Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Butter Chicken~ish

Butter Chicken is a good place to start your introduction to Indian food - for the novice there's just enough spice to make it interesting without being intimidating. There's a wonderful creaminess and a combination of flavours that will soon have you wanting more.

I'm not going to pretend that this is an authentic version of Butter chicken, it's adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly but it hits the right bells when you're eating it. It's very simple and quick to make.

butter chicken© by haalo



Butter Chicken
[Serves 2]

4 skinless & boned chicken thighs, cut into chunks
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ cup sheep's milk yoghurt (or plain yoghurt)

1 medium potato, diced
1 onion, sliced finely
½ cup peas

1 tablespoon oil
20 grams butter, diced
1 tablespoons red vinegar
1 tablespoons tomato paste
250ml tomato puree
100ml chicken stock
4 cardamom pods, bruised
1 cinnamon stick

100ml cream
fresh coriander leaves, to garnish


In a bowl place the crushed garlic, garam masala, ground coriander, ground cumin, chilli powder, sweet paprika and yoghurt - stir well to combine before adding the chicken pieces. Make sure they are well coated in the mix before covering with plastic wrap and placing in the fridge for 3 hours.

In a small bowl add the vinegar, tomato paste, tomato puree, chicken stock, cardamom and cinnamon - stir to combine.

Place the oil and butter in a deep pan over a medium heat. When the butter is melted add the onions and sauté until softened and starting to colour.

Remove the onions and set aside.
In the same pan, cook the marinated chicken in batches until browned.

Return the onions to the pan and add the diced potato. Cook for 2 minutes before adding the vinegar mixture.

Bring to the boil before turning down to a simmer.
Cook, uncovered for about 20 minutes before adding the peas. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Stir in the cream until heated but do not let it boil.

Fold in the coriander leaves and place the mixture into a serving bowl before sprinkling over with some more fresh coriander leaves.

butter chicken© by haalo


Serve with Jasmine rice and naan.

This curry scores from 1-10:
2chilli.jpg

13 comments

  1. Awesome! This is my fave way to prepare chicken. I love butter chicken. Your recipe sounds brilliant Haalo!

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  2. What a perfect picture! Will try the recipe soon. Cheers!

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  3. I love Indian food! I'm going to try this.

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  4. Authentic or not, I think it sounds fabulos. Saving the recipe right now. I love this dish in restaurants. (Plus, I have to admit that the two hot chile rating is about right for me.)

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  5. Oops, make that fabulous, not fabulos.

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  6. Thanks Meeta - it's a great recipe for chicken, you almost have to make double to ensure there's enough

    Thanks Nidhi & Sara - hope you enjoy making it!

    Thanks Kalyn - the authentic versions involve a raw cashew nut paste that goes into the curry but even without it, it comes very close the original. The heat really only comes from the chilli powder so you can vary it to suit your tastes.

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  7. I like the "~ish" in the dish name! :) The picture looks great. I'm sure it tastes awesome!!

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  8. Thanks Vani - It does taste del~ish ;)

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  9. Okay, I just prepared this and I've tried other butter chicken recipes but this one was.....almost orgasmic. I didn't use the peas or the potatoes but everything else. Wow, if I smoked I'd be having a cigarette right about now!

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  10. Thanks Anon - that's the best recommendation I've ever read!

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  11. Hi Haalo
    I made this last night with a steaming bowl of my roast onion basmati rice, mango chutney, pineapple chutney and poppadoms and I must say, this is truly delicious! I added more curry powder like you said for a more hotter curry for my vindaloo spice loving husband!
    Thanks for the recipe!

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  12. HI

    I hate being an anonymous so just quickly opened a google account! I just posted the comment about my spice loving husband!
    just going to scribble your ingredients down for your cream of carrot soup before I go shopping!
    thanks again..

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  13. Thank you so much - so happy to hear that you all enjoyed it! Hope you like the soup too!

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