Butter Chicken

Butter chicken, the common dish to order in an Indian restaurant. The word ‘butter‘ in the name might be misleading, I believe it stands for the creamy texture of the dish than the  fact that its loaded with butter. The recipe here did not use much butter and trust me, you’ll not miss it… 

Usually the chicken is grilled in tandoor or fried then mixing it with the rich creamy curry.  For a change instead of grilling or frying I cooked it directly with the curry and it taste equally good.  What you miss here is the Smokey flavor, For those who needs that smokey flavor,when the butter chicken is cooked Place hot charcoal in an aluminum foil floating above the curry and cover the dish, remove the cover just before serving. Discard the foil and charcoal and serve. The curry will be infused with a smokey flavor!, This tip I got from a friend. :)

Ingredients

700gm chicken (you can use bone or boneless pieces, skin should be removed)

Juice of 1 lime

Red chilli powder-1 tea spoon

4 cloves

1 tea spoon peppercorns

Cinnamon- small stick

Almonds- 8-10

Cardamom- 3 pods

Fresh yoghurt – 1 cup

Vegetable oil

Onions- 3

Garlic- 1 inch piece

Ginger- 3-4 cloves

Coriander powder- 2 tea spoon

Cumin powder-1 tea spoon

Turmeric powder- ¼ tea spoon

Tomato- 1 (ground into a smooth paste in a food processor)

Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)- 1 table spoon

Butter- 1 table spoon

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves to garnish

Method

Mix the chicken with lime juice, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt, cover and keep for 20 min.
Dry roast the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom and almonds, grind into a coarse powder.
Mix yogurt, the spices powder, turmeric,  cumin and coriander powder and add the mixture to the chicken and keep it marinated for 30-45 min.
Heat oil in a big sauce pan; add 2 onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies and sauté on low/medium heat until it releases a nice aroma, remove from fire, allow to cool , add 1 ½ cups of water and make a paste of the mixture.
Heat oil in a pan, add one chopped onion, and sauté on medium heat until it turns golden brown, add tomato paste, kasthuri methi and add the chicken mix, sauté for a while. Add the onion paste and bring to boil , cover the pan and Cook till the chicken is tender and the gravy is reduced to half its original volume. Melt the butter and then pour it over the chicken. Garnish with coriander leaves.