Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken) Recipe

This was absolutely delicious! My Pakistani in-laws are quite picky when it comes to traditional food, but this one is a new favorite! I made the following adjustments: Added 1 tbsp butter to the peanut oil, used 4 tbsp butter rather than 2, substituted 1/2 tsp ground ginger powder & 3 cloves crushed garlic for ginger/garlic paste, omitted salt & pepper, added breast meat pieces, substituted whole milk for half & half, used 1 full tsp cayenne pepper for chicken, doubled cornstarch (but not water) to thicken sauce, and garnished with fresh, chopped corriander. The 5-minute prep time is unreasonable. It took me about 30 minutes to prep and 1 hour to cook (including 20 mins of simmering to let sauce thicken and white rice, which is best served with this dish). Also, this only served 3 adults in my family, so I highly recommend doubling it!

I am an Indian native looking for an Americanized version of this dish for a friend who is a little intimidated by Indian food. I gave this recipe a try, and it is almost there. First, I used fresh minced ginger and garlic, but had to triple the amount. That made a huge difference. I noticed that many reviewers said the recipe is missing something. I think that something is coriander. Most Makhani dishes have a cumin/coriander combination which is missing from this recipe. I added a little ground coriander and the dish was great. Perfect for a new Indian cook.

This is literally the best butter chicken. I took the advice of another commenter and added the 1/4c cashew... I crushed them into almost a flour. I also added the 1/4 tsp of Fenugreek seeds (crushed) and 1tsp coriander. I switched out the plain yogurt for Plain (dairy free) coconut yogurt, and the half and half for Lactose Free milk. I also sautéed the chicken in the listed spices to brown the outsides but then added them to the sauce before it was cooked all the way through. I let the chicken cook in the simmering sauce for a couple hours. It was seriously delicious. I will be making this for a longgggg time!

Loved this recipe but did make a couple of minor tweaks. I used canola instead of peanut oil, doubled the butter and used 1/2 cup tomato paste instead of the puree. This thickened the sauce without having to use corn starch. As another reviewer suggested, I also used an immersion blender to make the sauce smooth before adding the chicken. My whole family enjoyed this dish and we'll definitely have it again!

***DAIRY FREE MODIFICATIONS**** I marinated the chicken overnight in a bit of coconut milk yogurt, lime juice, cumin, and coriander. I cooked the chicken first with olive oil and then removed it from the skillet. I then chopped an onion and sautéed until translucent in leftover juice from chicken and 1-2 tbsp dairy free butter, added a rough approximation of 3tbsp of garlic and 3tbsp ginger, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 bay leaf and let that cook for approx 1 minute. Then added 1 cup puréed tomato, 1 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup coconut milk yogurt and let that simmer for 2-3 minutes before adding chicken back in. I’m currently still cooking, but the sauce tastes so good I had to write a review! Planning on eating with basmati rice and garlic & herb naan ??

Made all the changes that were recommended by Yakuta, and it made all the difference. Find some powdered methi, use heavy whipping cream instead of half&half (I recommend using 1/2 cup or 1 cup, instead of Yakuta's 1/4 cup). Use fresh ginger and garlic (about 5 cloves of garlic, and about 1 inch of ginger, peeled and minced). If you have a food processor, that will dice up the cashews enough to sub out the corn starch. This is truly restaurant grade Chicken Makhani once you get the mix right.

I made this tonight - easy recipe, turned out fab. Instead of the paste, i used fresh garlic and ginger, about 1T ginger and 1.5T garlic (both chopped/shredded). I also added additional ground cardamom to amp up the flavor and it came out very nice. For me, I got 2 large portions (for lunches the next 2 days) and a smaller portion for dinner tonight.

YES. This is one of my favorite Indian dishes, and with COVID19 shutting down the restaurants, I decided to give this a try out of desperation. This is definitely the closest flavor to a restaurant quality I've ever made. I hate when people rate recipes they've changed, but I couldn't resist after reading reviews - full disclosure I did add a bit of ground coriander and went heavy on the spices... but it came out perfect! I also was prepared to thicken up the sauce with ground cashews, but turned out I didn't need to, it thickened up on its own! And as another review suggested, I ran the sauce through my food processor at the end to smooth out the remaining onions, I prefer smoother sauces. This is a new household favorite!

I used cumin seeds adding at the beginning with onions and shallot. I found the sauce was thick enough without adding corn starch. This was delicious! My wife loved it.

Instead of cooking the chicken in a separate pan, I just didn't have the room, I put the chicken pieces in the sauce and let it simmer until cooked through.

Made with a few adjustment. Used garlic with no ginger (my masala spice had ginger in it). Also cut the yogurt down a bit and cooked in a Instant Pot (after browning the meat) which makes the chicken super tender.! Super yummy...will definitely make again and again.

Fantastic ! Fan favorite.

Great recipe!

I'm not used to making this particular type of cuisine, so I used the advice from Amibould about adding a bit of coriander. Husband loved it and it made the exact quantity I needed.

easy to make

Hi. My first time making butter chicken and I have to say I'm happy with the outcome. I may cut down on the cayenne to like 1/8 tsp instead. :) Easy to make; my husband helped and we had fun cooking together. I did not add the cornstarch as my sauce was already thick enough. The flavor is amazing! Thank you for sharing this recipe. God bless.

I loved it! The only thing that I changed was to use 2% evaporated milk instead of the half and half. I didn’t have a shallot, so skipped it. But this is a great recipe that I will come back to.

This was so good!

My family liked it! It’s a bit different from what we normally make. But it was good!

Made it last night — zero complaints.