Swich | Recipes - Chicken Makkhanwala (Butter Chicken)
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Chicken Makkhanwala (Butter Chicken)

This is a butter chicken that most of us NEVER eat in a restaurant. You’ll learn the traditional charcoal smoking technique that gives this dish its authentic smoky depth.

Serves 1 | Active Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 2 hours
Serves 1 | Active Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 2 hours
Chef's Notes

This dish is kinda special. It takes time, and effort, and has quite a few ingredients. But what makes it special is not just the ingredients, but also the smoky flavour. By missing out the last step, you miss out on a lot of the uniqueness of this dish.

Step 1: Marinating the Chicken
  • Boneless Chicken 1- 1.5 kg
  • Yoghurt 200 gms ( 1 Cup)
  • Salt to taste
  • Garam Masala (available at Indian stores) 2 tsp

Marinate the chicken with garam masala, salt, yoghurt, and keep in the fridge overnight.

Step 2: Preparing the 'Masala'
  • 9 Medium-Sized Onions
  • Ghee to fry the onions (Again, a trip to the Indian Store)
  • Fresh Ginger 1/2
  • Fresh Garlic- 1 Pod
  • Coriander Powder-1tsp
  • Cumin Powder - 1tsp
  • 25 Kashmiri Chillies (Red Dried Chillies)-Deseed them and make paste by soaking them in water.
  • 1 kg fresh tomatoes or Puree
  • 100gm Cashewnuts (A handful)
  • Garam Masala- 1tsp

Chop the onions fine, and fry them in oil or ghee till brown. Add ginger and garlic paste (yes, you need to make a paste) and fry for some time. Add the Kashmiri chilli paste and cook for some time.

Add the coriander and cumin powder and keep frying. Then add the garam masala and keep frying.

Tomato puree is next on the list and fry well till cooked. As a finale, add the cashew nut paste and cook till it thickens and then set aside.

Step 3: Roasting the chicken
  • 1/4 Litre Cream (Here come the calories!)

Take the marinated chicken and lay the pieces in the oven tray greased with ghee or oil. Important— Don’t use the liquid from the marinade while roasting. Set the liquid aside for later. (The roasting can also be done in a frying pan if you don’t have an oven)

After the chicken is roasted, add the reserved liquid and the above (in section 1). Cook for some time. Finally add the cream and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside.

Step 4: Give a unique smoky flavour to the dish

Take a couple of pieces of charcoal. Heat it on the gas till it gets really hot and glowing. Remove and put it in a small vessel. Warm some oil and pour it over the charcoal.

Then immediately immerse the vessel in the chicken dish (this is to give the flavour, so make sure it doesn’t get into the chicken itself. It needs to be on top like a boat on the ocean). Cover the main chicken dish vessel immediately to seal in the flavour.

After a while open the vessel. Remove the charcoal stuff and your dish is ready to serve. Garnish with fresh coriander!

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