Dilliwala Butter Chicken (Murg Makhani)

Butter Chicken or Murg Makhani- Take a moment, clear your droll and I’ll be back.

So, like chicken tikka masala, if something has put Indian food on world map it is the butter chicken. Butter chicken also has its own story, a certain restaurant in Delhi is credited with coming up with the concept of mixing the tandoori chicken with a very buttery tomato gravy.  Ah well, whoever came up with we are definitely entirely grateful to them and appreciate for bringing this amazing dish into our life.

Now, butter chicken’s recipe has had its own share of twists and turns over the years by different people, different places and as per the regions it has been adapted into, but today I am making the very authentic Delhi Butter chicken also known in Hindi as Dilliwala Butter Chicken.

Here is the recipe

Serves: 3-4

What you need? (Ingredients)

For Tandoori Chicken Marinade

500 grams Boneless Chicken Thighs (Use Chicken on bone for a rustic flavour)

4 tbsp Greek yogurt

2 tbsp Ginger garlic paste

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli powder (Kashmiri red chilli has less heat, but more colour)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp salt

1-2 tsp filtered mustard oil

For the Gravy

1 small onion chopped

8-10 medium sized tomatoes chopped

1/2 inch ginger chopped

3-4 garlic pods chopped

5-6 green cardamoms

1 inch cinnamon stick

2-3 cloves

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

3-4 black peppercorns

1-2 green chilli slits

2 tsp Kasuri methi (Dried fenugreek leaves)

20 -30 grams of Butter

50 ml fresh cream (or double cream)

1/2 tsp of clarified butter or Ghee to cook.

1 tbsp of honey (or sugar)

Salt to taste

Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Method.

Marination

1. For the first marinade :
   • Cut chicken into bite size pieces into a bowl
   • Add lemon juice, yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt and cumin powder and keep aside for an hour.
2. For the second marinade :
   • In a bowl add mustard oil and mix kashmiri red chilli powder into for a rich red colour
   • Now, add the mixture to marinated chicken and sprinkle garam masala and mix well.
   • Keep the marinade aside for atleast 4 hours or overnight.

Tandoori Chicken

1. Bake chicken at 180 degree C for about 15 minutes.
2. Grill for another 2-3 minutes at medium to get the charred tandoori colour. Don’t worry if the chicken is slightly under cooked at the moment, as the cooking will be completed in the gravy.

For the Sauce

1. In a pan, melt clarified butter and half of the butter together.
2. Add cardamoms, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and cloves. Saute for couple of minutes on high heat
3. Add chopped onions, green chillies, chopped ginger and chopped garlic pods and saute for 2-3 minutes.
4. Now  turn down the heat to medium and add tomatoes and cook for 5-8 minutes. Add salt to quicken the process.
5. Take it off the heat and cool down at room temperature for few minutes.
6. Add the mixture to blender and blend into smooth paste.
7. At this moment, you can choose to sieve the mixture for even smoother consistency, but for home cooking I recommend to continue without sieving.
8. Add the smooth mixture to same pan and add in the red chilli powder both kashmiri and red chilli powder. Keep cooking for 5-7 minutes stirring continuously.
9. Add kasuri methi and fresh cream,  keep stirring for a minute.
10. Add chicken pieces, honey and garam masala. Cook for another 5 minutes.
11. Add leftover butter and garnish with coriander leaves, cream and kasuri methi.
12. Serve hot.

Serving Suggestion: For true Delhi flavours, pair the butter chicken with laccha prantha or plain tandoori roti.