Butter Chicken without Cream (Murgh Makhani)

An amazing butter chicken recipe with all the flavour, yet with no cream! Healthy and delicious!

Butter Chicken without Cream (Murgh Makhani)

Course: Curry, Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Indian, South Asian

Prep Time: 55

Cook Time: 1 10

Overnight marinate: 8

Total Time: 10 5

Servings: servings

Calories: 288kcal

Author: Dini Kodippili

An insanely delicious butter chicken recipe, without the cream. So it's a healthier version, but with all the flavour. This will be a family favourite, guaranteed!

EASY - This is an easy butter chicken recipe without the heavy cream, but just as delicious!

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Marinade

455 g bone-in or boneless chicken boneless chicken cut into 1 inch cubes
100 g plain yoghurt
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder this is how you get a red colour that turns orange, but if you cannot find this, sub it with ½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp of salt

Curry

1 inch ginger sliced
3 cloves garlic sliced or minced
¾ cup cashews soaked overnight
½ large onion sliced
1 tbsp of garam masala
300 g canned diced tomatoes
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp chilli powder more if you like it spicy
2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
56 g butter ½ stick

Cheat's Garam Masala (if you cannot find authentic garam masala powder)

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground black pepper
½ star of anise or ¼ tsp ground anise seeds

Instructions

Mix the chicken with the marinade ingredients and keep it covered in the fridge overnight.
On very high heat, heat 2 tbsp of butter and add the chicken when the butter is hot (leaving out as much of the marinade as possible - but don't discard the marinade). Let the chicken brown on one side, and only cook partially and leave it aside. (You can also do this on a broiler tray in the oven to mimic a Tandoor oven) - You can opt out of this step of browning the chicken, if you like.
Grind the cashews (without the water), onion, ginger and garlic together to form a paste. Set aside.
In a saucepan, heat 2 tbsp of butter and add all the spices, and then mix for about 10 secs till you can smell them.
Add the diced tomatoes with sugar and salt and cook on medium-high while stirring to reduce the liquid content. You want to cook out the raw tomato flavour as much as possible.
When the tomato has reduced and looks thick, add the ground cashew mix and the lemon/lime juice and colouring (if using). Stir until the gravy/sauce becomes thick and smooth.
Add the browned chicken (or the uncooked chicken if you skipped step 2) with the remaining marinade and stir through. Let it simmer (covered) for about 20-30 minutes (for big bone-in pieces) or 10-15 minutes (for 1 inch pieces). Add more water if it's too thick.
Optional - add another heaping tablespoon of yoghurt and mix it in.
Serve while hot, with some whisked yoghurt drizzled on top, and some chopped cilantro.
Serve with steamed rice or naan.

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