A History Of Butter Chicken Curry

From Delhi To Devon (Via A Bit Of Pastry)

"I wonder what would happen if we put butter chicken in a pasty?"

Our Butter Chicken Curry Pasty has quickly become one of the most decorated products we've ever launched, picking up Best New Food Product at the 2025 Food Drink Devon Awards, as well as their Platinum Award!

So, What Actually Is Butter Chicken?

If you've ever wandered into a curry house and completely ignored the menu because you already knew what you were ordering... chances are it was butter chicken!!

Known as Murgh Makhani, butter chicken is believed to have been created in Delhi during the 1940s or 1950s by Indian chefs Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal Jaggi. They mixed leftover tandoori chicken into a rich tomato, butter and cream sauce. (While sources vary a little, this is the most popular version of the story!)

Like many great food inventions, it was partly born from not wanting to waste good food!

Fast forwarding a few decades later and butter chicken curry has not only become a Dehli classic, but one of the world's most popular curry dishes. Especially in Britain - our national dish is the Chicken Tikka Masala after all.

Why? Well if you’ve ever tried one, you know it has that perfect balance of richness and spices. A comforting curry absolutely jam-packed with flavour!!

(A bit like a proper pie, really...)

Why Put It In A Pasty?

Because we're Chunk! We've been stuffing tasty things into pastry for twenty years and we're certainly not stopping now!!

Our first foray into this flavour profile was our popular Kickin’ Chicken Curry pie, but we thought ‘why not pop it in a pasty?!’

Originally coined ‘Cluckin’ Curry’, our Butter Chicken Curry pasty started to fly off the shelves in April 2024.

Tender chicken. A rich curry sauce. Warming spices. A golden pastry case to top it off!

The judges seemed to agree too. When the Food Drink Devon panel got stuck in, they praised the pasty's "beautiful tender chicken" and "well spiced depth of flavour", helping it claim the title of Best New Food Product 2025!

The Secret Sidekick: Mango Chutney

Now here's our top tip…

We all know a Butter Chicken Curry Pasty is perfectly good on its own.

But add a spoonful of mango chutney and you've REALLY got something special!

The sweetness of the mango cuts through the rich curry filling beautifully, giving you that classic curry-house combination in every bite. Why not try some mango chutney from our pals over at Geetas?

An Award-Winning Curry Pasty

We've launched plenty of pies and pasties over the years, but this one has quickly become a firm favourite!

Maybe it’s the intrinsic cultural and culinary link Britain has with curry (and pastry!) dating all the way back to the early 1900s, or maybe it’s just a bloody good pasty!!

If you haven't tried our award-winning Butter Chicken Curry Pasty yet, grab one, get a pot of mango chutney on standby, and see what all the fuss is about.

Go on - Take a Chunk!