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Butter Chicken

A mild, creamy curry that's sure to please all tastes. Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients - it's very easy to make.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 22 ingredients
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Why it works: Chicken and butter match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 13,869 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Cook30 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Whisk the yoghurt with the juice of half the lime, the grated 15g garlic, one grated piece of ginger, the cumin, half the ground coriander, the garam masala, paprika and a pinch of salt. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, coat in the marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

  2. Melt the 25g butter in a large heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in batches and cook for about 8 minutes, turning, until browned and cooked through to 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part. Set aside with any juices.

  3. Melt the 100g butter in the same pan over medium heat. Fry the finely chopped onion for 5 minutes until soft.

  4. Add the second piece of grated ginger, the 2 finely chopped garlic, the deseeded and finely chopped red chillies, the chilli powder and the remaining ground coriander. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring.

  5. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes. Add a splash of water and simmer for 5 minutes.

  6. Stir in the double cream and the reserved chicken with its juices. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, then season with salt, black pepper and the juice of the half lemon.

  7. Cook the basmati rice in a pan of boiling water for 10 to 12 minutes until tender, then drain. Warm the naan bread in a dry pan or oven at 180°C (350°F) for a few minutes.

  8. Scatter the butter chicken with the fresh coriander leaves and serve with the rice and warm naan.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Chicken + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together13,869 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  2. Lime + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Lime + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,216 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Coriander + lemontop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,498 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lime, ginger, cumin, coriander, chicken, butter, lemon):

  1. Cardamombetter flavor fit
  2. Turmericbetter flavor fit
  3. Oreganobetter flavor fit
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lime, ginger, cumin, coriander, chicken, butter, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).