Butter chicken might be the most-ordered Indian dish in Edmonton — and the most misunderstood. A truly great butter chicken is not just a sweet orange sauce; it's tandoori-grilled chicken folded into a classical butter-and-cream tomato gravy, balanced between smoke, tang, and richness. Here's what to look for, and how New Asian Village has been making it for four decades.

From Delhi to Edmonton: The Story of Murgh Makhani

Butter chicken — murgh makhani in Hindi — was born in Delhi in the mid-20th century, and its origin story is one of the great happy accidents in food history. Restaurant cooks working the tandoor needed a way to keep leftover tandoori chicken from drying out, so they simmered it in a silky tomato gravy enriched with butter and cream. The smoky, char-kissed chicken drank up the sauce, the sauce picked up the tandoor's depth, and a legend was created.

That backstory matters, because it tells you what butter chicken is supposed to be: a marriage of two techniques. First the chicken is marinated and roasted in a clay tandoor at high heat. Then it's finished in a tomato-based makhani gravy. Skip the first step and you don't have butter chicken — you have boiled chicken in orange sauce.

From those Delhi roots, murgh makhani travelled the world, and few cities embraced it like Edmonton. It's now the dish most people order first at any Indian restaurant — which is exactly why it's worth knowing how to judge one.

What Separates Great Butter Chicken From Mediocre

If you've had butter chicken that tasted like sweet tomato soup with plain chicken floating in it, you've had the mediocre version. When you're hunting for the best butter chicken in Edmonton, look for these markers:

  • Real tandoori-grilled chicken. The chicken should be marinated and cooked in the tandoor before it ever meets the sauce. You'll taste gentle smoke and see light charring at the edges — that's the flavour backbone of the whole dish.
  • A classical butter-and-cream gravy. The makhani sauce should be built on tomatoes, finished with real butter and cream — velvety and glossy, not thin, not greasy, and never thickened into paste.
  • Balance, not just sweetness. Great butter chicken is mildly spiced but layered: the tang of tomato, the warmth of the spices, the richness of cream, and a whisper of sweetness. If the first and only note is sugar, the kitchen took a shortcut.
  • Generous, tender chicken. The pieces should be juicy from the marinade, not dry cubes hiding in sauce.

One more sign of a serious kitchen: you can choose your heat. Butter chicken is traditionally mild, but a restaurant that cooks each order fresh can dial it mild, medium, or hot to suit you.

How New Asian Village Makes Its Butter Chicken

New Asian Village has been an Edmonton institution for roughly 40 years, and our Butter Chicken is the dish that built that reputation. We make it the classical way, with no shortcuts:

The chicken is marinated and grilled in the tandoor first, so every piece carries that signature smoky depth. It's then simmered in an ambrosial tomato gravy cooked with real butter and cream — rich and silky, with the tomato tang and spice warmth still shining through. Like every curry on our menu, it's made to order and available mild, medium, or hot.

If butter chicken is your gateway dish, our kitchen has plenty of next steps too — Prawn Butter Masala for seafood lovers, Chicken Tikka Masala for a herbier creamy gravy, and Dal Makhani for a vegetarian take on that same slow-cooked, buttery comfort.

Craving Edmonton's Classic Butter Chicken?

Order our tandoori-grilled Butter Chicken — cooked the classical way with butter and cream — online for pickup or delivery from New Asian Village West Edmonton.

Order Online Now

What to Pair With Butter Chicken

Half the joy of butter chicken is what you scoop it up with. The classic pairing is garlic naan, baked fresh in the tandoor — its charred, buttery edges are made for dragging through makhani gravy. Fragrant basmati rice is the other essential, soaking up every last spoonful of sauce.

Building a fuller table? Start with crispy vegetable samosas, add a vegetable side like palak paneer for contrast, and if your group likes a little heat, an Indo-Chinese chilli chicken brings a completely different flavour to the spread. Mild, rich, and crowd-pleasing, butter chicken anchors the meal while the sides bring variety — which is exactly why it works as well for a first date as it does for a table of ten.

Where to Get Butter Chicken in Edmonton

You can enjoy our butter chicken at both Edmonton-area locations, seven days a week:

  • West Edmonton — 17507 100 Ave NW, open 7 days from 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM. It also serves an all-you-can-eat buffet at lunch and dinner, and butter chicken is a fixture on the line — an easy way to try it alongside a full spread. Call (780) 488-6666 or order online for pickup or delivery.
  • Sherwood Park — 10A Main Blvd #200, serving à la carte Mon–Sat 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM and Sunday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM. Call (780) 464-6662 or order online for takeout and delivery.

Dining in with a group? Reserve a table and settle the "best butter chicken in Edmonton" debate the only way that counts — with a fresh order, garlic naan, and forty years of practice on the plate.