Butter Chicken goodness

[RETARD]

Some three or four weeks ago the mrs and i discussed having butter chicken for dinner. Rather than the easy Chicken Tonight option we decided to have a crack at our own.

With out a doubt this is one of the best things i have ever made.
The beauty about this dish is it can be made as hot or mild as you like.
This one carries a large amount of flavour and tang on the pallet whilst not being over powering on the hot/heat.

So tonight - we thought it about time to recreate history.
Bare with me as the camera is charging whilst the chicken is in the fridge marinading for an hour. I should mention it does look like a mammoth list of things to buy, but really this is a CHEAP meal to cook & it goes a long long way to boot!

For now here is the list of things you'll need and how you'll need to do it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kg of boneless chicken - skin removed (tonight i only have chicken drumsticks so i will marinade them and let them fall off the bone whist cooking ... ideally i like to use chicken thigh fillets)
• Juice of 1 lime or lemon
• 2 tsp of salt for the marinade ( i prefer salt flakes these days )
• 1tsp red chilli powder
• 6 cloves
• 8-10 peppercorns
• 1" stick of cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 8-10 Almonds or cashews
• Seeds from 3-4 pods of Cardamom
• 1 cup of fresh yoghurt (not sour)
• 3 tlbs vege/canola/sunflower oil
• 2 chopped onions
• 2 tsp finely grated garlic
• 1 tsp finely grated ginger
• 2 tsp corriander powder
• 1 tsp cuming powder
• 1/4 tsp tumeric powder
• 400ml Tomato Puree
• 500ml chicken stock
• 3 tsp unmelted, soft butter
• Salt to taste (for the saucepan)
• Corriander leaves to garnish if you like , but personally i dont bother

METHOD:

• Mix the Chicken, Lime/Lemon juice, 2 tsp salt & red chilli powder in a large - non metallic bowl. Cover and allow to marinate for about 1 hour
• In a flat pan on medium heat gently dry roast (stirring frequently) the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves and Almonds/Cashews til they darken slightly. Cool and add the cardamon seeds. Grind to a coarse powder using a Mortar & Pestle or a dry coffee grinder if your lazy like me
• Mix the Yoghurt, above spice powder (from the previous step), corriander, cumin and tumeric powders together and add them to the chicken.
  Allow them to matinate for another hour.
• Heat the oil in a deep pan on medium heat. When hot add the onions. Fry til a pale golden brown in colour and then add the ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute.
• Add only the Chicken from the Chicken spice mix and fry til sealed (the chicken will turn opaque and the flesh will go from pink to whitish on colour)
• Now add the tomato puree, chicken stock and remaining part of the yoghurt spice mix to the chicken.
• Cook til the chicken is tender and the sauce/gracy is reduced to half its original volume
• Melt the butter in another small pan and then pir it over the chicken
• Garnish with Corriander leaves if you choose and serve with Naan / Daal & or RICE

first let the lemon juice & red chilli powder marinate for and hour in the fridge



mean while dry roast these ingredients and allow to cool


grind them when cooled










Add the spices to the Yoghurt and mix with the Chicken, allow to marinate for a further hour




Add the Chicken Stock & Tomato Puree & simmer for about 2 hours til it reduces to about half








Note: Dont use the chicken i have used here. While it still tastes nice its a much better flavour when cooked with Chicken Thigh fillets. I strongly recommend you use them instead, for both taste and appearance.

[Kola]

This sounds good, I'll give it a crack in a week or so. 1KG is a lot of chicken, how many serves does this make?

p.s. get the pics up!

[isaaus]

Replace the yogurt with milk cream. It will give it smoothness

I am not a chef, just got a friend who does this and hiw butten chicken is the best

[Amfibius]

In "proper" butter chicken, the chicken is cooked in a tandoor and then mixed in with the curry mixture Instead of using a frypan, try chargrilling your chicken if you have a grill.

[scon]

Isn't that more Chicken Tikka Masala Amfibius? They taste similar, but I think butter chicken is just marinated and cooked.

Funnily enough, Glasgow has recently applied to get Chicken Tikka Masala recognised under DOC legislation with the EU - sounds wierd, but true!

Edit: when i make this I also marinate the chicken in ginger juice, grate ginger, then put in some cloth and twist till it expresses all of its liquid and add this to the marinade.

[Kola]

Still no pics!

You say 6 cloves... I'm assuming it's garlic.

[Stooge007]

Originally Posted by scon

Isn't that more Chicken Tikka Masala Amfibius? They taste similar, but I think butter chicken is just marinated and cooked.

in the Indian restaurant i worked in, the butter chicken chicken was cooked in the tandoor

[Maelstrom]

Originally Posted by Kola

Still no pics!

You say 6 cloves... I'm assuming it's garlic.

Cloves are a spice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloves

[Amfibius]

Originally Posted by scon

Isn't that more Chicken Tikka Masala Amfibius? They taste similar, but I think butter chicken is just marinated and cooked.

Chicken Tikka Masala in the UK = Butter Chicken in Australia Not sure what they call it in India, but then I have met quite a few Anglo-Indians who tell me that the best Indian food in the world is in the UK, and not India ...

I read somewhere that the most popular take-away food in the UK is Chicken Tikka Masala. Not fish and chips. Not pork pies. Sounds as if they tried to colonize India but got colonized instead

[RETARD]

oops my bad
So much to get around to at the moment - work, family, christmas stuff.


If you included rice etc then this dish would serve roughly 4-6 very hungry people

This sounds good, I'll give it a crack in a week or so. 1KG is a lot of chicken, how many serves does this make?

p.s. get the pics up!

i like the sound of both of these ideas i will definately give it a try next time

In "proper" butter chicken, the chicken is cooked in a tandoor and then mixed in with the curry mixture Instead of using a frypan, try chargrilling your chicken if you have a grill.

Replace the yogurt with milk cream. It will give it smoothness

I am not a chef, just got a friend who does this and hiw butten chicken is the best

when i make this I also marinate the chicken in ginger juice, grate ginger, then put in some cloth and twist till it expresses all of its liquid and add this to the marinade.

[alch]

Originally Posted by RETARD

Note: Dont use the chicken i have used here. While it still tastes nice its a much better flavour when cooked with Chicken Thigh fillets. I strongly recommend you use them instead, for both taste and appearance.

Was about to say... Be a real mess to pick the meat off those bones eh? ;P

[gazzamcgazza]

The mrs and I love butter chicken. Will have to try this reciepe out!!!

Looks the goods

[AmB]

Thanks for the recipe.

The best Chicken Tikka Masala I've ever had (in a lot of travelling) was in London, Brick Lane.

[HeadShot001]

WTF is that in the middle of the Multi-Grinder??

[danielsan]

Looks great man! thanks for sharing