Alternatively, place them on a wire rack over a roasting tin. Roast for 15–20 minutes, or until lightly charred in places but not completely cooked through, as you’ll finish cooking them in the sauce.

For the sauce: while the chicken is cooking, heat the ghee in heavy-based saucepan, karahi or wok over a medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a minute, then stir in the tomato passata and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add all the spices, coconut, salt and 100ml of the water and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

In a mini food processor, or using a pestle and mortar, blend the cashew nuts, pumpkin seeds and boiling water into a paste. Stir this into the sauce followed by the chicken pieces and another 100ml water.

Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked through, then stir in the fenugreek leaves, sugar and cream and cook for a further 2 minutes. Sprinkle with the chaat masala, garnish with fresh coriander and shredded ginger, then serve.