Butter Chicken of Mumbai
Our signature heritage recipe: tender chicken simmered in a rich, velvety tomato and cream gravy.
Reverse-engineered from Kulkarni's Coastal Kitchen · Mumbai
Ingredients
for 4 servings
- 800 gchicken thighs — chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 150 gplain yogurt
- 2 tbspginger garlic paste
- 1 tbsplemon juice
- 1 tspground cumin
- 0.5 tspturmeric
- 1 tbspKashmiri chili powder
- 50 gbutter — cubed
- 2 tbspoil
- 1yellow onion — finely chopped
- 500 gRoma tomatoes — pureed
- 100 mlheavy cream
- 1 tspgaram masala
- 1 bunchfresh cilantro — chopped
- 1 tspdried fenugreek leaves — crushed
Equipment
checked against your kitchen
- ✓stovetop
What cooks learned
Only 5 cooks have logged this one in Cook Mode so far — not enough to say anything about where it goes wrong.
Method
- 1
In a large bowl, combine chicken thighs with yogurt, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, ground cumin, turmeric, and Kashmiri chili powder. Mix well.
10 min · 5 min attention→ marinated chicken
- 2parallel track
Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté until golden brown and soft.
10 min175°C surface - 3
Add the remaining ginger garlic paste and a pinch of cumin to the onions; cook for 2 minutes until fragrant.
2 min - 4
Pour in the tomato puree and ground spices. Stir and simmer for 10-12 minutes until the sauce thickens and darkens.
12 min · 5 min attention⏱ oil begins to separate from the edges of the sauce · 12 minDone when: oil begins to separate from the edges of the sauce
→ tomato base
- 5
waits for: steps 1 and 4
Add the marinated chicken (and all its juices) to the tomato base. Stir to coat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
20 min · 3 min attention⏱ chicken is opaque and pulls easily from the bone · 20 minDone when: chicken is opaque and pulls easily from the bone
- 6
Stir in the heavy cream and remaining butter. Season with garam masala.
5 min · 2 min attention - 7
Fold in the chopped cilantro and crushed fenugreek leaves before serving.
2 min · 1 min attention
Why this grade?
- reverse-engineered provenance+40
- decode confidence 75%+18.8
- 7 verified cooks+8.1
- Trust score67/100