Butter Chicken

Name: Butter Chicken
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups full-fat Greek yogurt; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 ½ tablespoons ground turmeric; 2 tablespoons ground cumin; 1 tablespoon garam masala; 3 pounds chicken thighs, on the bone; ¼ pound unsalted butter; 4 teaspoons neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil; 2 medium-size yellow onions, peeled and diced; 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced; 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely diced; 1 tablespoon cumin seeds; 1 cinnamon stick; 2 medium-size tomatoes, diced; 2 red chiles, like Anaheim, or 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced; Kosher salt to taste; ⅔ cup chicken stock, low-sodium or homemade; 1 ½ cups cream; 1 ½ teaspoons tomato paste; 3 tablespoons ground almonds, or finely chopped almonds, optional; ½ bunch cilantro leaves, stems removed.

Recipe from Amandeep Sharma

Adapted by Sam Sifton

Updated March 11, 2025

Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.

Media 1 of 1

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Rating: 5(11,873)
Comments: Read comments

Butter chicken is a great, ever-evolving, cross-continental dish found in Delhi, London, New York, Perth and most points in between. In its purest form, it is yogurt-and-spice-marinated chicken dressed in a velvety red bath comprising butter, onions, ginger and tomatoes scented with garam masala, cumin and turmeric, with a cinnamon tang. This version was adapted from Amandeep Sharma, a young kitchen hand at the restaurant Attica, in Melbourne, Australia, who used to make it for staff meal. It is wildly luxurious. Serve with basmati rice and mango chutney, with papadums or naan if you can find them, with extra rice if you cannot. —Sam Sifton

Featured in: Indian Butter Chicken, by Way of Australia

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

1 ½ cups full-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ½ tablespoons ground turmeric
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon garam masala
3 pounds chicken thighs, on the bone
¼ pound unsalted butter
4 teaspoons neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil
2 medium-size yellow onions, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely diced
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
2 medium-size tomatoes, diced
2 red chiles, like Anaheim, or 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
Kosher salt to taste
⅔ cup chicken stock, low-sodium or homemade
1 ½ cups cream
1 ½ teaspoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons ground almonds, or finely chopped almonds, optional
½ bunch cilantro leaves, stems removed.

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, cumin and garam masala in a large bowl. Put the chicken in, and coat with the marinade. Cover, and refrigerate (for up to a day).
Step 2
In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter in the oil until it starts to foam. Add the onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds, and cook until the onions start to brown.
Step 3
Add the cinnamon stick, tomatoes, chiles and salt, and cook until the chiles are soft, about 10 minutes.
Step 4
Add the chicken and marinade to the pan, and cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for approximately 30 minutes.
Step 5
Stir in the cream and tomato paste, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 6
Add the almonds, if using, cook for an additional 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Garnish with the cilantro leaves.

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Ratings

5 out of 5

11,873 user ratings

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Comments

Bavarchi11 years ago

I'm an experienced Indian cook, and this is the best butter chicken I have ever had. Some modifications necessary: never leave skin on for curry recipes; and increase cooking time in first part of step 4 to get a nice "bhuna" brown. Takes moving around and scraping the bottom, as the yoghurt will stick. If adding breast meat as well (cut each half bone-in and skinless breast into 2-3 pieces), increase the cooking in stock to about an hour, which will require extra stock or water.

Sherrin Guy8 years ago

Hi I am an Indian cook, who teaches authentic Indian and northern Pakistani cooking, the amount of garam masala sounds completely inaccurate. Garam masal is a very pungent, strong combination of spices , even 1 TBS would be over doing it. This explains why some of the readers found it bitter abd felt the need to add sugar. The proportions of spices and balance can completely alter the taste.

Jamie11 years ago

I have used this recipe a number of times and really enjoy it! I don't use any butter at all and just enough oil to cook the onions, substitute light cream for full cream and I also add 2 cinnamon sticks right when I start cooking the onions for more sweetness. I feel this cuts out a lot of fat and calories but turns out awesome!! Be sure to marinate at least overnight and don't be tempted to add any more tomato or tomato paste than the recipe calls for or you will ruin the dish

Kate3 days ago

This is not at all like the butter chicken in Indian restaurants. It tastes more like a curry chicken. It’s not very flavorful and disappointing as it took awhile to make and ingredients were expensive.

Someone3 days ago

This was very tasty, but also quite time consuming. I read the comments first and since so many commenters were screaming about there being too much Garam Masala and Turmeric I decided to reduce the Garam Masala to 2 tsp, the turmeric to 1 tbsp, and the cumin to 1.5 tbsp. Also added some salt to the marinade, and a little more later on in the cooking process since it needed it. I couldn’t find any Anaheim peppers, so I added a good sized Espelette pepper and kind of wish I’d added another half or whole. The cumin seeds and fresh ginger were a must, since they made everything smell so good. Aside from the above adjustments I did everything else exactly according to the recipe, including some finely ground almonds at the end, which helped thicken the sauce a little. Unfortunately I didn’t get that nice orange hue as pictured, as my final result was more of a warm yellow. All in all it turned out delicious, but quite mild. The fresh cilantro helped brighten the final dish in a nice way. This was my first time making butter chicken, so I can’t really compare it to anything, but I had imagined it to have a little more complexity to the flavors. Perhaps I shouldn’t have listened to the commenters that suggested reducing the garam masala, turmeric, and ground cumin. Might increase the quantities closer to the recipe next time I make this.

James Hughes - Savannah Georgia9 days ago

I wonder if the measurement for the garam masala is a typo.1/2 teaspoon should be plenty, one teaspoon would be pushing it, but one tablespoon is far too much. These would overwhelm any other flavor and cause bitterness. I would also increase the simmer time to at least one hour, if not two.

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