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Easy Pakistani Butter Chicken
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5 from 3 votes

Easy Pakistani Butter Chicken

This Easy Pakistani Butter Chicken is cooked in just one pot with a few easy to source ingredients, making it an easy weeknight meal.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian, Pakistani
Diet: Halal, Hindu
Keyword: chicken curry, creamy butter chicken, indian curry, murgh makhani, Pakistani Curry
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 312kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ cup oil or butter (SEE NOTES)
  • 2 lbs boneless chicken
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tsp garlic paste
  • 2 tsp ginger paste
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp red chili powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • 1 cup yogurt (SEE NOTES)
  • ¼ cup heavy whipping cream (SEE NOTES)

Instructions

  • Cut the chicken into cubes, remove any excess fat and set aside.
  • Heat Cooking Oil (SEE NOTES FOR USING BUTTER)
  • Chop the onion and sauté well till it's a nice medium-dark brown.
  • Add minced garlic and ginger and sauté for about 1 minute.
  • Add the chicken, stir frying till it turns opaque.
  • Add the tomato paste and ¼ cup of water so the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Saute till the mixture entirely coats the chicken .
  • Add the salt and all the spices and saute for a few minutes.
  • Add the yogurt ¼ cup at a time, stir fry till a thick paste forms and no liquid can be seen and then add another ¼ cup and so forth till the entire cupful has been added. (SEE NOTES)
  • Cover and simmer the gravy for about 15 minutes. This insures that the onions become very soft and melt with the other ingredients. This is important to achieve that velvety texture we talked about earlier.
  • Uncover, turn flame on high and thicken the gravy if necessary (SEE NOTES)
  • Stir in the cream and turn the stove off.
  • Plate the curry and drizzle about 2 Tablespoons of cream and some cilantro as a garnish and serve.

Video

Notes

The Fat - I like to use avocado oil to make by curry as it's healthy and heats well at high temperatures. Butter tastes amazing and gives that authentic restaurant taste you may want to replicate but since there's already cream and full fat yogurt I feel it makes it too heavy. If you want to make it the restaurant way, add in 1 stick butter (½ Cup) instead of the oil. 
The Yogurt -  The yogurt should be at room temperature to prevent it from curdling. In addition to this, the entire cup should not be added in all at once as it will curdle due to the temperature difference.
The Cream - If you want a richer creamier curry, you can add bit more cream. I like to keep my curry on the lighter side and find it still has a creamy and silky texture. Once again, make sure the cream is not too cold.
Thickening The Gravy - If the chicken is cooked through and the gravy is still too watery, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set it aside to prevent the chicken from overcooking.

Nutrition

Serving: 1person | Calories: 312kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 771mg | Potassium: 557mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 386IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1mg