A lot of people are resistant to the idea of making Indian food at home. It involves too many ingredients, too much forethought, a different oven, uncommon spices, and/or a lot of prep time. Butter chicken from the Food of India is the recipe to prove everyone wrong. Maybe you don't regularly keep garam masala or cardamom in your pantry, but both spices are relatively inexpensive and available at your local supermarket. There's no long tempering of spices involved and no more marinating than you might expect in any other chicken recipe. The yogurt keeps the chicken tender throughout the hour-long bake time and the flavor is complex but mild enough to appeal to a wide audience of eaters.
I've made this butter chicken several times now, and everyone who's tried it has raved about how great it is (and how surprisingly easy it was to make a great Indian curry at home). Make the marinade the night before you want to eat it and you'll only have 10 minutes of prep work and 1 hour of cooking time between you and dinner. Serve with rice, naan, and some spinach or other leafy green on the side.
Original Source: Food of India
Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhni)
Ingredients
- ½ cup (80 g) blanched almonds
- 4 cardamom pods lightly crushed
- 1 ¼ teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala*
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cloves ground
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon ground
- ¾ inch (2 cm) piece of ginger grated
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ⅔ cup (170 ml) thick plain yogurt
- 14 oz (400 g) chopped tomatoes
- 2 lb (4 oz/1 kg) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1-5 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter**
- 1 large onion finely minced
- 6 tablespoons cilantro leaves*** finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons heavy double cream or coconut cream
Instructions
- Finely chop the almonds or process into a fine powder in a food processor. Grind the cardamom pods, salt, garam masala, chili powder, cloves, and cinnamon together in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Put the almonds, spices, ginger, garlic, yogurt, and tomatoes together into a blender and pulse together until a smooth paste forms.
- Rinse, pat dry, and cut the chicken thighs into large pieces. Place in a medium bowl, pour the marinade over the chicken pieces, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place a deep, heavy dutch oven or oven-safe frying pan over medium heat and melt the ghee. Add the onion and fry, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and lightly browned. Add the chicken pieces and all the marinade, continue frying another 2 minutes. Mix in the chopped fresh cilantro and heavy cream and transfer the pan to the oven.
- Bake the chicken for 1 hour. If the top begins to brown too much, cover the pan with a piece of aluminum foil.
- Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes. The extra oil will rise to the top and can be skimmed off with a spoon before serving.
- Serve with rice and naan to mop up the richly-flavored sauce.
Notes
8 cardamom pods, 2 cassia leaves, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 2 teaspoon cumin seeds, 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, 2 inch (5 cm) cinnamon stick, and 1 teaspoon cloves. Grind with a spice grinder or mortar and pestle until a fine powder is reached, store in an airtight container. Makes 3 tablespoons.
**The original recipe calls for 5 tablespoons of ghee. Feel free to cut this amount down to a lower quantity if desired. Depending on the pan you use, you can likely use only 1 tablespoon of ghee to cook the onions until softened and browned.
***If you number among the people who cannot enjoy the taste of cilantro, feel free to leave this out.
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