How NYC’s Best Butter Chicken is Made | Made to Order | Bon Appétit

Quick Overview

Chef Chintan Kirn Pandya of Adda NYC demonstrates his nuanced approach to Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani), emphasizing a two-part marinade process for the chicken and a careful technique for achieving a velvety, perfectly seasoned Makhani sauce base.

Key Points: Chef Chintan Kirn Pandya of Adda NYC shares his recipe for Butter Chicken, which he calls the perfect version of the dish. The chicken preparation involves a two-part yogurt-based marinade: the first to infuse flavor, and the second to coat the chicken to prevent moisture loss during cooking. The Makhani sauce base requires simmering tomatoes, butter, ginger-garlic paste, and cashews for 30-45 minutes before being blended and strained for a smooth texture. Pandya emphasizes using bone-in chicken yields a better taste and more depth compared to boneless. Key aromatics for the sauce include cardamom seeds and cilantro stems, which are bundled into a spice pouch (potli) to infuse flavor without leaving chunks in the final sauce. The final assembly involves searing the marinated chicken on a grill (or in an oven) until 75-80% cooked before adding it to the finished sauce and finishing with cream and fresh cilantro. The chef specifically advises against adding nuts to the sauce base if making it at home, preferring to use them only in the chicken marinade for richness.

Context: The video features Chintan Kirn Pandya, Chef/Owner of Adda NYC (a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef in New York), demonstrating his signature recipe for Butter Chicken, known in India as Murgh Makhani. He is joined by Sous Chef Gurmehr Sahni in the professional kitchen setting of Adda NYC, located on the Lower East Side of New York City. The demonstration focuses on the distinct two-step marination of the chicken and the creation of the rich, smooth Makhani sauce.

Detailed Analysis

Chef Chintan Kirn Pandya details his method for making his acclaimed Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani), which he divides into two main components: the chicken preparation and the Makhani sauce. For the chicken, he uses a two-part yogurt-based marinade, stressing that the yogurt coating helps prevent the chicken from losing moisture while cooking. He prefers bone-in chicken thigh pieces over boneless for superior flavor and juiciness, grilling them until 75-80% cooked before adding them to the sauce. For the sauce base, he combines chopped ripe tomatoes, butter, ginger-garlic paste, sliced garlic, red chili powder, and cashews, cooking them down for 30-45 minutes. He also shows how to create a spice pouch (potli) using cheesecloth filled with cardamom seeds and cilantro stems to infuse aroma without adding texture. After simmering, the sauce base is blended and then meticulously strained through a fine-mesh sieve to achieve a perfectly smooth, velvety texture, which he notes is critical for the dish. Finally, the grilled chicken is added back to the strained sauce, seasoned with sugar and salt, finished with cream, and garnished with fresh cilantro and ginger slivers before serving.