The Ultimate Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) Recipe

Adapted from On the Butter Chicken Trail by Monish Gujral. Infatuation with Urvashi Pitre’s viral Instant Pot version of the popular Indian dish got us wondering about murgh makhani’s origins — which led us to Gujral, who we’ve since come to think of as the Butter Chicken King. Gujal is the grandson of Kundan Lal, the chef who created both tandoori chicken and butter chicken (murgh makhani) around 1920 at a Peshawar restaurant that later become known as Moti Mahal; Lal later opened Moti Mahal in Dehli, which became world-famous. We chronicled our quest for the ultimate version in April, 2020.

[UPDATE October 17, 2020: We created a new, streamlined, quicker version of this recipe in honor of World Butter Chicken Day, October 20.]

If you’re looking for dishes to serve with it, such as Cucumber Raita and Coriander Chutney, you’ll find them in our Indian Cuisine section.

This recipe is in two parts: Tandoori Chicken Thighs and Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani). You’ll also need to make Ginger-Garlic Paste and Monish Gujral’s Garam Masala before you start.

Quick hacks:

• You can use a supermarket roast chicken for this recipe. Cut it up, and warm it in the sauce.

• If you want to save time or don’t want to buy a lot of spices you might not use, pick up a commercial garam masala rather than making your own. Penzey’s makes an excellent Punjabi-style garam masala. (However, there is something wonderful about using the exact garam masala used at Moti Mahal, and of course it is soul-satisfying to fill the kitchen with the aroma of toasted and freshly ground spices.)

• Buy a jar of organic ginger-garlic paste. Note, however, that commercial versions usually include a lot of salt, so if you use that, you’ll need to decrease the salt in the recipe.)

Serves 4 - 6.

Tandoori Chicken Thighs

Makes enough for 1 recipe of butter chicken, to serve 4 to 6.

Ingredients

For the FIRST MARINADE

1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon Kashmiri chile powder or Deggi Mirch,* depending on how spicy you like it, or 2/3 teaspoon paprika and 1/3 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon salt

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

For the second marinade

1/2 cup yogurt

2 tablespoons Ginger-Garlic Paste

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Gujral Monish’s Garam Masala or commercial garam masala

1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaf powder (kasuri methi, optional)**

*Deggi Mirch is a commercial blend of Kahmiri chile and red bell peppers.

* *If you are unable to find powdered kasuri methi, buy the dried leaves and grind in a food processor or spice grinder. Because they may be a bit moist, it won’t be a true powder, but that’s OK. Note the fenugreek leaf is different than the fenugreek seeds more commonly found in Western groceries. Though I hesitated to call this ingredient optional, I did make the dish twice without it and it was still very good.

Instructions

1. First marinade: In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, chile powder (or paprika and cayenne) and salt. Place the chicken thighs in a shallow dish, unfold them, and distribute half the marinade over them, rubbing it into the flesh. Turn the thighs over and repeat with the rest of the marinade. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least one hour.

2. Second marinade: In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic-ginger paste, salt, garam masala and fenugreek leaf powder. Rub onto both sides of the chicken thighs, cover again and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

3. Heat the oven to 475 degrees. Place a rack on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan, and arrange the chicken thighs on the rack — folded back together like thighs again — leaving a little space between each. Roast until the thighs are just cooked through, about 20 to 35 minutes, depending on the size of the thighs. (You can make the sauce while the chicken is roasting.) Reserve the juices in the pan, if any, for adding to the sauce.

Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

Serves 4 - 5.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola oil or other neutral oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 can diced tomatoes, including the juices

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

1/2 to 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder or Deggi Mirch,* (depending how spicy you like it) or 2 teaspoons paprika and 1 teaspoon cayenne

1 tablespoon Monish Gurjal’s Garam Masala (or commercial garam masala)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 recipe Tandoori Chicken Thighs (see above)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into a few pieces

1/2 cup heavy cream (plus additional to swirl in for garnish, if you like)

Coriander leaves (cilantro) for garnish

Instructions

1. In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat, add the onion and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent, about 6 minutes.

2. Stir in the diced tomatoes and their liquid and the salt, and simmer, stirring occasionally, over medium heat about 10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to purée the the mixture to a smooth sauce, or transfer to a blender or food processor, pureé to smooth, wash the Dutch oven and return the sauce to it. Stir in the Ginger-Garlic Paste, the chili powder (or paprika and cayenne), the garam masala and the cumin. Stir in the accumulated juices from the chicken pan, bring back to a simmer over medium heat and let cook a minute or two to reduce a bit if there were a lot of juices.

3. When you’re nearly ready to serve, transfer the chicken thighs to the sauce, bring back to a simmer and cook for three or four minutes, or until the chicken is heated through. Add the butter and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, till it melts. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt if necessary. Stir in the cream and remove from heat immediately.

4. Garnish with cilantro leaves, drizzle on a little more cream, if you like, and serve with rice and/or naan.

Recipe notes

The original recipe in Gujral’s 2009 book called for a whole (skinless) chicken for the tandoori chicken that would then be jointed (cut into six or eight pieces) and put into the sauce. When he was profiled for a 2018 story in the Washington Post, Gujral called for boneless, skinless chicken cut into chunks. In adapting the recipe, we’ve tried it several ways, and boneless, skinless thighs make an excellent compromise: The larger pieces stay juicy, and thighs are more flavorful than breast meat. Our innovation is roasting on a rack, so the juices don’t well up around the thighs, therefore more closely approximating the dry heat of a tandoor oven. You’ll save those juices and use them in the sauce. (And I’m happy to report that Gujral himself has looked over our adaptation and given it his stamp of approval!)

Gujral’s spice of choice to give the dish its heat is Kashmiri chile powder; he also recommends Deggi Mirch (a commercial blend of Kashmiri chile powder and red bell pepper), or a mix of 2/3 paprika and 1/3 cayenne.