Done poorly, it tastes like a can of Campbells cream of tomato soup with a little garam masala. Like curried tomato soup with chicken. Who wants that?
Butter chicken does not have to be bland
I don’t know why people think condensed soup and garam masala is Indian. Or butter chicken. Or even worth eating. I just don’t get it. And yet there are lots of recipes out there that claim butter chicken is just that. If that’s your thing it’s easy. Literally. Can of tomato soup. A teaspoon of garam masala. A little extra sugar. Some boneless, skinless chicken. And a whack of cream and butter. Cook it up all together. Add the cream and butter at the end. Done. I’m not saying that’s wrong. Not judging. But I am thinking it. Be sure of that. If you want to make curry for 6 year olds, that’s how you do it. Unless the 6 year old is Indian. Then they want something tasty. And soup with garam masala doesn’t cut it. Trust me. I was 6 once…
Murgh makhani is why this recipe works
It’s when you start looking for murgh makhani that you start to see what it’s really about. Murgh makhani is the Indian name for butter chicken. And it’s good. Really good. Goodbye canned soup. Hello flavour. Hello murgh makhani. This murgh makhani is done restaurant style. Like they do in restaurants. Not like people say tastes like something close. And then tells you to open a can of soup. Or add a ton of pureed tomatoes. Or a gallon of cream.
Restaurant style with extra flavour
This is restaurant technique. Real restaurant technique. And the results are as good or better than you can get in a restaurant. I’m not even that fussed on this dish in a lot of Indian restaurants. It’s kind of close to the soup version. This is butter chicken like it should be served. Comes with flavour. Comes with heat. Murgh makhani really. For when flavour matters. I know I rant a lot about how boring Indian restaurants have become. How they all serve the same 20 dishes. No variety. No representation of what a billion people call dinner. This is a different rant. I know they have butter chicken on the menu. Let’s make them make good butter chicken. Next time you are out at an Indian restaurant demand better. Say you want murgh makhani like they make in India.
