MURG MAKHNI (BUTTER CHICKEN):
Butter chicken is prepared with marinated chicken that’s first grilled and then served in a rich gravy made with tomato, butter, cashew, and a special spice blend as a base.
Unlike most Indian curries where the preparation of the base starts with a blend of onion and a ginger garlic paste cooked in oil, butter chicken uses tomato as a base and is cooked in butter, giving it a slightly sweet flavor. Cashews add to the sweetness and richness of the dish.
The roots of butter chicken are only as recent as the 1950s when it was developed accidentally by the chef of the famous restaurant Moti Mahal in Delhi, the capital of India. For chef Kundan Lal Gujral, it was a common practice to throw in the butter, tomatoes, and leftover tandoori chicken into a pot to make use of the leftovers.
Little did he know that this dish would become their best seller and put them on the map. Now the recipe is adapted by restaurants across the world, though it’s really a “special occasion” dish in Indian homes.
We are moving towards the authentic sourced recipe, kindly have a look & your applause is really appreciable for me, so it's better to donate some.
RECIPE
Serving : 4pax ; Time : 40–60 min ; cooking temperature : medium
Ingredients for:
1. Grilled/tandoori chicken:
Chicken curry cut — 500gm
First marination:
Ginger Garlic paste — 25gm+15gm
Salt — to taste
Malt vinegar — 10ml
Second marination:
Hung curd -50gm
Mustard oil -15ml
Powdered spice: (degi mirch-10gm, coriander powder-4gm, garam masala-6gm, black salt-to taste )
2. Makhni gravy:
a) Tomatoes — 300gm
b) Refined oil — 20ml+30ml
c) Green chili — 3–4 no.
d) Dried mathania chili — 4–5 no.
e) Ginger whole — 4gm
f) Garlic cloves — 4–5 no.
g) Fresh coriander roots — 15gm
h) Cashew nuts -10gm
i) Whole spice: green cardamom- (2 no. , bay leaf- 1 no.)
j) Powdered spice : ( degi mirch -5gm, garam masala 4gm, green cardamom -3gm)
k) Dried fenugreek crushed (Kasturi Methi)- 4gm
l) Salt — to taste
m) Honey -10gm
n) Koya — 15gm
o) Butter — 40gm
p) Cream — 50ml
3. Garnish:
Butter
Cream
Crushed fenugreek
Ginger julienne
Method:
STEPS:
1) Take the chicken pat dry it & make some incisions over it & then go the Frist marination, keep it aside for 15min. After it goes for the second marination while making the second marination make a good emulsion of curd & mustard oil, only after it add the rest of the spices. keep it refrigerated for 30min & then either grill it or screw it in Tandoor.
2) Take a vessel and add all the ingredients from ( a to h) in it & blanch them all along till the tomatoes get cooked. puree the blanched gravy & sieve it through a fine strainer to get a velvety texture.
3) Take a pan heat some oil & then add whole spices along with the G.G paste, add only degi mirch at this stage then cook it till it loses the oil & then add the pureed gravy in it.
4) Add salt, honey, garam masala & cardamom powder in it, cook it well & then add some grated khoya in it, when the gravy is fully cooked & starts losing the oil add cooked chicken.
5) At the end add butter, cream & crushed fenugreek in the end, cook it in high flames for a few min & take it off the flame.
6) Serve hot & garnish it with the respective ingredients.
*use mathania chilies for better color & flavor.
Serving tip:
Serve hot & accompany it with butter naan or laccha paratha.
