Indian Butter Chickpeas

A Quick Look at the Recipe

✅ Recipe Name: Indian Butter Chickpeas Curry
🕒 Ready In: ~45 minutes
👪 Serves: 6 servings
🧑‍🍳 Main Ingredients: Chickpeas, tomato sauce, cashews, onion, ginger, garlic, Indian spices and cream
📖 Dietary Info: Plant based protein and vegetarian
📌 Difficulty: Relatively easy

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.

Tips for Success

• 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.
• Cashew Powder - 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.

How to serve?

This rich and creamy garbanzo bean curry pairs beautifully with warm, buttery homemade garlic 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.