Indian Murgh Makhani Kari or Butter Chicken Curry Recipe
Och, aye, Lassies, this Butter Chicken Curry Recipe is a Real Winner! I make it regularly on repeat!
I have visited so many Murgh Kari Makhani recipes on the internet, and I can't decide which is best between these two of my top recipes - I will post the other link here once it's published, but these two are the best on the whole internet and come out tops! I regularly make them time and time again! And I'm sure you will too!
I suggest following the same heat as my first favorite Murgh Kari Makhani. I am sure this is now my best curry ever! Excellent as a pork curry using the same method as for chicken by cooking it medium rare.
I serve mine simply with white steamed rice, carrots, and green beans.
I prefer my rice cooked al dente - like pasta. Somehow it has a way of complimenting this type of curry dish!
Serving Suggestion Tip:
Lovely served with the below veggies as a side...
When steaming your carrots once they are tender, rest your chopped green beans or spinach over them and steam for approximately 2-3 minutes, no longer.
Notes:
All measures are leveled off with the back of a knife.
If you are GMO-free, you may gradually whizz in some very hot🔥 mushy-soft cooked rice into your sauce until thickened and smooth. Alternately, you may grind 1-2 tablespoons of rice into flour, and use that to to thicken you gravy.
If adding the cream, you need to slightly increase the amount of chili in this recipe because adding cream will reduce its heat.
Kashmiri Chilies enhance the red color of this curry. Cayenne pepper enhances the flavor but will not contribute much to the red color of your curry.
If you want a hot 🔥 curry, double the amount of chili in this recipe, and add the cream to take the heat down to your level before serving.
I prefer the brined, injected chicken fillets, or tenders, which are best for this curry, but you may use skinless deboned chicken thighs if you wish.
INGREDIENTS:
60 ml coconut oil
900 g chicken fillets, diced --or-- 900 g skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
2 onions, medium, roughly chopped
30 ml fresh ginger paste - or freshly grated to taste
450 g frozen whole tomatoes or 4 Roma Italian oval-shaped or jam tomatoes or 250 ml tomato puree
4 cloves garlic, fresh
30 ml butter
20 ml garam masala - recipe below
10 ml Kashmiri chili powder or 7.5 ml cayenne pepper🌶
10 ml cumin, ground
11 whole peppercorns, ground, or 2 pinches of powdered (Optional)
2 bay leaves
10 ml salt (5 ml to stir-fry chicken - add the balance before creaming sauce)
250 ml Cream or plain or Greek yogurt or coconut cream for dairy allergies or Sour cream to serve
30 ml cornstarch (I cream cooked rice into the sauce to thicken)
10 - 20 ml lemon juice added to taste
125 ml water
METHOD:
Prepare your garam masala and set it aside - see recipe below.
To a coffee grinder, add your chili powder, cumin, whole peppercorns, and Bay leaves. Grind into curry powder.
To your curry powder in your grinder, add 20 ml of your garam masala and grind until blended. Freeze the rest of your garam masala.
Snip chicken into bite-sized pieces or into stroganoff-strips, and drain. Add half your salt and curry spice mixture with fat to a wok or saucepan and stir together to dissolve. Turn up the heat and add your chicken pieces, constantly tossing until just cooked. Turn off the heat, remove the chicken, and set it aside. It will cook the rest of the way when reheated.
Roughly chop your onions and ginger and add them with 125 ml of water to the remaining fat in your pan or wok.
When your onions are tender and your water has evaporated, add the balance of your curry spice mixture and cook a further 2-3 minutes.
Stir a little of your water measure into 30 ml cornflour making a slurry. Add it to your wok continuously stirring until well blended, cooked, and thickened.
Add remaining water, tomatoes, butter, and garlic cloves, whole, without chopping. Cover, and continue simmering until your tomatoes have softened.
Once the tomatoes are soft, with an immersion blender, cream your sauce until smooth.
Add back your chicken. Adjust seasoning with lemon juice to taste. Serve and enjoy!😉
INGREDIENTS: | Garam Masala:
2 tbsp Cumin Seeds
2 tbsp Coriander Seeds
2 tsp Black Peppercorns
1 Star Anise Pod
1/4 of a whole Nutmeg
10 Cardamom Pods
10 Black Cloves
1 Stick Cinnamon
Grind all the above in your coffee grinder. Store in your freezer section in a resealable small freezer bag or the little ones you get when purchasing curry spices from Indian spice shops like peppercorns, cumin, coriander, etc.