Indian Butter Chicken – Chicken in mild tomato gravy
2015-04-24- Cuisine: Indian
- Course: Main Course
- Skill Level: Intermediate
- Yield : 500 gms
- Servings : 4-5
- Prep Time : 20m
- Cook Time : 30m
- Ready In : 50m
Children over for dinner? Make Butter Chicken. Overseas friends? Make Butter Chicken. Food cravings? Make Butter Chicken. I can give you a thousand reasons why you should make Butter Chicken. But the best of them all is its easy to cook and easy to please nature. Indian Butter Chicken does require a bit of planning, but that’s worth it; the praises and blessings you will get will more than make up for the little efforts you took.
While the Chicken of the Butter Chicken served in restaurants is cooked in a Tandoor, I have devised a different method to get the same flavors by using a stove top.
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts (boneless) 500 gms
- Lemon juice 3 Tbsp
- Red chile powder 1/2 Tsp
- Kashmiri chile 2 (Soak and grind)
- Yoghurt 100 gms
- Ginger paste 1 Tbsp
- Garlic paste 1 Tbsp
- Garam masala 1 Tsp
- Mustard oil 1 Tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Butter 6 Tbsp
- Black peppercorns 8
- Cinnamon 1" stick
- Cloves 3-4
- Mace 1 flower
- Green chilies 2 seeded and finely cut
- Cashews 10-12 (soaked and ground)
- Tomatoes 6 large
- Cumin powder 1 Tbsp
- Honey 1 Tsp
- Tomato Ketchup 1 Tbsp
- Garam masala 1.5 Tsp
- Cream 4 Tbsp
- Kasuri Methi 2 Tsp
- Coriander 1 Tsp
Method
Step 1
Clean the chicken and cut it into bite size pieces. Marinade all the chicken in Lemon juice and red chilie powder and 1 spoon ground Kashmiri red chile paste. After an hour remove the chicken pieces and discard the 1st marinade.
Step 2
In a bowl mix yoghurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, garam masala, mustard oil and salt. Add chicken and mix well. Keep covered for about 1 hour.
Step 3
While the chicken is sitting in the bowl getting marinated, blanch, peel and puree the tomatoes and keep aside. Soak Cashews and grind them into a fine paste. Dry roast cloves, cinnamon, mace and black pepper and grind it to a fine paste.
Step 4
On a stove top keep a wide pan and tip in the marinaded chicken and let it cook. After a while the chicken will be cooked completely and wll be dry. Add 2 Tbsp of butter and the remaining Kashmiri red chilie paste and fry well. Take out this nice and brown cooked chicken and keep it aside.
Step 5
For the Tomato gravy, add the remaining butter in a fresh pan, reduce the heat to medium and add green chillies. Fry for a few seconds and add the ground cashew nut paste. Add to it cumin powder and the roasted ground masala (cinnamon, cloves, mace and black pepper) Keep stirring so that the cashew paste does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Step 6
After a while you will notice the butter will float on the top, at this time add the blanched and pureed tomatoes along with honey and let the tomatoes loose some of their water content . At this stage also 1 tbsp tomato ketchup. Fry till gravy leaves the side and you see butter starting to float again, add garam masala and crushed Kasuri Methi. Add salt.
Step 7
Lower the flame and add the chicken pieces to the tomato gravy. Let the gravy simmer with chicken for about 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt and garam masala.
Step 8
If you want the gravy to be spicier, heat butter in a small wok, add red chili powder to it and pour the butter/red chile powder mix in the prepared butter chicken.
Step 9
Switch off the flame, mix half the cream and stir.
Step 10
To serve garnish with swirls of cream and coriander leaves. Butter chicken goes best with Nan and steamed rice.
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Butter Chicken: some interesting history
Butter Chicken is a classic staple of Indian Cuisine, readily available both in its country of origin and abroad in many Indian restaurants. The dish’s flavour profile has its background in Punjabi cuisine and was developed by Moti Mahal Restaurant in Daryaganj, Delhi, India,owned by Kundan Lal Jaggi, Kundan Lal Gujral and Thakur Das Mago. Kundan Lal Gujral also founded the restaurant chain Moti Mahal Delux in late 1970s.
Butter chicken is typically served with chicken on the bone in India and served off the bone in the United States, United Kingdom and other regions outside of India. Traditional preparations are typically more spicy and less sweet than preparations served abroad. The chicken is usually cooked in a tandoor (traditional clay oven), but may be grilled, roasted, or pan fried in less traditional preparation. Garnishes include butter, cream, green chillies, coriander, and Kasuri Methi.
Source: Wikipedia
Butter Chicken – Chicken in mild tomato gravy
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