Butter Chicken

This is an easy homemade butter chicken recipe, it is so tasty and has a little hack to add some extra veggies to everyone's dish.

Course: Family Dinner Ideas

Cuisine: New Zealand

Keyword: butter chicken, butter chicken recipe, butter chicken sauce, butter chicken nz

Diet: Gluten free

Servings: servings

Calories: 354kcal

4.54 from 13 votes

½ cup yogurt 140 grams
1 Tablespoon minced ginger
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 Tablepsoon garam masala
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon chilli powder This can be increased to ½ a teaspoon or one teaspoon depending on your prerernce for heat.
800 grams chicken thighs (skinless boneless)

If you have the time to marinade the chicken overnight that's ideal, but as long as you have is fine a few hours or even 20 minutes is ok.
In a large mixing bowl or container (large enough to hold the chicken) mix together the marinade ingredients.
Dice the chicken thighs then cover in the narinade. Refrigerate.

Grate the onion and carrot
Heat the butter or ghee in a large frying pan. Sautee the onion and carrot.
Add the marinated chicken and cook until the chicken is sealed. (Don't discard any leftover marinade).
Once the chicken is sealed add the remaining ingredients; tomato puree, cream, brown sugar and any of the left over marinade. Reduce the heat until your curry is just simmering. Simmer for 30 mins.
Season your curry with salt.
Serve with steamed basmati rice.

Season at the end with salt
Serve your curry with fun sides, naan, poppadoms, and pickled vegetables such as pickled carrots or pickled cucumbers.
I love a little coriander/cilantro with my curry but this herb can be a bit divisive so have it on the table for people to add as a garnish.
Greek Yogurt: If you would like for your butter chicken sauce to be dairy-free you can substitute this for coconut yogurt or leave it out entirely. The yogurt does help with keeping the chicken tender but is not absolutely necessary.
Chilli powder: This can be increased or decreased depending on your love of spice. Your curry will still be full of flavor even if you leave it out.
Chicken thighs: I prefer chicken thighs in this recipe but these can be substituted for skinless chicken breasts. I typically buy boneless skinless chicken thighs but somehow made a mistake, I deboned the thighs before making my curry sauce.
Butter or ghee: This can be substituted for coconut oil or another mild-flavoured oil.
Tomato puree: This is sometimes called passata. You can use a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste if you don't have tomato puree.
Cream: This can be substituted for coconut cream if you would prefer.
Minced garlic: 2-3 garlic cloves minced