Name: Ultimate butter chicken
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 390 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 1200 g boneless skinless chicken thighs; 30 ml mustard oil; 30 g Kashmiri chilli powder; 30 g ginger-garlic paste; 15 g ground coriander; 5 g ground cumin; 3 g ground turmeric; 3 g dried fenugreek leaves; 3 g amchur powder; 3 g black salt; 5 g garam masala; 12 g kosher salt; 200 g strained full-fat yogurt; 15 ml lemon juice; 30 g ghee; 5 g cumin seeds; 400 g shallots or onions; 20 g garlic; 20 g ginger; 5 g green bird's-eye chilli; 30 g Kashmiri chilli powder; 15 g ground coriander; 3 g ground turmeric; 5 piece whole dried Kashmiri chillies; 12 piece green cardamom pods; 1000 g ripe chopped tomatoes; 50 g roasted unsalted cashews; 50 g coriander stems; 30 g khoya or whole milk powder; 100 ml double cream

Ultimate butter chicken

Charred yogurt-marinated chicken folds into a silken tomato, cashew, ghee, cream, and fenugreek makhani sauce built with chef Chet Sharma's spice profile.

Prep60 min

Cook90 min

Rest240 min

Servings8

Adapted for the home kitchen from Fallow and chef Chet Sharma's butter chicken video

Ingredients

Written for a 5 L pot

Units

Servings

Chicken tikka

1 1/6 kg boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 5 cm pieces
30 ml mustard oil
30 g Kashmiri chilli powder
30 g ginger-garlic paste
15 g ground coriander
5 g ground cumin
3 g ground turmeric
3 g dried fenugreek leaves
3 g amchur powder
3 g black salt
5 g garam masala
12 g kosher salt
200 g strained full-fat yogurt
15 ml lemon juice

Makhani sauce

30 g ghee
5 g cumin seeds
400 g shallots or onions, sliced
20 g garlic, chopped
20 g ginger, chopped
5 g green bird's-eye chilli, chopped
30 g Kashmiri chilli powder
15 g ground coriander
3 g ground turmeric
5 whole dried Kashmiri chillies
12 green cardamom pods
1 kg ripe chopped tomatoes
50 g roasted unsalted cashews
50 g coriander stems
30 g khoya or whole milk powder (optional)
100 ml double cream
80 g salted butter
20 g honey
3 g dried fenugreek leaves

Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.

Method

Mix chicken with ginger-garlic paste, salt, and lemon; rest 30 minutes, then drain released liquid.
Mix remaining tikka ingredients, coat chicken, cover, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
For sauce, heat ghee and crackle cumin. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and green chilli; cook over medium until translucent.
Add chilli powder, coriander, turmeric, dried chillies, cardamom, tomatoes, cashews, coriander stems, and khoya. Simmer 35 to 45 minutes until tomatoes collapse.
Add butter, cream, honey, and fenugreek. Remove whole cardamom if visible, then blend completely smooth and pass through a fine sieve. Season.
Thread chicken onto skewers and grill under very high heat or on charcoal, turning, until lightly charred and 74°C inside.
Fold chicken into hot sauce and simmer 5 minutes. Adjust salt, honey, and fenugreek.

Notes

Kashmiri chilli gives colour with moderate heat; do not substitute the full quantity with cayenne.
Mustard oil sold for external use is unsuitable for cooking; use a food-labelled product or neutral oil.
The sauce freezes for three months without the final cream; add cream after reheating.

Sources used

Fallow with Chet Sharma: Ultimate butter chicken

Good with

Curry with homemade naan

Sources consulted

Chicken weight, honey, and khoya are normalized to the published sauce batch.

youtube.com

From Christoph Mayer