Old Delhi Murgh Makhani/ Butter chicken

So, we come to what is popularly knows as 'The National Dish' of India.
Murgh Makhani is what it is traditionally known as but then Brits fell in love with this dish and came up with a simple name 'Butter Chicken'.Few generations later the off spring of this curry was born in Scotland and was named  'Chicken Tikka Masala' which went on and grew up to become  national dish of The UK. WOW, Mother is National dish of India and son, UK. Though it comes form the state of Punjab in India, I tried the best version of it in Old Delhi. Hence, I  called it Old Delhi Butter Chicken.

North India , Punjab in particular is a dairy rich state so you see a lot of dairy products such as butter, cream, ghee, yogurt, paneer(Indian honemade cottage cheese) etc. in the cooking.They use nut pastes like almonds and cashew nuts to give richness to the sauce.Tandoor , is a clay oven that is used to make delicious tikkas, kebabs and naan breads. Here, since not all of us can have a tandoor oven in our kitchens, we will make do with our regular kitchen oven. Let's get cooking then..
For the marinade-
Boneless chicken thighs- 1 kg( I  recommend thighs because when you oven cook the chicken the fat in thighs help to keep chicken moist)
Full fat yoghurt- 200 gm
Ginger paste- 2tsp
Garlic paste-2 tsp
Coriander Powder- 1 tsp
Cumin Powder- 1tsp

turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder/ mild paprika- 2tsp(this powders give the curry a good red colour but does not make it too hot)
Lime juice- 1 lime
salt - 1 tsp

For the sauce-
Medium sized onions- chopped-2
Chopped tomatoes-(best  to use italian chopped tomatoes in can in case fresh tomatoes are not juicy)- 500 gm
Green chillies-sliced- 3
Dried fenugreek leaves/kasoori methi/fresh fenugreek leaves- 100 gms (if you have an Indian supermarket close by then you can go for kasoori methi or dry fenugreek leaves. If you cant get hold of it then try to get fresh bunch of fenugreek leaves)
Butter- 200 gms
kashmiri chilli powder/mild paprika- 1 tsp
Garam Masala powder- 1 tsp
double cream- 50 ml
Honey- 10 ml
Cardamom powder- 5 gms
Whole cardamoms-5
Bay leaves -2
Cashewnuts- 50gm
Corinader leaves- 1/2 bunch
salt - to taste
Method-
- pre heat your oven to 220 degrees C.Mix all the ingredients for marination, cut each boneless thigh into 2 or 3 pieces.
- get the chicken into the marinade and make sure all the marinade coats pieces of chicken well.Rest it in fridge for about 4 hours.
-Chop onions, tomatoes(if using fresh) and chillies.
-Place the chicken pieces on a rack and get the tray into the oven for 20 minutes, 10 on each side.
-once chicken is in the oven cooking,place a heavy bottom pan on the stove on medium heat.
-melt butter, add whole cardamom, bay leaf and sauté for 30 seconds.
-add onions and chillies. Cook for about 10 minutes till onions become transparent and then add fenugreek leaves.
- saute for another 5 minutes and add cashew nuts.some prefer soaking the cashew nuts and grinding them into a paste separately but I do not see a point in doing that. Cashew nuts will any ways soften up while cooking along with onions and tomatoes.
-After a couple of minutes add chopped tomatoes and slow cook for another 10 minutes till tomatoes are all mushy.
- get the bay leaves out, switch off the flame and let the mix sit for 10 minutes till it becomes warm.
- add this mix to a jar and blend till it turns smooth and rich.
- get the sauce back into the pan and simmer it on a low heat.
-add chilli powder, garam masala ,cardamom powder and honey and mix .
-by now the chicken should be cooked and out of the oven.
-add the chicken to sauce and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes.
-here is a tip, instead of adding water add all the juices from the chicken and marinade that has dripped into the baking tray because it adds a lot of flavour to the sauce. So, please do not throw the liquid away.

- finish with cream and coriander and give it one final stir so that the cream is mixed well into the sauce.
-check for seasoning and add salt if required.
- Serve hot with naan bread/chapatis/parathas or even steamed rice.


This definitely is one  recipe that any one who loves Indian cuisine should try. Its not hard to cook and not too spicy at all. So, non spicy eaters will love it too. Also, for vegetarians, use paneer cheese  instead of chicken and call it 'Paneer Butter Masala'-another most popular Indian Vegetarian dish. HAVE FUN!!