Dish · indian
Butter Chicken
Tandoor-cooked chicken simmered in a tomato gravy finished with butter and cream, mild and slightly sweet against the char of the meat. Served with rice or naan for scooping up the sauce.
Where it comes from
Delhi's Moti Mahal restaurant is widely credited with the dish in the years after Partition, when cooks are said to have stretched leftover tandoori chicken by simmering it in a butter-and-tomato gravy so it wouldn't dry out. Multiple families associated with the restaurant have disputed exactly who did it first.
What cooks argue about
Cooks split over cream versus cashew paste for body: cream gives a lighter sauce, cashews thicken it further and add a sweetness some consider closer to the original recipe.
Versions
Nobody has published a butter chicken here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.
What goes in it
Each one opens everything else made with it.
chicken thigh boneless
heavy cream
butter