2741 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6K 1P9
+1 604-559-1666
info@karmaindianbistro.ca
Open daily from 12:00 PM
Butter chicken is the dish more people order at Karma than any other. Ours is tandoor-broiled chicken in a tomato, cream and butter sauce, cooked to order on four spice levels, at 2741 West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano. It's $21 and it's gluten-free. This page is about how we make it — why the chicken starts in the tandoor, how the rich tomato, cream and butter sauce comes together, and how it differs from the tikka masala and korma sitting next to it on the menu.
Book a table Get directionsButter chicken is a Punjabi dish built on leftovers — tandoori chicken finished in a tomato gravy so nothing went to waste. The tandoor is the part most kitchens skip, because it's easier to poach chicken in the sauce. We don't skip it.
The marination
The chicken is marinated before it goes into the tandoor.
The tandoor
The chicken is broiled in the clay oven before it ever meets the sauce. That's where the char comes from, and it's why the meat holds its texture in a gravy this rich instead of going soft.
The chicken is broiled in the clay oven before it ever meets the sauce. That's where the char comes from, and it's why the meat holds its texture in a gravy this rich instead of going soft.
Butter and cream, at the end
Butter chicken is tandoor-broiled chicken in a tomato, cream and butter sauce, cooked to order.
Your spice level, not ours
Every curry at Karma is cooked to order across four levels, and butter chicken is no exception. Most kitchens fix the heat on this dish because the gravy is pre-made in bulk. Ask for Indian hot and the kitchen will cook it that way.
Butter chicken, tikka masala and korma get used almost interchangeably on Vancouver menus, which is a shame, because they're three different dishes. We cook all three, so here's the honest difference between them — all $21, all on the same menu.
Short version: butter chicken is tomato, butter and cream, and it's the mildest of the three. Tikka masala adds onion and bell pepper, so it's sharper and less sweet. Korma has no tomato at all — it's a cashew and onion gravy in the Mughlai style.
Tomato, cream and butter. Tandoor-broiled chicken.
Rich, mildly sweet, the gentlest of the three. The one to order if you're unsure.
$21
Creamy tomato with onion and bell pepper. Tandoor-broiled chicken tikka.
Sharper and more savoury than butter chicken — the peppers cut the cream.
$21
Mughlai cashew and onion curry. No tomato.
Nutty and delicate rather than tangy. Contains cashew.
$21
Tomato with chopped bell pepper, onion and coriander seed. Dairy-free.
Drier and spicier, with whole-spice bite. No cream at all.
$21
South Indian roasted coconut curry with black mustard. Dairy-free.
The opposite end of the menu — hotter, coconut-led. The dish the MICHELIN Guide singles out.
$21
Butter chicken is naturally the gentlest curry on the menu. Mild takes it down further — the right call for children.
Where we'd start. Our medium is built for balance, and on this dish it means warmth rather than heat.
A real edge, without losing the tomato and butter underneath it.
Ask for it and you'll get it. The kitchen has no problem with heat.
The bread people come back for. Butter chicken gravy is made for tearing bread into, and this is the one to tear.
Basmati tossed with cumin. If you're eating gluten-free, this is your vehicle instead of the naan.
Or a Kingfisher at $9. Both work; the lassi is the traditional answer if you've gone up the spice scale.
The dish is marked gluten-free on our menu. The naan is not — order rice instead, or missi roti, which is made with chickpea flour. Our kitchen isn't allergen-free, so tell your server if you have coeliac disease and we'll talk it through.
Please check with your server about nuts and other allergens before ordering. Several curries on the menu contain cashews, and our kitchen is shared, so we recommend discussing any allergy with the team before your meal.
Of everything on the menu, butter chicken is the mildest by design — the cream and butter carry it. At medium it's warm rather than hot. If you want real heat on it, ask for Indian hot.
No — butter and cream are the dish. For something in the same register without dairy, order the Kadai Chicken, or from the vegan side, the Coconut Vegetable curry. The vegan menu is here.
Yes — pickup from us, or DoorDash across Kitsilano and the West Side. Add your spice level in the order notes; it's cooked to order either way.
It's the dish most families start with. Order it mild, with plain naan and rice, and it's about as gentle as Indian food gets.
Open daily from noon in Kitsilano — ten minutes' walk from Kits Beach, with a heated patio that runs year round. Walk-ins welcome; book for weekend evenings.
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