If you grew up in a Punjabi family, or are just generally an ardent rich food enthusiast, you have enough butter chicken running through your veins to make it a habit you can’t kick. But variety is the rich, tomato-ey spice of life, and so it always helps to have options.
Behold, the definitive list of best butter chicken dishes, hiding away in all corners of Delhi.
If you go about your tarts in a plebian jam-slash-custard route – think again. The Butter chicken tarts at Storm are mini-grenades of North-Indian pride encased effortlessly in flaky pastry for maximum pleasure and maximum diet-death.
Sometimes, all you need to tuck into the gravied Butter Chicken goodness is some fresh pao. At Farzi, the food’s always eclectic, and while this may not be as out-there as a Duck Samosa or a Changezi Enchilada, it’s totally worth it’s perfectly-balanced salt.
While it may definitely be a heart-condition on a plate, the flaky, crumbly samosa crust works brilliantly with the creamy, butter chicken filling. Plus, at Mister Chai, it comes with these adorable syringes of chutney for extra kitsch points. And for the first time in a while, you won’t have that desire to only eat the crust and toss the filling (there should be a medical phrase for that condition).
Food is pretty much the overlooked shy cousin at Social, primarily because the place is so abuzz (as are you when there, after a litre full of an LIIT). But this butter chicken biryani isn’t just yummy; it’s the ultimate alcohol absorbing power-food. The nicest part is that the smooth creaminess isn’t just concentrated in one clump — the whole thing is deliciously moist and flavourful.
This pizza is legend, and will always oust eating it at a big franchise because of the attention to detail. The Big Yellow Door replaces the base puree with creamy butter chicken, and it’s served with a little cup of gravy for extra snackable goodness. Plus, really, the only thing butter chicken has been missing all its life is being smothered by oodles of cheese.
Speaking of nostalgia (clearly that’s the very key to our decisions), no college student lived on their own and wasn’t about 65 per cent Maggi at the end of the semester. In an homage to the grand tradition of eating like crap through the most critical part of your youth, Adda tosses in butter chicken to amp up both how much you’ll smile today and how much you’ll weigh the next day.