How To Marinate The Best Butter Chicken You've Ever Had

Anyone who loves Southeast Asian food or shopping the Trader Joe's frozen aisle has probably heard of the North Indian specialty butter chicken (aka murgh makhani). This gently spiced, creamy, stew-like dish features bite-sized chunks of chicken that are as tender as butter in a tomato-based creamy sauce, served over a bed of fluffy rice. Much like chili, potato salad, and potstickers, butter chicken is a dish that has many variations depending on who you talk to and where their recipe came from. One thing that's universal, though, is the importance of properly flavoring your chicken for this dish.

We spoke with Varun Inamdar, the chef and owner of New Light in Kashmir, Anokhi in Shanghai, and 27° West in Singapore, to get his insights on how to marinate your meat for the tastiest butter chicken. According to chef Inamdar, the best way to infuse flavor into your chicken is to use a two-stage marination process. He broke the process down with the following instructions: "First marination: malt vinegar, salt, and Kashmiri chili," suggesting the chicken sits in this marinade for just 20-30 minutes. He then said, "Second marination: hung curd, ginger-garlic paste, kasuri methi, and spices for 4-12 hours." This two-stage, two-step, or double marination is the secret to both a moist and flavorful butter chicken dish.

As you can see from chef Inamdar's ingredient overview, each stage of his flavoring process features a different marinade. This is because each has its own special purpose. The vinegar, salt, and chili work together to break down the collagen in the chicken, which ultimately gives it that tender texture. Many chefs use an acid-based marinade for this exact purpose. You'll notice that chef Inamdar only leaves his chicken in this marinade for 30 minutes or less, that's because you don't want it to completely break down and turn into a mushy mess.

The second marinade is what will help infuse all that flavor butter chicken is known for. For those unfamiliar with hung curd and kasuri methi, these are both staple ingredients in Indian cuisine and are pretty easy to access or replicate in America. Hung curd is basically like an Indian yogurt, and kasuri methi is just dried fenugreek leaves. So the second marinade involves a yogurt base that has enough acidity to continue tenderizing the meat but is subtle enough not to over-tenderize it. This continued breakdown of the fibers in chicken makes it more likely to absorb other flavor agents like all the spices included. And to ensure you're avoiding any potential health-hazards, keep your marinating meat in the refrigerator while its gaining all that flavor, and discard any excess when it comes to cooking time.