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A picture of a bowl of prepared homemade butter chicken masala with a few wedges of homemade sourdough naan over a bed of warm jasmine rice
Makhaya Shea

Homemade Butter Chicken Masala

5 from 9 votes
Rich spices, and a creamy consistency, paired with sourdough naan made from scratch. This will be your new favorite homemade butter chicken and naan combo!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Chicken Dry Rub Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chicken Dry Rub
  • 4 Boneless Chicken Breast cut into cubes and remove large fat chunks
  • 1 tbsp Avocado Oil or extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp Chili Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Yellow Curry Powder
  • 1 tbsp Garlic Salt
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • 2 tbsp Butter
Butter Masala Ingredient List
  • 2 large White Onions diced
  • 1 large Purple Onion dices
  • 7 cloves Garlic minced
  • 5 tbsp Butter divided
  • 3 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1 tsp Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp Cumin
  • 1 tsp Ground Coriander
  • 1 tsp Paprika
  • 1 tbsp Ground Ginger
  • 1 tbsp Sea Salt
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 Cinnamon Stick
  • 1 3/4 cups Tomato Sauce I use a four cheese tomato sauce, but plain works just fine
  • 3/4 cup Water
  • 1 cup Heavy Cream or coconut milk
  • 1 can Chickpeas strained and rinsed
  • Fresh Cilantro loosely chopped
  • Fresh Parsley loosely chopped

Equipment

  • large cast iron pan a large stainless steal pan works too
  • knife
  • cutting board
  • medium glass bowl

Method
 

Chicken Dry Rub Instructions
  1. Begin by patting chicken breasts dry, and place on a cutting board. Chop each breast into inch sized cubes, and place into a medium sized bowl.
  2. Drizzle chicken with avocado oil. Add turmeric, chilli powder, curry powder, garlic salt, and black pepper. Toss to coat chicken cubes evenly with the spices. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.
    A bowl of chicken sitting in a dry rub
Rice Prep
  1. Once you have finished prepping chicken, begin preparing your jasmine rice. Follow package instructions, and allow to cook while you prep the rest of the meal. Feel free to check out the blog post above for tips on how to add more flavor to your rice!
Butter Chicken Masala Instructions
  1. While your meat is sitting, begin chopping onions and mincing garlic. Allow them to sit in a covered bowl until the recipe calls for them. (Covering them keeps your onions fresh)
  2. Once chicken is done sitting, add 2 tablespoons of butter to a pre-heated pan. Place chicken cubes on the warm pan one at a time(I know this takes a little bit of extra time, but it ensures a more even cook for all of your chicken pieces).
    A picture of chicken being placed on a pan one at a time
  3. Once chicken is cooked through remove from pan back into your CLEANED covered bowl.
    A picture of cooked chicken in a pan
  4. Next, add 3 tablespoons of butter.
    A picture of butter melting in a pre-heated pan
  5. Once butter has melted, add all of your diced onions and minced garlic.
    A picture of diced onions and garlic in a pan
  6. Add garam masala, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, paprika, ground ginger, and your whole cinnamon stick.
    A picture of all the onions and garlic in a pan with piles of each spice ontop as well as the cinnamon stick
  7. Sauté onion mixture until onions become tender.
    A picture of tender sautéed onion spice mixture in a pan
  8. Next, stir in tomato sauce.
    A picture of sautéed onion mixture on a pan with tomato sauce poured on top
  9. Then heavy cream, and 1/2-3/4 cups water. ** See Notes**
    A picture of the butter chicken mixture with heavy cream recently poured into it
  10. Then add in chicken pieces and strained chickpeas. Stir to coat.
    A picture of chickpeas recently added to the butter chicken mixture in a pan
  11. Cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  12. Stir in 2 more tablespoons of butter, and remove from heat.
  13. Serve over jasmine rice, with homemade sourdough naan**See notes**. Top with fresh cilantro and/or fresh parsley.
  14. Enjoy!
    A picture of a bowl of prepared homemade butter chicken masala with a few wedges of homemade sourdough naan over a bed of warm jasmine rice

Notes

  1. The amount of water you add, will dilute the taste and give you a runnier constancy. I usually start with 1/2 cup, and then if I want to add more I will. It's better to start off slow, taste, and test your consistency, and then add more if you prefer! 
  2. I did not add any time in this recipe's "estimated time" section for the sourdough naan bread. This will take quite a few extra hours of prep work in advance. It is so simple, (really!) don't be intimidated when I say you need a few extra hours! It's just a heads up that you will need to allot yourself some time to be able to prepare the naan bread properly!