In case you hadn’t noticed. I am all for a buttery and spicy sauce. But when it comes to Indian style cuisine, the layers of spice and heat are so many, each giving to the final flavor. This Indian style butter chicken and naan recipe are not an authentic one. No. It portrays my love for this cuisine of many flavors. The land of spices. I was browsing through a recipe notebook I have and where I write down things I would like to cook and perfect and I ran across chicken Tikka Masala. So I decided to study this question because I had only ever tasted it in restaurants. I wandered my way through the web and found this article explaining the difference between butter chicken and Tikka Masala. Essentially butter chicken vs tikka masala is a non-existent fight. The difference is small but as in any recipe, even a small difference, is a difference. And I decided to stick with the butter chicken.
I like how the recipe has adapted to those markets with less variety of spices available. I am all for specialty stores, but now it is quite hard to get to one. So I just indulged myself in making this buttery, creamy, spicy, hot, warm, everything really, Indian style butter chicken and naan. All you really need is some chicken, warming Indian spices, garlic, ginger, onions, tomatoes, greek yogurt, and heaps of butter! Hence the name – butter chicken. This creamy butter chicken recipe is all you need to make a flavorful dinner. My advice, make a lot and freeze any leftovers. It is a wonderful dish to take out of the freezer and indulge in on a cold evening.
What to serve with butter chicken?
If we put the chicken aside for a moment, all we can think about is that beautiful naan. Of course, I had to make my own. Not only because there are no buying options where I live, but because it is the best that way. You don’t really need all that much to make some nice buttery fresh naan. In order to make the best homemade naan of your life, all you need is some yogurt, flour, honey, yeast, and olive oil. The butter chicken and naan are a pair best enjoyed together.
I did go light on the chilies and cayenne because my husband is not a fan. All the other spices bring the heat to the dish, so don’t worry about it tasting bland. This
Indian style butter chicken and naan
Ingredients
- White or yasmin rice for serving
Butter chicken
- 500 g chicken thigs cut into bite sized pieces
- 100 g yogurt
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 5 cloves of garlic grated
- 2 cm ginger grated
Butter chicken sauce
- 150 g tomato paste
- 400 g full fat coconut milk
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic grated
- 2 cm ginger grated
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric
- Fresh cilantro for serving
Naan
- 400 g all purpose flour
- 120 g yogurt
- 120 g warm water
- 2 tsp honey
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- Drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
Fresh naan
- Mix everything in a large bowl
- Make the dough, knead for 2 minutes and let rise for 1 hour
- Divide into 8 equal portions and roll each piece out
- Heat a cast iron skillet with some oil and bake each naan from both sides for about 2 minutes in total
Butter chicken and sauce
- Mix the chicken with the spices and the yogurt and marinate at least 1 hour or overnightt for maximum flavor
- In a pan heat some oil and brown the chicken for 5 minutes, add 1 tablespoon of butter and remove from the pan
- Add 1 tbsp butter and the onions and cook until translucent, add 1 tbsp butter after about 3 minutes, cook in total for 6 minutes
- Add the garlic and ginger and the spices and stir in the last tbsp of butter
- Add the tomato paste, coconut milk and the chicken back in the pan
- Cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes on medium low
- Chop some cilantro and stir in
- Serve the butter chicken over rice and eat with the naan and more fresh cilantro