This Indian Butter Chickpeas is a vegetarian version of the classic Butter Chicken. It will rival any butter chicken that you have ever tasted - Must try recipe!

5 Star Reviews
Nina writes "This recipe is in my family’s steady dinner rotation. We love it!!" ★★★★★
Dana writes "Great recipe! I’ve made it many times with chickpeas and sometimes with chicken and it’s been great! It’s part of my rotation of foods, and as a picky eater that’s a quite high regard" ★★★★★
What is Indian butter chickpeas?
It's an Indian chickpea curry that delivers all the rich, buttery flavors you love in classic butter chicken—just without the chicken. Cooked garbanzo beans steal the show in this creamy, cozy curry—a vegetarian twist that might even beat your favorite takeout. The best part? It’s super easy to whip up with pantry staples—no meat to defrost or last-minute grocery runs needed!
A question I get often is, 'Is this chana masala?' The answer is—nope! While both are chickpea-based Indian curries, chana masala has a thinner, spicier sauce with little to no cream and fewer tomatoes. It’s bold and tangy, more like chickpeas and spinach curry. This butter chickpeas dish, on the other hand, is rich, creamy, and mildly spiced—closer to butter chicken in flavor than traditional chana masala.
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❤️ Why You’ll Love It
Quick and fuss-free: No marinating, no chopping, no complicated steps. Just a comforting vegetarian Indian curry that’s ready in about 30 minutes.
Restaurant-quality flavor: This rich and creamy butter chickpea curry dish delivers the same cozy, authentic taste you'd expect from your favorite Indian restaurant—without the takeout wait.
Pantry-friendly: No soaking chickpeas or prepping fresh tomatoes required. Just pop open a few cans and you're on your way to a flavorful meal in minutes.
Crowd-pleaser: The flavor is so spot-on and satisfying, no one will believe it was this easy to make—you’ll be getting rave reviews from the first bite.
Ingredients you'll need
Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.
- Butter – It wouldn’t be butter chickpea curry without butter! You can use either salted or unsalted butter, but if you're using salted, be sure to reduce the added salt in the recipe.
- Tomato – Instead of blanching and pureeing fresh tomatoes like in traditional butter chicken, canned tomato sauce provides a convenient shortcut while still delivering a rich, smooth, and slightly sweet tomato base that blends beautifully with the cream and spices.
- Chickpeas – Canned chickpeas are a huge time-saver and work perfectly in this dish. If you prefer cooking dried chickpeas from scratch, use about 3 cups of cooked chickpeas. Either way, rinse them well before adding to the sauce to keep the dish from becoming overly starchy.
- Cashews – Finely ground raw cashews act as a natural thickener and add a creamy richness to the curry.
- Heavy Cream – This is what makes the curry irresistibly creamy and smooth. Avoid replacing it with milk or light cream, as it won’t create the same velvety texture or richness that's essential to a true butter-based curry.
- Honey – Just a touch of honey adds a subtle sweetness and balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Spices – A classic blend of Indian spices like cumin seeds, garam masala, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) creates the deep, aromatic flavor that’s essential in Indian curries. Don’t skip the kasoori methi—it’s what gives butter-based sauces their signature butter chicken flavor.
- Food Color – A pinch of orange food color is purely optional, but it helps mimic the vibrant hue you often see in restaurant-style butter chicken. Skip it if you prefer to keep things more natural.
Indian Butter Chickpeas
Ingredients
Group-1
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 ½ cups finely chopped onion about 1 large
- 2 large garlic cloves crushed
- 2 teaspoons crushed ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt divided (or to taste)
Group-2
- 2 tablespoons Kasoori methi optional
- 2 ½ teaspoons coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 can (15-ounce) tomato sauce refer notes
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons raw cashews made into a fine powder
- 2 cans chickpeas (15-ounce cans) drained and rinsed
- ¼ to ½ cup water
Group-3
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 to 2 pinches orange food color optional
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add butter and let melt.
- Add cumin seeds and let it toast for about 10 seconds and then stir in chopped onion, crushed garlic, ginger and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, until onions get golden brown color (4-5 minutes).
- Add kasoori methi, coriander powder, cayenne and garam masala powder. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until spices are toasted well (don't let it burn).
- Add tomato sauce, cashew powder, chickpeas and ¼ cup water stir well, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes (stirring every 3-4 minutes to make sure that it does not burn in the bottom).
