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Author:Dini K.
Love Butter Chicken, but don’t want to use cream? No worries, THIS is the recipe you need! This isButter Chicken WITHOUT cream,yet with all the creaminess and all the authentic flavours of Murgh Makhani! You can easily adapt this recipe to be dairy-free too! 🙂
Have you had butter chicken before? If not, you have done yourself a massive disservice! Today I’m going to give you a curry recipe for an amazing butter chicken dish that you have got to try at least once in your life! Butter Chicken is an Indian curry that’s popular all around the world. I know that in Australia and New Zealand this dish is featured in every Indian restaurant menu without fail.
Once upon a time though, I remember refusing to eat butter chicken. I had the misfortune of eating “faux butter chicken” that was no doubt made with a bucket load of cream, during my first few tries. I quite naturally hated it. I tasted the cream more than anything else.
For a while this was what I thought butter chicken was until my family and I went to this great Indian restaurant in New Zealand and one of the servers there convinced us to try the “authentic” Butter Chicken. Oh my goodness! I was converted! It was beyond amazing. It was still creamy, but not heavy at all and the complex spices were just shining through. I had FINALLY tasted proper butter chicken… & I was happy!
Since then, I have found more amazingButter Chicken dishes that I loved to eat – so remembering all that I love about these dishes, I tried to recreate one for us to eat at home.
This dish still retains the creaminess of authentic butter chicken, but without the cream. Instead I used yoghurt and cashew nut paste. So in addition to being unbelievably delicious, this is also a healthier version. Isn’t that a great combo?
Garam Masala is the star spice of this dish. You can easily find Garam Masala in your local supermarket or Asian grocery store. If you don’t have it, then you can make your own Garam Masala but you will need coriander, cumin, pepper, cloves, aniseed, cinnamon and cardamom.
It’s best to marinate the chicken overnight – but at least 3 hours should be fine too. When it was time to make the curry, I just seared the chicken pieces in a very hot pan to mimic a tandoor oven. It doesn’t need to be cooked through, and this step can be skipped completely to save time if you choose to.
Use raw cashew nuts to make the nut paste, because this will give the best creamy consistency. If you can only find roasted cashews, you have to make sure to soak the cashews in the fridge for at least 24 hours to soften them up. Make the nut paste in the food processor with the onions, ginger and garlic and process until it becomes smooth.
Cook the tomato and spices on medium-high heat to cook out the raw tomato flavour. Butter Chicken is a tomato based curry, but you don’t want that tomato flavour to be overpowering. Keep cooking the tomato paste and cashew nut paste together before adding the chicken and leftover marinade.
The gravy is really thick, and I prefer to thin it out with some water, but you can adjust it to your preference.
You can eat this with rice or naan, with a side of Raita (which is a yoghurt, cucumber, onion salad) and pappadams!
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4.75 from 4 votes
Butter Chicken without Cream (Murgh Makhani)
Author: Dini K.
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!
Difficulty:Easy recipes
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Ingredients:
Marinade
- 1 lb bone-in or boneless chicken boneless chicken cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3.5 oz of plain yoghurt
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder this is how you get a red colour that turns orange, but if you cannot find this, sub it with 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp of salt
Curry
- 1 inch ginger sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic sliced or minced
- 3/4 cup of cashews soaked overnight
- 1/2 a large onion sliced
- 1 tbsp of garam masala
- 300 g of canned diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder more if you like it spicy
- 2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
- 1/2 stick of butter OR 4 tbsp vegetable oil
Cheat’s Garam Masala (if you cannot find authentic garam masala powder)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp of ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 star of anise or 1/4 tsp ground anise seeds
Instructions:
Mix the chicken with the marinade ingredients and keep it covered in the fridge overnight. Return it to room temperature before cooking.
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.
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
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This will become a family favourite, I’m certain of it! It is so delicious it is guaranteed to make repeat visits to your dinner table. And it is in fact a healthier version of the butter chicken dishes that you will come across in many Indian restaurants.
The creaminess WITHOUT the greasiness and packed with flavour, you have to try it for dinner this week and see for yourself! My husband isn’t the biggest fan of Indian food but loves this dish – and I have made this a fewcountless times already!
What’s your favourite Indian dish? What do you think about this recipe? Do let me know. I always love to hear from you guys 🙂
Other delicious meat curry recipes
- Sri Lankan chicken curry
- Spicy black pork curry
- Authentic mutton curry (lamb curry)
- Authentic beef curry
- Sri Lankan fish curry recipe
- Spicy dry beef curry (devilled beef)
- Sri Lankan meatball curry
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About Dini
Dini Kodippili is a professional food writer, recipe developer, food photographer, cookbook author, and baker. Dini has been featured on HuffPost, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, Delish, Food & Wine and more. Learn More
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Cole says
Is the white cream in the photo Raita?
Reply
Dini says
Hi Cole
No it isn’t. The white cream is just warm cream that was drizzled on top (not needed for the recipe). The raita in the picture is served in a small ramekin with the cucumber and onion.
I hope that helpsReply
Anne McGlashan says
Delicious
Reply
Anne says
Hello, this recipe looks delicious. Can I use fresh tomatoes instead of canned?
Reply
Dini says
Hi Anne
Yes you can, but you will have to adjust cook times as fresh tomatoes may or may not have the same flavor as canned tomatoes (depending on the taste of the tomatoes that you use). If the tomatoes are in season, then the recipe should be ok with some adjustments. If the tomatoes are off season, this can result in a more watery, flavorless curry. This can have an impact on the final flavor. Canned tomatoes do give more consistent results as the tomatoes have a more consistent flavor.Reply
Kathy says
I am trying to make a butter chicken that is acid reflux friendly. The cashews are, and I am okay with spices, as long as it’s not hot. It’s acids from tomatoes that I am worried about. Can I omit that, and use coconut milk instead, or with the cashews and yogurt?
