Indian Butter Chicken
Nutritional Info
- Servings Per Recipe: 6
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 196.3
- Total Fat: 11.8 g
- Cholesterol: 42.8 mg
- Sodium: 884.1 mg
- Total Carbs: 8.9 g
- Dietary Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 14.8 g
View full nutritional breakdown of Indian Butter Chicken calories by ingredient
Introduction
Butter Chicken is probably one of the most famous dish of India preceeded only by the Tikka. Travelling most parts in India, I would say this is the best chicken dish. The finest one was the one Ihad in one of the Punjabi Dhaba in Northern India (dhaba is a road side restaurant which serves fresh hot - home made food) If you are visiting an Indian restaurant for the first time and are new to
Indian food, you may order Butter Chicken with a fair amount of confidence and be assured that your introduction to Indian food won't be a disaster. The flavours are easy on the palette, the colour
and texture silky, and the meat itself satisfying. Especialy, if eaten with Naan bread. The reason for this being the use of dried Fenugreek leaves and fennel seeds - the ingredient one cannot/must
not omit. Also choose the chicken with bones. Preferably an organic chicken. This is because the bones give out juices that further flavour the sauce. The concept lays in preparing the tandoori
chicken first and then shredding the pieces and adding to the sauce. With that in mind, the rest is easy. Butter Chicken is probably one of the most famous dish of India preceeded only by the Tikka. Travelling most parts in India, I would say this is the best chicken dish. The finest one was the one I
had in one of the Punjabi Dhaba in Northern India (dhaba is a road side restaurant which serves fresh hot - home made food) If you are visiting an Indian restaurant for the first time and are new to
Indian food, you may order Butter Chicken with a fair amount of confidence and be assured that your introduction to Indian food won't be a disaster. The flavours are easy on the palette, the colour
and texture silky, and the meat itself satisfying. Especialy, if eaten with Naan bread. The reason for this being the use of dried Fenugreek leaves and fennel seeds - the ingredient one cannot/must
not omit. Also choose the chicken with bones. Preferably an organic chicken. This is because the bones give out juices that further flavour the sauce. The concept lays in preparing the tandoori
chicken first and then shredding the pieces and adding to the sauce. With that in mind, the rest is easy.
Number of Servings: 6
Ingredients
-
For the Tandoori
500 grams of Chicken (around 6 pieces) skin removed and dressed
1 tbsp of fresh, plain, thick Yoghurt
1 tbsp of fresh Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tbsp of fresh Lime juice
1 tbsp of any store bought brand of 'Tandoori Masala' - must not omit
1 tspn chilli powder
1 tspn Turmeric Powder
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste.
For the Gravy/ Sauce
2 medium Onions- thinly sliced
3 Tomatoes (choose nice red ones for the red gravy color)
1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1 tsp black Cumin seeds, Shahjeera.
2-3 green Cardamoms
2-3 pepper corns
1 tbsp heaped dried, Fenugreek leaves,crushed in your palms
1 tbsp Fennel seeds lightly roasted and coarsly grounded
1 tsp heaped Kashmiri Lal mirch - again for its colour.
1 tsp regular Red Chilli powder. (Adjust as per the hotness you prefer)
1 tsp of Garam Masala
1 tbsp of Corriander powder
1 tspn Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder
10 Cashews
A pinch of Nutmeg
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup (Now this is a secret ingredient most of the restaurants won't tell you how they get the sweet creamy gravy. Add more if you want it to be sweeter)
Salt to taste- remember you would have already used salt in the marinade before.
2 tbsp salted Butter
2 tbsp of fresh Cream (more if you want the gravy/ sauce to be milder)
Handful of fresh Corrainder leaves
2 tbsp vegetable/ sunflower Oil
Tips
Serve hot with Naan bread or a simple pulao or white rice. Children love the creamy texture of this recipe and I wont be surprised if they ask for more
Directions
For the Tandoori Chicken
- Make a few cuts to the chicken flesh so that it gets marinated well.
