India: Butter Chicken

Reena and I made butter chicken, a creamy, spiced tomato gravy from India. While curries can be intimidating if you’ve never made them before, this dish is simple with tomato and onion as its base. All of the spices can be found in your local grocery store! You’ll want to make some basmati rice to soak up all the delicious sauce. To learn more about Reena, India, and this awesome recipe, read the full article.

INGREDIENTS

CHICKEN MARINADE

1 package of chicken breast

~1/2 cup plain yogurt

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp of ginger, grated

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp red chili powder

1 lime, juiced

A dash of salt

GRAVY

Vegetable oil

2 red onions, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp ginger, grated

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 ½ tsp butter chicken masala

1 tsp red (kashmiri) chili powder

1 tablespoon ketchup

1/2 teaspoon kasoori methi (or dried fenugreek leaves)

1.5 sticks of butter

15 oz can tomato puree or crushed tomatoes

1-2 cups of heavy cream

Salt, to taste

Marinate and prepare the chicken:

1. Dice the chicken breast up into approximately 1” cubes.

2. Mix together all ingredients and set aside for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

3. When you’re ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly grease.

5. Spread diced chicken out evenly across the sheet and put into the oven for 20-30 minutes, turning half way through.

6. The chicken is ready when it starts to brown just slightly, and juices run clear.

Make the butter chicken gravy:

1. Add the sliced red onion and half a stick of butter to a pan and season lightly with about half of your prepared ginger and garlic.

2. Sauté over low heat until the onions have softened slightly, approximately 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Once the onions have cooled slightly, add them to a high speed blender and blend on high until creamy and smooth.

4. Add vegetable oil to a non-stick pan along with the remaining stick of butter. Allow the butter to melt down and then add in the onion puree.

5. Stir in the garlic and ginger and let cook down until slightly fragrant, about 3 minutes.

6. Sprinkle in the cumin, coriander, and masala powder. Mix to combine.

7. Pour in the tomato puree and ketchup and let the gravy come to a gentle simmer. Slowly stream in the heavy cream until the sauce is a consistency and flavor that you like. Bring back to a simmer.

8. Once the gravy is simmering, add in the cubes of baked chicken and heat through for approximately 10 minutes.

9. Serve with basmati rice or Indian breads like naan or puri.

Read the full article.