Indian Butter Chicken

11/14/2016

Time to dive into something hot, creamy and just utterly mouth watering. Yes, Indian Butter Chicken. If you have never made this dish, make it this week and you won't be disappointed. It has all the creaminess of a masala chicken dish but with the addition of tomatoes for a bit of zing!

Keep it in mind when you are craving that Indian take away from down the road, but are optimistic you can do it just as good at home. This chicken is creamy, flavoursome and has just a little kick of spice. Top stars in my books. Try it out for your next Indian inspired dinner.

I wasn't always a fan of Indian food. In fact I don't even think I tasted anything Indian until I was just shy of twenty. I was living and working in Brampton and had a whole lot of Indian friends. I was invited to a friend's place for a barbecue one day and remember it vividly. The chicken was red, like bright red. The tea was sweet and the pastries were sticky. I was in love.

Now more than two decades later, I love to try my best and attempting Indian dishes at home. Okay, so they just might be shy of authentic, but they taste pretty darn good to me and this butter chicken is no exception.

Let's see how it's done!

In an ideal world, we would all have time to marinade things overnight. But lets take a reality check that most of us don't know what's for dinner until dinner time. Yes, reality. Although it is a good idea to marinade this overnight, it really isn't essential. When I made this dish, it marinaded for just an hour and it was tender and delicious. I have made it in the past with overnight marinade and the chicken was more tender and had somewhat more flavour. But as long as you give it an hour in the marinade you are good to go.

One of the key components to this dish is the sauce. Like most dishes that are sauce based, you just got to get it right. The caramelizing of the onions in essential to getting a sweetness in this sauce. So whatever you do, don't skip it! Very important. I know it is easy to read a recipe that says caramelize onions and then you think well sautee will do just fine, right? Well, wrong! So make sure you take the time to slow cook the onions to perfection. It usually takes about 20 minutes. Watch them closely as they are cooking because you don't want to burn them. Nobody likes a burnt flavour to their sauce. If you notice the onions are starting to stick to the pan, add a little bit of water and reduce the heat to low. This should avoid any unwanted burning. Onions will be caramelized whey they are light golden brown in colour and and kind of stringy. If you taste them, you will notice at this point that they will be sweet.

Caramelize the onions and you are on your way to a delicious Indian Butter Chicken!

Indian Butter Chicken

Serves 6 - 8 / Prep time: 20 minutes / Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

For the chicken:

1 1/2 lbs chicken/approx 3 chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger root, grated
Juice of one lime
1 Tablespoon hot curry powder
1 Teaspoon turmeric
1 Dried chilli, finely chopped
1 Teaspoon ground coriander
1 Teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
125 ml Greek Yoghurt

For the sauce:

2 Onions, thinly sliced
3 Garlic cloves, crushed
3 Tablespoons butter, divided
2 Tablespoons garam masala
1 Teaspoon hot paprika
Sea salt
1 Large can whole or chopped tomatoes
2/3 Cup/160 ml heavy cream

Method

In a large bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, lime juice, curry powder, turmeric, chilli, coriander, salt, tomato paste and Greek yoghurt. Stir well and add chicken. Coat the chicken in the marinade and cover. This can now be refrigerated overnight or for just an hour.

In a large skillet set over medium heat add one tablespoon of butter and the onions. Give a quick stir and leave the onions to caramelize. This will take about 20 minutes. Stir the onions occasionally as they are cooking and add a few tablespoons of water if they are sticking. Add the garlic, garam masala and paprika. Stir and let flavours enhance for about a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well and bring to a simmer. Pour in the cream and bring back to a simmer. Add salt and stir well. Remove from heat and blend in batches. Set aside.

In reserved skillet set over high heat, add the chicken. Sear the chicken for just a few minutes and then pour in the sauce. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and leave to cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining butter. Serve topped with fresh coriander.

Click the downloadable link below to print recipe!