- Mix all the spices in the oil and marinate the chicken for 4-5 hours, preferably overnight. Then rub the chicken with the yoghurt.
- Just before you are going to make the sauce/gravy for this, grill the chicken in your oven in a baking tray lined with foil. About 15 minutes on each side or untill the juices run out, the chicken should
aquire a proper brown, grilled look and needs to be done.
- If you don't have a grill, fry the marinated chicken pieces in a wide shallow pan untill done.
- Important Tip - Pour the juices that have been collected into the gravy/ sauce.
- Shred the chicken pieces of the bone and keep aside.
For the gravy/ Sauce
- In a deep bottomed pan heat the oil on a medium flame.
- When just about getting heated, tip in the dry spices- cumin, pepper, cardamoms, cashews.
- Once these turn a fragrant brown, add the ginger-garlic paste.
- Give a quick stir and add the onion slices.
- Once the onions are translucent and oil surfaces, add the garam masala powder then stir and add red chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, fennel seeds powder, coriander powder, cumin
powder, turmeric, nutmeg and half of the chopped coriander leaves. Give a good stir .
- Add in the tomatoes. Crush the fenugreek leaves in your palm and and add them to the gravy
- Add just the juices collected from the grilled chicken.
- Add half a glass of water. Cover the lid and let everything cook together until the oil surfaces. Our key ingredient the tomatoes need to be cooked really well.
- Once the mixture cools down, pour it in the blender and blend it all to a creamy consistency
-Now in the same deep bottomed pan, add the salted butter
- Once it melts, add the gravy from the blender and the tomato ketchup
- Give this a good boil. Stir in the fresh cream. At this stage, adjust the salt and spices i.e red chilli powder and garam masala then add the chicken pieces
- Cover the lid and let everything cook on slow for another 15 mins then close and let everything settle for a further few minutes. Garnish with some lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.
Serving Size: 6 - 8 bowls
Number of Servings: 6
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user ALL_SMILES_4U.
- Make a few cuts to the chicken flesh so that it gets marinated well.
- Mix all the spices in the oil and marinate the chicken for 4-5 hours, preferably overnight. Then rub the chicken with the yoghurt.
- Just before you are going to make the sauce/gravy for this, grill the chicken in your oven in a baking tray lined with foil. About 15 minutes on each side or untill the juices run out, the chicken should
aquire a proper brown, grilled look and needs to be done.
- If you don't have a grill, fry the marinated chicken pieces in a wide shallow pan untill done.
- Important Tip - Pour the juices that have been collected into the gravy/ sauce.
- Shred the chicken pieces of the bone and keep aside.
For the gravy/ Sauce
- In a deep bottomed pan heat the oil on a medium flame.
- When just about getting heated, tip in the dry spices- cumin, pepper, cardamoms, cashews.
- Once these turn a fragrant brown, add the ginger-garlic paste.
- Give a quick stir and add the onion slices.
- Once the onions are translucent and oil surfaces, add the garam masala powder then stir and add red chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, fennel seeds powder, coriander powder, cumin
powder, turmeric, nutmeg and half of the chopped coriander leaves. Give a good stir .
- Add in the tomatoes. Crush the fenugreek leaves in your palm and and add them to the gravy
- Add just the juices collected from the grilled chicken.
- Add half a glass of water. Cover the lid and let everything cook together until the oil surfaces. Our key ingredient the tomatoes need to be cooked really well.
- Once the mixture cools down, pour it in the blender and blend it all to a creamy consistency
-Now in the same deep bottomed pan, add the salted butter
- Once it melts, add the gravy from the blender and the tomato ketchup
- Give this a good boil. Stir in the fresh cream. At this stage, adjust the salt and spices i.e red chilli powder and garam masala then add the chicken pieces
- Cover the lid and let everything cook on slow for another 15 mins then close and let everything settle for a further few minutes. Garnish with some lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.
Serving Size: 6 - 8 bowls
Number of Servings: 6
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user ALL_SMILES_4U.