Spicy butter chicken curry (murgh makhani) is a tomato-free recipe that substitutes the traditional acid for a rich, golden base of yogurt, aromatics, and spices.
Craving more? Spicy chicken curry North Indian style brings the same comforting richness, with a bold, roasted depth that's hard to resist.
If you love rich Indian chicken curries but want to skip the tomatoes, this recipe is your new best friend!
🔍 Quick Look: Butter Chicken
- ⏱️ Total Time: 1 hr
- 🍳 Servings: 3
- 📊 Calories: ~574 kcal per serving
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy
- 📌 Highlight: A rich tomato‑free, spicy butter chicken made with yogurt‑marinated chicken and fragrant aromatic spices
⭐Why you'll💖this recipe
By leaning on butter, aromatic spices, yogurt, onion, and a touch of lemon, you can make a flavorful gravy that's incredibly rich and totally unique. The yogurt tenderises the chicken, while the butter and spices add delicious depth of flavour.
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📋Ingredients
Use boneless chicken pieces for a tender and easy-to-eat curry. I use boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces. But you can use your preferred cut of chicken.
Butter adds richness and a delicious buttery flavor. Since this recipe uses salted butter, use salt carefully.
The flavour of this curry comes from the combination of softened onions, fragrant ginger and garlic, and tender chicken marinated in aromatic spices, yogurt, and spicy 2-ingredient chilli oil.
Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) adds a distinctive, earthy, slightly bitter, and aromatic flavour to the curry. Crush the dried leaves between your palms before adding them to release their fragrance.
If you love the flavour of kasuri methi, you might also enjoy potatoes with dried fenugreek!
See the recipe card for more!
👩🍳How to make spicy butter chicken curry?
In a large bowl, combine the chicken, yogurt, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, dried fenugreek leaves, salt, butter, and chilli oil.
Toss until well-coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight for the best flavour.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook until fragrant. Add the finely chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until softened and translucent.
Stir in all the spices, whole dried red chillies, butter, and cook for 1 minute. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally until slightly cooked.
Add water and stir well. Cover and simmer over low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
Next, stir in garam masala and crushed kasuri methi. Simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
As the chicken cooks, the spices, yogurt, butter, onions, ginger, and garlic come together to create a rich and flavourful curry. The longer the curry simmers gently, the more flavourful it becomes. Garnish with fresh cilantro before serving.
❄️Storage
Store leftover butter chicken masala in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave until heated through.
Add a splash of water when reheating if the curry has thickened.
🥄Serving Suggestions
Serve this spicy butter chicken hot with steamed rice, garlic naan, jeera rice, and roti or paratha
Alongside yogurt dips such as mint yogurt sauce, cucumber raita, vegetable raita, pineapple raita, and bondi raita for a flavor-packed combo!
Onion salads, cucumber salad boats, and cucumber-beet salad also go well with butter chicken.
Chutneys like coriander-mint chutney, cilantro chutney, garlic chutney, and chilli chutney enhance the curry flavor.
📝Tips
Avoid overcooking the chicken.
Marinating for several hours gives the chicken the best flavour and tenderness.
Adjust the chilli powder to make the curry milder or spicier.
✨More Chicken Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
🧾Recipe
Easy Spicy Butter Chicken Curry (Murgh Makhani)
↑ Click stars to rate now!
Ingredients
- 500 g Chicken
- ½ cup Butter with salt
- 1-2 tablespoon Yogurt
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Turmeric
- 1 tablespoon Red chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon Garam masala
- 1 tablespoon Coriander powder
- 1 Onion
- 1 tablespoon Ginger-garlic paste
- 5-6 Dried red chillies
- 2-3 tablespoon Kasuri methi
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
Instructions
- Combine the chicken, yogurt, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, dried fenugreek leaves, salt, butter, and chilli oil in a large bowl.
- Toss until well-coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight for the best flavour.
- Heat oil in a large skillet. Add cumin seeds and turn them aromatic.
- Add the chopped onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 mins.
- Stir in the spices, whole dried red chillies, and butter, and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the marinated chicken and cook for 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally, until the chicken is partially cooked.
- Add water and stir well. Cover and simmer over low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Next, stir in garam masala and crushed kasuri methi. Simmer gently for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro before serving.
- Serve spicy butter chicken with bread, roti, naan, or rice.
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