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–+ servings

Quick 30 Minute Butter Chicken

A finger-lickingly delicious Butter Chicken recipe that is the perfect balance of buttery and flavoursome without being overly rich and sweet. This is THE only Butter Chicken recipe you'll ever need!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 3
4.76 from 58 votes
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Ingredients

For the chicken marination

  • 1.1 lb (½ kg) boneless chicken cut into bite sized pieces - I prefer thigh
  • 1.5 tablespoon (30 g) Greek or full fat yogurt
  • 2 tablespoon (30 ml) lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 0.5 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 0.5 teaspoon garam masala powder
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt to taste

For the sauce

  • ¼ cup (65 ml) neutral oil e.g. sunflower oil, vegetable oil, canola oil
  • 2 teaspoon (10 g) butter
  • 1 medium (150 g) onion chopped
  • 2 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 1.5 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 chopped green chilli
  • 0.5 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 4 teaspoon mild paprika powder if yours isn't mild, add 2 initially and adjust as per preference
  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt to taste
  • 5 small (375 g) tomatoes chopped
  • ½ cup (120 ml) double cream heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoon dried fenugreek kasoori methi
  • 2 tablespoon chopped coriander
  • 2 teaspoon (10 grams) butter, to stir in at the end

Instructions

  • (optional but recommended step) Marinate the chicken in all the marinade ingredients for one hour.
  • Air fry, bake or grill the chicken pieces until they are charred and cooked through. This will take between 12-15 minutes at 180-200℃. Whilst the chicken is cooking, continue with the next steps.
  • In a deep pot or pan, heat the oil and butter.
  • Once the butter has melted, add the onions, garlic and cumin seeds. Sauté for a few minutes, until the onions begin to turn brown. We do not want to brown these much - this will take about 8-10 minutes.
  • Add the green chilli and all the powdered spices. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes and sauté for a minute, then proceed to add 1.25 (300ml) water. Cover, turn the heat down to low and cook for 5-7 minutes, until the tomatoes soften.
  • Use a hand blender to blend the sauce until smooth.
  • Add the double cream. Over a medium heat, bring the sauce to a very gentle simmer.
  • Once at a gentle simmer, add the chicken pieces. Stir, then cover and cook on low for 5 minutes.
  • Add and stir in the dried fenugreek and chopped coriander
  • Just before serving, add the final 2 teaspoon butter and stir it in.

Notes

1. If you do not have paprika powder, you can use kashmiri red chilli powder or deghi mirch.
2. If you are using minced garlic, use 1 tbsp.

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