Butter Chicken
| Yield: | 1350g |
|---|---|
| Servings: | 6 |
| Time estimate: | 2 hours, including 1 hour to marinate |
| Storage notes: | Keeps in an airtight container, refrigerated for 3 days |
| Level of difficulty: | Easy |
| Special requirements: | Charcoal grill |
Murgh Makhani, also known as Butter Chicken, is a chicken curry featuring a spiced tomato, butter and cream sauce. The curry was developed in the 1950s by Kudan Lal Jaggi, the founder of the Moti Mahal restuarant in Delhi, India. The curry was made 'by chance' by mixing leftover tandoori chicken in a tomato gravy, rich in butter and cream. The secret to the rich complexity of Murgh Makhani is the blending of the tandoori paste and the tomato, butter and cream gravy. If your curry is lacking richness and depth of flavour, stir through an additional teapsoon of tandoori paste into the curry.
| Ingredient | Weight | Volume | Scaling | Procedure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken thigh | 800g | 100% | 1 Cut the chicken thigh into small fillets (approx. each thigh into thirds). Trim excessive fat and gristle. | |
| Tandoori paste | 100g | 12.5% | 2 Combine with the tandoori paste and set aside for at least one hour to marinate. | |
| Tomato Gravy | ||||
| Unsalted butter | 60g | 7.5% | 3 In a saucepan, heat butter and oil over low-moderate heat until browned. Be careful not to burn the butter. | |
| Neutral oil | 30g | 3.75% | 4 Add the green chilli, garlic and ginger, stir and cook until fragrant (approx. 3 minutes). | |
| Green chilli, diced | 10g | 1 | 1.25% | 5 Add tomato puree and tomato paste, stir to combine and cook for 5 minutes while gently whisking to emulsify the oil and tomato puree. |
| Ginger, minced | 8g | 1 tbsp | 1% | 6 Add kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala and mix thoroughly until combined. |
| Garlic, minced | 8g | 1 tbsp | 1% | 7 Add maple syrup and mix until combined. |
| Tomato puree | 350g | 43.75% | 8 Set aside the tomato gravy until needed. | |
| Tomato paste | 50g | 2 tbsp | 6.25% | |
| Kashmiri chilli powder | 4.5g | 1 tsp | 0.56% | |
| Garam masala | 8g | 1 tsp | 1% | |
| Maple syrup | 56g | 3 tbsp | 7% | |
| Thickened cream | 200g | 25% | 9 Cook the marinated tandoori chicken over charcoal. There should be some light charring of the chicken. Alternatively, the tandoori chicken can be cooked under a griller to produce a similar outcome. | |
10 Allow the tandoori chicken to rest for a couple of minutes, then slice into bite size pieces. | ||||
11 Bring the tomato gravy back up to temperature over moderate heat. | ||||
12 Reduce heat to low and add the thickened cream, stir through until combined and heated through. Do not boil as it may cause sauce to separate. | ||||
13 Add the sliced tandoori chicken to the tomato gravy and stir to combine. | ||||
14 Serve with Rice and/or Naan. | Adapted from The Indian Cookery Course [1] | |||
Maharajah's Choice or Monika Tandoori Paste is the preferred brand. it has the right blend of spices for an authentic Tandoori flavour profile, other brands may not. The blend of ingredients to look for in a Tandoori Pate are: coriander powder, chilli powder, cumin powder, red lentils powder, garlic paste, ginger paste, aniseed, fenugreek, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves.
[1] M. Bharadwaj, The Indian Cookery Course, 1st Edition, London, Kyle Books, 2016