Reply
Dini says
Hi Kathy
Tomatoes are a big part of butter chicken. You can remove it and make a curry. It will still be a curry that will taste pretty good and creamy (You may need to adjust some spice levels to taste), but it just won’t be butter chicken.
I hope that helps!Reply
Kathy says
Thanks, Dini!
Reply
Michelle M says
Hi Dini, thank you so much for sharing your recipe so honestly. I love to read your post and the story behind it and everytime it makes me smile. I have learned so much from you. Keep up the passion!
Reply
Maria Gerardine says
This was exactly what I was looking for. I love Butter Chicken but always found it too heavy and nauseating. Thank you so much
Reply
Amie says
I am finding a couple steps confusing.
Ground the cashews (without the water), onion, ginger and garlic together to form a paste. Set aside.
Grind all of the ingredients together?
In a saucepan, heat 2 tbsp of butter and add all the spices and mix for about 10 secs till you can smell them.
What is the mix?When the tomato has reduced and looks thick, add the ground cashews and the lemon/lime juice and colouring (if using). Stir until the gravy becomes thick and smooth.
This tells me that I am NOT to grind all of the ingredients together- that the cashews should be separate and the mix is just the onion, ginger, and garlic? please confirm. I am making this tomorrow, so hopefully you will see this today.Thank you in advance
Reply
Dini says
Hi Amie,
Let me clarify. You need to grind the cashews along with onion, ginger and garlic together to form the paste.
Heat the butter with all the spices, and mix/stir this for about 10 seconds. That’s what I meant.
You add the ground cashew paste that you formed earlier (which included the onion, ginger and garlic). I hope that makes it clear now. Thanks for your question. I edited the recipe slightly so that it’s more clear now. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Dini.Reply
Victoriao Kerba says
That was a huge hit with the family. As I like to cook a lot of vegan dishes( we RARELY eat any sort of meat) I’m very familiar with using cashew as cream sauces. It’s amazing stuff as a sour cream too!!
Here’s my tip to have cashews ready for any meal….soak your cashews for 8 hours then drain and rinse, ( I do a couple of cups at a time so there are about two portions readying my freezer) Add the soaked and well drained cashews to some type of resealable plastic bag…. or container….( I use the vacuseal bags that have a zipper seal so I take what I need out of the freezer and easily reseal for next time!) then freeze!
When I’m ready to use them I add them to just boiled hot water for 5-10 mins to defrost them (if defrosting is necessary) then drain them and use as needed. For my sour cream I add the cashews to my vita-mix frozen (with lemon juice and a bit of water) so that the cream is cold when blending is finished. That vita-mix was heating the daylights out of my sour cream! Not a fan of hot sour cream 😉
Thanks again for the DELISH dinner!!!!
Reply
wendy says
Very good recipe. I think I will cut back on the nuts and the sauce got pretty thick. Also, for me there is too strong a cardamom taste in the Garam Masala for my liking. Definitely something to work with and most enjoyable. I look forward to trying your other recipes; very interesting and different! Thank you.Reply
Lois says
I am hoping to make this for about 8 people tomorrow night, but I am having trouble figuring out which ingredients to increase. I have almost 4 lb chicken. I discovered the hard way that multiplying the salt by 4 was not correct =( But I don’t want to mess up the curry. I was thinking: keep cashew paste the same, but increase onion and tomato???
Reply
Dini says
Hi Lois!
Oh no! Salt is so tricky! 🙂
I wouldn’t advise you to keep the cashew amount the same, but I wouldn’t recommend using 4 times as much either! 🙂 Maybe just double the amount of cashew and triple the amount of curry ingredients. The Cashew cream replaces the creaminess and body that cream usually gives to this curry.
(There is alot of curry sauce for this recipe too – which is how we like it)
Start off with the smaller amounts, and you can add some crushed tomatoes and curry powder if you need some extra punch! Curries are in the end, essentially cooked from the heart and you can add more as you go 🙂
My mother always told me – You can never go wrong with a curry if you have the basic flavors in there – it’s all about finding the balance!Reply
Lois says
Thank you so much! I’ll let you know how it turns out =)
Reply
Faaeza Muhammad says
AwesomeReply
Jennifer says
You are killing me with this awesome food! I need you to print a glossary for me so I can interpret all the alternate names for foods. I have to stop and google all the non- english food terms:)
Reply
I had butter chicken for the first time on my birthday this summer. It is now my very, very favorite thing, but I don’t have an Indian restaurant nearby. All the recipes I looked up needed something called “breakfast cream” which I of course don’t have in my local store. There were a few jars of canned butter chicken sauce, thankfully, and one kind of naan bread, so I’ve been satisfying my cravings that way so far. I’m going to have to try this if I can find raw cashews anywhere. 🙂
Reply
Dini says
Same thing here! So we have to make Indian if we feel like it 🙂 Husband isn’t a big fan of indian food though – except for the butter chicken!! You can get Cashews on amazon (That’s how I bought them) and you can use regular cream instead of breakfast cream if you want. Once you make it from scratch you won’t be going back!! 🙂
Reply
J says
Thank you for that fantastic recipe. Tried it as soon as it was published and I was so damn good. Do keep them flowing.Reply
Dini says
Thank you for trying the recipe for me and giving me the feedback afterwards too! Im so glad you liked it 🙂
Reply
