Butter chicken
Butter chicken is a North Indian dish of chicken in a creamy, spiced tomato sauce, commonly enriched with butter. It is also known as murgh makhani.
Tandoori chicken: Chicken marinated in yogurt and spices, then cooked at high heat, traditionally in a clay oven. Marinated chicken is often charred before it is folded into butter chicken’s sauce.
Moti Mahal: A restaurant established in Delhi in 1947, associated with the popularization of tandoori dishes and butter chicken. The restaurant is central to the best-known account of butter chicken’s creation.
Naan: A leavened flatbread baked at high heat, commonly served with South Asian meals. Its soft texture makes it a common accompaniment for scooping up the sauce.
Chicken tikka: Boneless chicken pieces marinated with spices and yogurt, then cooked at high heat. It is a common form of the charred chicken incorporated into butter chicken.
Makhani sauce: A smooth Indian sauce made chiefly from tomatoes, butter, cream, and spices. This buttery tomato sauce gives the dish its name and creamy texture.
Kundan Lal Gujral: An Indian restaurateur associated with the development of tandoori cooking and the creation of butter chicken. He is credited by Moti Mahal’s account with devising the dish in Delhi.
Basmati rice: A long-grain aromatic rice cultivated in the Indian subcontinent. Its separate, fragrant grains provide a familiar base for the rich curry.
Chicken curry: A broad family of dishes in which chicken is cooked with a seasoned sauce or gravy. Butter chicken is a particular creamy, tomato-based member of this wider family.
Tomato: An edible fruit used as a vegetable, valued in cooking for its acidity, sweetness, and savory flavor. Tomatoes supply the sauce’s color, body, and balancing acidity.
Partition of India: The 1947 division of British India into the independent states of India and Pakistan, accompanied by mass displacement. Migration from Peshawar to Delhi shaped the restaurant setting behind butter chicken’s origin story.