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Butter Chicken
I think many of us often think recipes are too hard because we just have never made them. Said differently, we did not grow up in a house with all these different ethnic recipes. With the advent of the internet and the explosion in the interest of food, many recipes are no longer out of reach. This Butter Chicken is an example of just this experience. I saw this recipe over at my friend Nagi’s blog RecipeTin Eats. If you want to see great recipes and beautiful pictures, click through her recipes. Her photos are amazing.
Butter Chicken
Butter Chicken
It was Indian night in my house and I want to add a meat dish to my Vegetable Curry. The yellow curry dish is contrasted and complimented by this Butter Chicken recipe with spices including turmeric, garam masala, cumin and cayenne. The sauce is created by using fat-free plain yogurt. The chicken gets a deep flavor by marinating in the spices and yogurt. When it is added to the pan, it develops into a sauce.
As a digression, my wife and I love Indian food. I cannot tell you I know for sure the differences between North and South Indian food. So I googled the question and found these basic differences on the Food 52 site. What was so cute about this article I found was that they explained the differences by showing a married couple that is split – that is, one from the North and one from the South. What I learned is that recipes from the North are characterized by curries and breads – Naan – we love Naan in our house. Northern recipes are much more commonly found in restaurants in the west. Southern dishes are more characterized by rice, lentils and stews. I will definitely need to explore each of these regions more so I can better appreciate the differences and enjoy the flavors and food.
The cast of characters.
Building the chicken base with the spices and yogurt.
The chicken marinating and added to the skillet.
The final Butter Chicken plated.
Butter Chicken plated
- Marinade
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 6 boneless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons ghee (Indian butter)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1¼ tsp salt
- cilantro for garnish
- Blend the spices with the oil.
- Add the yogurt and mix well.
- Combine the Marinade ingredients with the chicken in a marinating dish.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight if you have time.
- Heat the ghee over medium high heat in a large fry pan.
- Add the chicken coated in the Marinade and cook for around 4 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, sugar and salt.
- Turn down to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and garnish with the cilantro.
- Serve with basmati rice.
- Enjoy!
We love butter chicken at home and like you we never missed to pair it with Naan bread. This looks absolutely delicious!
Thank you very much.
This butter chicken looks absolutely delicious!
Thx so much Marsha.
Love the addition of garam masala!
It is a wonderful spice.
Love using yogurt with chicken as it locks in the flavors and keeps everything moist. This recipe sounds incredible. Just might have to make it this week for dinner!
I need to use yogurt in this way more often. Do let me know if you try this recipe.
This looks amazing, my daughter would have this gone in seconds, she loved butter chicken!!
This was pretty easy to make. You need to make it for Amber.
Butter chicken is my favorite Indian dish, it’s what I always order when we get Indian food! Your recipe looks amazing and it sounds nice and easy to make too so I am looking forward to trying this!
You will need to. All you need is the right spices.
This looks great! I love Indian food and Naan too. Did you have any trouble finding the ghee? It’s something I have never purchased.
I’ve never had Butter Chicken before but it looks and sounds amazing! Will have to give it a try! 🙂
Do try it and you will not be disappointed.
I’ve never had this but it sounds delicious
Indian flavors are awesome. You should try this one.
This butter chicken looks perfectly prepared; great pics too!
Thx Dan.
I can almost smell this looking through your photos. It is so true that I often think something must be harder than it is because it is a different ethnic cuisine. I LOVE Indian food and need to give this a try!
Sometimes I have to remind myself. I only starting trying Indian again the last 6 months.
I love butter chicken, can’t wait to try this!
Thx Debra.