- Uncover, stir in heavy cream, honey, orange food color and remaining salt. Let simmer for about 2 minutes. (Stir in additional 2 to 4 tablespoons water if the curry looks too thick).
- Remove from heat and let curry rest for few minutes before serving. Delicious served with naan and/or rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
How to make Indian Butter Chickpeas?
You can find full printable recipe below, but here is a quick overview of the procedure along with step-by-step photos.
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How to serve?
This rich and creamy garbanzo bean curry pairs beautifully with warm, buttery naan—perfect for scooping up every last bit of the luscious sauce. It’s equally delicious served with homemade parathas, soft rotis, or puffed phulkas for a more traditional touch. Prefer rice? Fluffy basmati or jeera rice makes a perfect base to soak in all the spiced, velvety curry. And for a more casual twist, try serving it with crusty bread —great for mopping up the flavorful gravy when you’re short on time or fresh flatbread.
Recipe tips
- Color: Traditional butter chicken often features a vibrant orange color from added food coloring. However, you can skip the food coloring entirely, and it won't impact the flavor at all.
- Make it more spicy: If you like it spicier, then increase cayenne pepper.
- Tomato sauce - Tomato sauce can be found in cans in the canned tomato section of your grocery store. Do not substitute with jarred marinara, pasta, or pizza sauce, as it will alter the flavor of the dish.
- Kasoori methi - Kasoori methi is dried fenugreek leaves and is one the essential ingredient in an authentic butter chicken recipe. However, it can be skipped if you don't have it stocked.
- Chickpeas - I have used canned chickpeas, but you cook your own then use 3 cups of cooked chickpeas instead.
- Salt - Salt depends on the type of tomato sauce used and your taste preference. Use accordingly.
Looking for more ways to use cooked chickpeas? Check out our round up post of recipes using chickpeas.
Recipe FAQs
Grind raw cashews into a fine powder using a dry spice or coffee grinder. Pause every few seconds to shake the grinder, then continue. This is important, as the cashew powder can clump due to its high fat content.
To use fresh tomatoes, select 5 ripe Roma tomatoes. Add them to a pot of boiling water and blanch for 30-60 seconds, or until the skin begins to loosen and wrinkle. Using a slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes and place them on a plate. Once cooled, peel off the skin—it should come off easily. Finally, chop the tomatoes into small pieces.
More spicy chickpea dishes
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Kitchen at Hoskins on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Dur-e-shehwar
A delicious treat for vegetarians.
L
Very good recipe. My husband was very happy with it. We are not vegetarians but love Indian food. We have made it twice within one week or so. I would have made even more if it was up to my husband. Thanks!!! We will definitely make this again. 🙂
Nina
This recipe is in my family’s steady dinner rotation. We love it!!
Maria Doss
Glad to hear, have a great day hun - Maria
Lana
Fabulous dish, I’ve made it twice. I made my husband store bought butter chicken & he had one taste & liked mine better. Today I made this for second time & split the sauce, added chickpeas with beans to mine & chicken to his. Also made naan & cooked rice too. Everyone covered!
Tnx for your yummy recipe ☺️😊😀
Maria Doss
Glad to hear hun, have a wondeful week - Maria
Dana
Great recipe! I’ve made it many times with chickpeas and sometimes with chicken and it’s been great! It’s part of my rotation of foods, and as a picky eater that’s a quite high regard haha.
I do make some modifications to suit my palette a bit better: I use spinach instead of kasoori methi, it’s a decent enough substitute. I also roundabouts double the number of spices as I like it to be quite spiced. When I haven’t had heavy cream on hand, I’ve used evaporated milk and added to water until it’s kinda thick and then added that in.
CHJ
Fantastic recipe! Have made it many times. Used your suggestion to substitute fennel seeds for the kasoori methi.
Maria Doss
That’s so great to hear! Wishing you a very happy holidays - Maria ♡
Fred
Lacks Flavors compared to real butter chicken something seems to be missing from the recipe
Maria Doss
Hi Fred, Thank you for giving the recipe a try and for your feedback! I’m sorry to hear it wasn’t as flavorful as you expected. Everyone’s taste preferences are different, and sometimes adding more spices can make a big difference. Thanks again for your comment and for your valuable feed back - Maria