Butter Chicken in Den Haag - The Real Thing at Chopras
Slow-cooked. Freshly ground spices. Halal certified. Leyweg 986, Den Haag.
What Makes Great Butter Chicken
The best butter chicken in Den Haag is at Chopras on Leyweg - slow-cooked from overnight-marinated tandoor chicken, fresh-reduced tomatoes and spices ground that same morning. The dish itself - murgh makhani - was born at Moti Mahal in Old Delhi in the 1950s. Kundan Lal Gujral found himself with leftover tandoor chicken at the end of service and added it to a tomato and butter sauce he had been working on. Murgh makhani spread from Old Delhi across the world, and suffered the fate of most great dishes that travel too far: it was simplified, approximated, and industrialised.
What separates great butter chicken from mediocre butter chicken comes down to a small number of decisions made in the kitchen. The quality of the tomatoes matters enormously - the sauce needs the natural sweetness and acidity of ripe tomatoes. The cream must be full fat and added at the right temperature. The garam masala blend must be freshly ground.
That last point deserves more than a passing mention. The volatile aromatic oils in cumin, coriander, green cardamom, and the other spices that go into a proper garam masala begin evaporating within hours of grinding. A kitchen that grinds its spices fresh every morning is producing food that is categorically different from one using a pre-mixed spice blend.
And then there is the chicken itself. Authentic butter chicken requires the chicken to be cooked in a tandoor first - a clay oven operating at close to 400°C. The intense, dry heat of the tandoor chars the surface of the marinated chicken, creating a slight smokiness and caramelisation that no oven or pan can replicate.
How We Make Ours at Chopras Den Haag
The chicken is marinated overnight. Not for an hour before service - overnight. The marinade is yogurt-based with fresh ginger, garlic, and a blend of spices that have been ground in-house that morning. The yogurt tenderises the meat at a cellular level and carries the spices deep into the flesh.
In the tandoor - which operates at around 400°C - the marinade chars on the surface. That char is the point. It creates a layer of caramelised, smoky flavour that will transfer into the sauce when the chicken is added.
The sauce starts with fresh tomatoes cooked down slowly for around 45 minutes until the water has evaporated and the natural sugars have concentrated. Full-fat cream is then added at the correct temperature. The butter (makhan - the makhani in murgh makhani) is stirred in at the end, off the direct heat.
The spices are ground in-house from whole spices sourced directly from India: green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, dried red chilli, coriander seed, and cumin. All chicken is sourced from halal-certified suppliers. Butter chicken is priced at €18.50.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chopras' butter chicken halal?
Yes. All chicken at Chopras is sourced exclusively from halal-certified suppliers. The entire kitchen operates to halal standards - it is not an option or a special request. You can eat here with complete confidence.
How spicy is the butter chicken at Chopras?
Butter chicken is one of the mildest dishes on the Indian menu - it is intentionally gentle in heat, with the warmth coming from the aromatic spices rather than chilli. Most children eat it happily.
Can I order butter chicken for delivery in Den Haag?
Yes. Chopras is available on Thuisbezorgd and Uber Eats for delivery across most of Den Haag within a 5km radius of Leyweg. Butter chicken travels exceptionally well.