Chicken marinated overnight in yoghurt and spices, cooked through in the tandoor, then folded into a creamy tomato gravy. The same recipe since 1998, made on Beaumont Street, Hamilton.
Raj's Corner cooks butter chicken every day at 116 Beaumont Street, Hamilton. It is mild, it is gluten free and nut free, and it is cooked without MSG. Three sizes start at $11.90. Order it for pick up, for delivery, or eat in the dining room.
The chicken is marinated overnight in yoghurt and spices, then skewered and cooked right through in the tandoor before it goes anywhere near the sauce. The gravy is a separate job, cooked down slowly until the tomato loses its edge and the cream carries the spice. The two are only brought together at the end.
That order matters. Cooking the chicken in the tandoor first gives it a bit of char and keeps it tender, so it holds its own in the gravy instead of turning stringy. This is the dish the shop opened with in 1998 and the recipe has not changed. It went out on the first day and it has never been beaten since. No MSG then, none now.
Nothing arrives frozen. The meat and vegetables are fresh, the naan dough, samosa pastry, dips and sauces are made on site daily, and the spices come from Raj's Spice and Groceries, the Indian grocery next door on Beaumont Street. If you want the same tandoor work served as rice rather than gravy, our biryani in Newcastle is layered the same morning.
Every chicken main below is $11.90 small, $17.90 medium and $19.90 large. The difference is the gravy and the heat.
The most famous North Indian dish, made with tender chicken and a creamy tomato gravy. Marked GF and NF, cooked without MSG. The one most people order first.
Mild and creamy, the gentler choice again if butter chicken is still too much spice for the table. Same three sizes from $11.90.
Chicken in a sweet mango cream sauce. Mild, and the one children tend to finish. Same three sizes from $11.90.
Tandoori chicken with onion, tomato, cream and bell pepper. A step up in heat from butter chicken, with more body to the sauce. If you want to see what else the counter is cooking, the rest of our Indian curry menu in Newcastle runs from mild to hot.
Kadai chicken is med hot with onions, capsicum and coriander seed, cooked in an iron wok. Chicken curry is medium hot, onion and tomato based, and dairy free (DF).
Basmati rice from $5.50 small to $7.50 large, raita at $4.50 small or $6.00 large, and pappadums at $3.50 for four. Plain naan is $4.50 and garlic naan is $4.90, baked to order: see our naan and tandoori breads.
Order ahead and pick it up on Beaumont Street, or have it delivered free after 5:00pm within 5km.
Meat and vegetables are bought fresh. Samosa pastry, naan dough, dips and sauces are made on site every day, and no dish is cooked with MSG.
Every dish carries its dietary codes, GF gluten free, NF nut free, DF dairy free and V vegan, so you can order without a conversation about ingredients.
Kuldip and Sylvia Sangha opened the counter in 1998 after running Flavours of North India in Sydney from 1991. The dining room was added in 2011 and Paramjit Atwal manages Hamilton.
Butter chicken is $11.90 for a small, $17.90 for a medium and $19.90 for a large at Raj's Corner, 116 Beaumont Street, Hamilton NSW 2303. Rice is ordered separately, from $5.50 for a small to $7.50 for a large, and a plain naan is $4.50.
No. Butter chicken is the mild end of the menu, a creamy tomato gravy with tender chicken and no chilli heat to speak of. Chicken korma and mango chicken are mild as well. If you want a step up, chicken tikka masala and kadai chicken are med hot and chicken curry is medium hot.
Yes. Butter chicken is marked GF for gluten free and NF for nut free on the Raj's Corner menu, and it is cooked without MSG. Every dish on the menu carries its own codes, GF gluten free, NF nut free, DF dairy free and V vegan, so you can check before you order. Naan contains gluten, so ask for basmati rice instead if you are avoiding it.
Both start with tandoori chicken. Butter chicken is mild, and the gravy is tomato and cream cooked down until it is smooth. Chicken tikka masala is med hot, and the sauce carries onion, tomato, cream and bell pepper, so there is more texture and more heat. Both are $11.90 small, $17.90 medium and $19.90 large.
Yes. Delivery is free after 5:00pm within a 5km radius of 116 Beaumont Street, Hamilton. You can also order ahead online or by phone on (02) 4962 1827 for pick up, or eat in the dining room. The kitchen is open 7 days from 10:30am to 10:00pm.
We are on the Hamilton end of Beaumont Street, with the Indian grocery next door. There are twenty two curries on display and around twenty more made to order, so butter chicken is the start of the list rather than the whole of it.
