What is Makhni?

Makhni means buttery and contains tomatoes cream butter and yogurt

This is post-partition creation by Punjabis in Delhi at Moti Mahal restaurant during 1950s.

Lots of fresh butter was stirred in the tomato based chicken curry to make Makhni Chicken. At the same time time several small scale Punjabi Restaurant stalls opened up al around Delhi to serve Sikh Taxi drivers. Dhaba incorporated the concept in to making the popular Mah Dal to make is Mah Makhani Dal.

Makhan in Hindi means butter. Therefore sometimes Makhni dishes are also called 'Buttery'. Indian Butter (Makhan) is a cultured butter. There is a sourness associated with the cultured butter. In United States, the butter is not cultured, so a small amount of Yogurt is added to get this sour taste. In India, Malai (What is Malai, Clotted cream, Devonshire cream?) to give the sauce a more creamy texture.

Nowadays, Makhni sauce consists of Dahi (home made yogurt), Butter and Heavy Whipping Cream. You have to be careful when adding Dahi. Dahi will start to separate as it reacts with spices and is heated. You have to add Dahi, little bit at a time as it is consumed in the host mixture. Even if the Dahi is separated, don't worry about it. As the gravy thickens, the separated milk solids will blend in. Same is true about cream. Cream should always be added last.

In some of the dishes, I like to add sour cream. Sour cream is closer in taste to Makhan.

Making Makhni Gravy

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