30 minute easy butter chicken-style curry. A delicious mix of deep flavors and a variety of textures. It’s funky, quick and delicious, especially when topped with scallions and pistachios. Serve with basmati rice or buttered naan. This spicy creamy dish is great for any weeknight.
The secret to any good curry is the sauce. We add a well-balanced combination of spices that nicely blend together. The sauce is untraditionally made extra creamy with coconut milk and enriched with butter. Also, feel free to add extra chili at the end, if you want some extra heat. Serve with a fresh cucumber salad drizzled with a yogurt dressing. Let me walk you through making this butter chicken, step by step in this video.
RECIPE NOTES
– instead of chicken fillets, you can use skinless, boneless thighs
– you can make this dish vegetarian by using cauliflower instead of chicken
– add some extra veggies to the sauce, like spinach or broccoli
– we add 1 tablespoon of butter at the end, but this is optional. Stirring butter into the sauce adds a top note of smoothness
More curry, please!
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You need
chicken + marinade
- 700 g (1.5 pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into cubes
- 4 tbsp natural full fat yogurt
- 1 tsp each: salt, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, curry powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
sauce
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp red curry paste
- 500 ml (2 cups) unsweetened coconut milk
- 140 g (5 oz) tomato paste
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- salt + black pepper
for serving
- chopped pistachios
- chopped scallions
- crushed chili flakes
- cilantro
- basmati rice
- naan
How to
Add the chicken and the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. Massage yogurt mixture into chicken until well coated. Set aside while you prepare the ingredients for the sauce. You can also prepare the chicken beforehand and marinade it up to 3 hours in the fridge.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, 5 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Melt 1 tbsp butter. Add garlic, onion and ginger. Cook until soft, 3 minutes. Add garam masala and chili powder. Stir in tomato paste and red curry paste. Cook for 2 minutes. Add coconut milk and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Return chicken along with any juices to the skillet together with 1 tbsp butter and lime juice. Bring to a simmer and cook until chicken is just cooked through, 10 minutes. If the sauce thickens too much, add a splash of water.
In the meantime, steam the rice and prepare naan.
Serve the chicken with rice and naan. Top with scallions, chili flakes and pistachios. Enjoy!
Let me walk you through making this butter chicken, step by step in this video.
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If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and don’t forget to tag me in your picture on Instagram with @anna_s_table or mention with #servingdumplings. I’d love to see what you’re making. Happy cooking!
Red curry paste is Thai isnt it? And isn’t butter chicken Indian? I don’t think coconut milk is used in butter chicken either. Looks delicious though not authentic.
Correct, it’s untraditionally made creamy with coconut milk. I always try to make recipes with a twist. Hope you love it!
This is absolutely amazing! Best butter chicken ever, and now I want to try everyting on your site.
Next up I’m trying the thai coconut curry meatballs. I love thai food, and I’ve never considered turning those flavors into meatballs, so exciting.
Thank you so much!
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for making it! I hope you love the thai meatballs as well. Happy cooking!