How To Make Butter Chicken At Home | Restaurant Style Recipe | The Bombay Chef – Varun Inamdar

The iconic Murgh Makhani, or butter chicken, is a cornerstone of modern Indian restaurant menus worldwide. Developed by chance in Delhi during the late 1940s at the famous Moti Mahal restaurant, this celebrated dish relies on a harmonious marriage of spiced, charred chicken and a luxurious, silk-textured tomato-butter sauce. In this culinary masterclass, Chef Varun Inamdar deconstructs the classic preparation, adapting it for domestic and small-scale professional kitchens with an emphasis on texture and flavour balance.\n\n## Precision Marination and Searing\n\nTo build deep, foundational flavour, the process begins with boneless chicken breast. A brief marination of fifteen to twenty minutes in ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder, and salt tenderises the protein while establishing a robust spiced base. The chicken is then pan-seared in a hot pan with oil. Although traditional recipes rely on the intense dry heat of a clay tandoor, pan-searing allows chefs to easily capture essential caramelisation and browning in a standard kitchen setup. This step must be executed quickly over high heat to brown the exterior while keeping the breast meat exceptionally tender and succulent before it is rested.\n\n## Constructing and Refining the Makhani Gravy\n\nThe velvety, opulent texture of a true makhani gravy relies on a structured extraction process. Onions, roughly slit tomatoes, and raw cashews are simmered together with garlic paste, vinegar, sugar, garam masala, and vibrant Kashmiri chilli powder. The cashews are a vital addition here, acting as a natural emulsifier to provide structure, body, and creaminess without requiring excessive dairy during the initial cook. Once the aromatics and vegetables are thoroughly softened, the mixture is processed into a fine puree.\n\nThe defining step for any professional chef is refining this puree. Passing the blended sauce through a fine-mesh sieve removes any residual tomato skins and seed fragments, creating the glossy, completely smooth mouthfeel that separates high-end butter chicken from average curries. Once strained, the sauce returns to the heat. Cold butter and fresh cream are emulsified into the simmering base, before the cooked chicken is folded back in. A final dusting of toasted, crushed kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) provides the crucial herbal, bittersweet aroma that defines authentic butter chicken.