r/Chefit • u/Thick_Drama_7525 • 8h ago

Butter chicken recipe

For some reason I cant replicate butter chicken like my hometown used to serve. I know its probly easy but how

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u/Dalience6678 7h ago

Serious Eats has a great recipe

2

u/Away-Plankton-8352 6h ago

Two things fix most butter chicken attempts. First, cook the tomato base down until the oil separates and the color goes deep red. A lot of people rush this and the sauce stays raw and acidic. Second, take it off the heat before the cream or butter goes in. Dairy goes in last and it never boils, that is what splits sauces. For thickness, boil a handful of cashews and some white melon seeds until soft, then grind them to a smooth paste and stir it in. That is what gives restaurant butter chicken its body without flour or cornstarch. Finish with kasuri methi, the dried fenugreek leaves are what make it taste like the restaurant version instead of tomato soup with chicken. And marinate the chicken in yogurt and spices overnight, the acid does the tenderizing work so the meat does not go rubbery.

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u/Flimsy-Stress9788 8h ago

my best butter chicken came from forgetting the cream and scrambling to use coconut milk instead. it was an accident that i refuse to correct now

the trick with that hometown taste is probably the tandoor. they get that char on the chicken first which most home cooks skip. if you got a gas stove you can hold the marinated pieces over the flame with tongs, just watch your fingers

also restaurants use way more butter than you think. like an uncomfortable amount. double whatever your recipe says