Butter Chicken
India's most beloved embrace
Get directions ↗ · 2 min walk from Grand Mercure
Last orders 30 minutes before closing
Dine-in · takeaway · delivery via GrabFood and LINE MAN
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes Butter Chicken so creamy?
We use a combination of butter, cashew paste, and fresh cream.
Is Butter Chicken spicy?
No, it is generally mild and subtly sweet, making it great for all palates.
Are there bones in the chicken?
We typically use boneless chicken pieces for this dish.
What bread pairs best with it?
Garlic naan or butter naan are excellent choices for scooping up the sauce.
Does it contain nuts?
Yes, the gravy often contains cashew paste. Please inform us of any allergies.
About Butter Chicken
Butter chicken, or murgh makhani, was created at Moti Mahal in Old Delhi in the late 1940s. The Gujral family, who had moved to the city after Partition, ran a tandoori chicken restaurant and looked for a way to use the pieces that dried out by the end of the day. They simmered them in a tomato gravy loosened with butter and cream, and the dish quickly outgrew its practical origins.
The method still starts at the tandoor. At BHARAT the chicken is marinated and cooked on skewers in a charcoal tandoor running at around 480 degrees, which gives the meat a light char before it ever meets the gravy. The sauce is a slow-cooked tomato base finished with butter, fresh cream, and a little cashew paste for body, then crushed kasoori methi rubbed in at the end for its dried-fenugreek aroma. The masalas are ground fresh in the kitchen every day rather than spooned from a jar, and the chicken is halal-marked, bought from Makro daily. There is no pork anywhere in the kitchen and no alcohol in the food.
The result is the mildest of the tomato gravies on the menu: smooth, faintly sweet, and rounded by the dairy rather than sharpened by chilli. The kasoori methi keeps it from tasting flat, and the tandoor char sits underneath the cream. Our head chef is from Uttarakhand, and the spicing follows the northern style, though the heat can be raised if you ask.
It is served as a boneless gravy meant for scooping. Garlic naan or butter naan works best for soaking up the sauce, and plain basmati rice does the same job for a lighter plate.
Best ordered fresh — call ahead if you are coming straight after work. Visit BHARAT →
See also: the Chef's Special menu · best butter chicken in Bangkok · how to spot the real version · North Indian food in Bangkok.