Black Pepper Butter Chicken

Black Pepper Butter Chicken

This quick, tasty recipe is my version of a Punjabi dish, kali mirch murgh makhani (literally black pepper chicken with butter). It’s nothing like the fluoro-orange butter chicken of Indian restaurants (which I also love!), nor is it as spicy as the amount of pepper, garlic and ginger might suggest. The yoghurt and lime juice give it a nice tang; I like Meredith Dairy natural sheep milk yoghurt for its thickness and clean flavour. The tomato salad adds a great splash of colour and some dhal palak on the side would work nicely too (see video below). I really enjoy a couple of glasses of Soumah pinot noir, from the cool Warramate Foothills of the Yarra Valley, with this. There are two versions from their Hexham vineyard, the standard release and the limited (200 dozen) Equilibrio, both are great matches for the spice in this dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients
  • 1 cup natural yoghurt
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed
  • ¼ cup grated ginger
  • 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely crushed
  • 650g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 125g butter
  • 1 red onion, finely sliced
  • Salt flakes, to taste
  • 2 stems (¼ cup) curry leaves
  • 2 teaspoons strained lime juice
  • Steamed basmati rice or pilau, for serving

Tomato Salad

  • 200g grape tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 Lebanese cucumber, chopped
  • 4 green onions, chopped
Method
  1. Combine yoghurt, garlic, ginger, pepper and cumin.
  2. Add chicken pieces, stir well, cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
  3. Make Tomato Salad: combine all Ingredients. Set aside.
  4. Melt 100g of the butter in a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat.
  5. Add onion and a good pinch of salt, cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it starts to colour.
  6. Add chicken and yoghurt mixture and cook for 5 minutes or so over low-medium heat, stirring often, until chicken is just cooked through.
  7. Meanwhile, melt remaining butter in a small saucepan, add curry leaves and fry until crisp.
  8. Stir lime juice through the chicken and pour curry leaves and butter over the top.
  9. Serve with steamed rice and Tomato Salad on the side.

Like this recipe?
You’ll love A Month Of Indian Recipes+Videos Online Cooking Class!

Share page on:

Dhal Palak

Join Me Soon

What Our Cooks Say

Melisa (Beacon Hill, NSW)
Melisa (Beacon Hill, NSW)
Read More
We made the pot-sticker dumplings and bang bang chicken from the Chinese class the other night. Once again both exceeded our expectations. My husband keeps saying it’s better than going out to restaurants as the recipes and quality are amazing.
Glennis (Caringbah South, NSW)
Glennis (Caringbah South, NSW)
Read More
The whole Be Inspired experience has helped me love cooking again. I was sick of cooking the same old things - meal time is a lot brighter thanks to you Roberta.
Pam (Cammeray, NSW)
Pam (Cammeray, NSW)
Read More
Your recipes are something I always feel confident offering guests and also reasonable in the time to prepare. We often try your recommended wines and suppliers and enjoy your travel tales too!
Jen (Tamarama, NSW)
Jen (Tamarama, NSW)
Read More
Thank you for stocking our pantry with such authentic Ingredients and quality produce. We really like the flexibility of cooking over a couple of days and changing the order we cook the dishes in when we want to. And I love listening to the themed playlist while cooking.
Katrina (Arncliffe, NSW)
Katrina (Arncliffe, NSW)
Read More
I am absolutely loving Be Inspired! There are ingredients I have never worked with before so having the confidence to try something new is so much fun! The recipes are just amazing and the notes on what can be prep’d beforehand are a great help too. Thank you so much.
Deb (Belconnen, ACT)
Deb (Belconnen, ACT)
Read More
Awesome fun traveling through Emilia-Romagna experiencing first hand some of the produce I've worked with over the last couple of years cooking with Roberta's classes – the family are reaping the benefits now.
Judith (Woronora, NSW)
Judith (Woronora, NSW)
Read More
Food, wine and travel! Three of my favourite things! Be Inspired with Roberta has been a wonderful experience and given me more confidence in the kitchen. I have learnt so much, cooked things I never would have attempted without Roberta’s excellent videos, and used ingredients I have never tried before.
Sandra (Garran, ACT)
Sandra (Garran, ACT)
Read More
I'm a competent cook whose learned so much from Roberta's online cooking classes. The recipes are yummy and Roberta’s video guidance offers so many little tips to improve flavour and organise the flow of preparation. I enjoy her warmth, sense of humour, and ability to giggle at herself when she occasionally messes up.
Previous
Next
Subscribe To My Newsletter & Get A Free Online Italian Cooking Class (RRP $39)