If you need a meal that invites people with its smell from two streets down, this is that meal.
The aromatics of this dish are so warm and rich. The creamy sauce, soft flatbread, sweetness from the chutney, and the pungency of the chicken create a meal that is truly bursting with flavor.
Traditionally, Indian food is to be eaten with hands, the left hand in particular, and utensils are hardly ever utilized (see photos below) in authentic Indian eating.
Something I have been wanting to do with my family is to recreate not only cuisines from around the world, but also participating in the way other cultures eat those meals. Experience, experience, experience…it’s one of my things. :)
I know my kids would think this to be SO fun— next time I make Indian food we might just have to make a pallet in the living room and have a whole immersive meal together! Fun!
A few notes about this recipe:
I did not have a few of the aromatics on hand such as the star anise and black cardamom pod. I left them out but next time I will be sure to have them on hand. Sometimes when I make a recipe I get impatient, and I was impatient with this one :)
Try and prep your ingredients ahead of time, ordering online anything you don’t think your local store will have. You might not have access to a speciality store and some of the ingredients listed will need to be bought on Amazon. I’ve compiled a list of these ingredients on my amazon storefront so click here if you would like the list already compiled for you.
Instead of ordering ginger garlic paste, I just used ginger paste and garlic paste in equal measurements to essentially make ginger garlic paste. Choice is completely up to you!
I used my favorite canned cherry tomatoes which are imported from Italy (bought at World Market) in place of the regular canned tomatoes. You are more than welcome to use the best kind of tomatoes you can find if you want to make the sauce that more flavorful. Seeing that tomatoes make up half of the sauce, you want to make sure you’re using a high quality ingredient! Mutti brand is one of my favorites.
You can buy store bought naan if you want to avoid adding another step to this recipe.
Okay, now I think we are ready to get to cooking! Reach out if you have any questions!
Need to order some of these authentic ingredients online? I have made sure to add them to my amazon storefront for easy access so CLICK HERE to order!
butter chicken
serves 6.
Marinate time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Total time: 1 hr 10 minutes
ingredients:
Chicken Marinade
2 lbs chicken thighs, cubed
½ cup greek yogurt
½ lemon, juiced
2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 green chili, finely chopped (optional)
½ teaspoon garam masala
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
Butter Chicken Sauce
4 tablespoon butter, divided
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 star anise
1 black cardamom pod
4-5 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
½ teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
14 oz canned tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
salt, to taste
5-8 cashews, optional
¼ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon kasuri methi
for asssembly— cilantro, heavy cream, flatbread, mango chutney, sautéed zucchini, basmati rice
instructions:
Trim the fat from the chicken thighs. Cube the chicken into 1-inch pieces.
In a large bowl, mix together the items for the marinade - yogurt, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, finely chopped green chilis, garam masala, turmeric, ground cumin, kashmiri chili powder, and salt. Once the marinade is ready, add the chicken into the bowl and toss so that it's fully coated.Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
Crush the green cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle or under the flat of a knife. Remove the black seeds inside the pod and discard the green part. *You do not want to skip this step, this is where major flavor is infused into your sauce!
Melt two tablespoons of butter in a pot on medium heat. Add the star anise, black cardamom, seeds from the green cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and cumin seeds and allow the flavor to infuse with the butter for a minute.
Add the chopped onions and ginger garlic paste into the butter. Sauté until the onions start to brown.
Add the ground spices - the garam masala, coriander, cloves, and kashmiri chili powder. Give everything a good stir and let it cook for 1 minute so the spices can bloom in the butter. Don't let them sit for longer, otherwise the spices will burn.
Stir in the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, cashews (optional), sugar, and salt to taste.
Switch the stove to low to medium heat, and allow the sauce to simmer. It'll start to thicken and darken significantly. This can take 5-10 minutes. The fat will start to release on the sides and form little pools. Switch the heat off.
While the sauce is simmering in the step above, heat the cast iron skillet on high heat. Add a tablespoon of ghee or neutral oil in the pan and add in the marinated chicken. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 ºF and the chicken has browned. Set aside once done.
Remove and discard the black cardamom pod, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Transfer the contents of the pot into a blender along with the rest of the butter. Blend the sauce until it's completely smooth.
If it's too thick, add a tablespoon of water at a time. Add up to a ½ cup of hot water based off of preference if you’d like a looser curry.
Transfer the sauce back into the pan and bring it back to a soft simmer. Add the chicken with all of the juices and spices into the pan. Stir to coat and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, until the fat begins to separate again.Slowly pour in the heavy cream while stirring. Continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sauce is thick and creamy. This is a great point to taste and adjust for spices.
Remove from heat and finish off the sauce with a pinch of kasuri methi. Crush the dried leaves between your hands to extract the flavor before adding it directly into the curry.
Garnish the butter chicken with heavy cream, cilantro, and finely diced red onions.
Serve with basmati rice, sautéed zucchini, mango chutney and flatbread.
Enjoy!
Thank you, Masala and Chai for this incredible recipe!