Servings: 4 Prep: 20 mins Cook: 30 mins Total: 2 hrs
Butter Chicken?
Butter + Chicken?
Chicken + Butter?!
Sign me up!!
Butter Chicken is actually a relatively new invention, only going back about 70 years. Like so many historic or traditional foods, this is a dish that stems from utilizing leftovers.
The legend suggests there was a restaurant located in 1950’s Delhi; a restaurant specializing in Tandoori Chicken (spiced chicken roasted in a clay oven [a tandoor]). They found themselves having an abundance of leftover marinade, and occasionally leftover Tandoori Chicken. Rather than waste these foods, they tried stewing the chicken in a mixture of leftover marinade, tomato, and butter. A star was born!
Now, because we’re all very unlikely to have Tandoori Chicken lying about, much less a tandoor, we’re going to take a different approach, simply marinating the chicken, searing it, stewing it in tomato and butter, then finishing with cream. We’ll lose a bit of the smoky, clay oven mystique, but the dish is still undeniably smooth and comforting.
There’s a reason this dish is one of the most popular dishes in India, if not the world! It’s a fantastic keto/low-carb recipe and while it does contain a blend of spices, it’s not considered a potent curry. It’s relatively mild in its kick and aroma, all while having a creamy, luscious gravy.
If you’ve ever wanted to give a curry a try, this is a fantastic place to start. Curry for newbies!
Spice Note: Indian recipes frequently call for a wide assortment of spices rarely used in most western kitchens. My suggestion would be to find a spice shop or grocery store that sells bulk spices. This way you can purchase very small amounts of spices and utilize them right away, rather than buying more than you need and letting the spice gracefully age in some long-forgotten kitchen corner.
Photo Note: Served with Garlic Naan. I also wanted something nice spoon my Butter Chicken atop. So, I whipped up a nice little rice bed, consisting of cauli-rice steamed with a bit of turmeric and a few frozen peas. I also added some chopped, fresh cilantro and some toasted almond slivers for bulk, fat, and a nice crunchy texture!
Bulk Storage Note: I love to make huge batches of this. It portions, freezes, and reheats very well. However, I do not add the cream to the base. Instead, I will multiply these ingredients by 4, then follow the steps. I will bring the recipe up to the point where the browned chicken bits are added to the almond-tomato paste. I’ll stir it in, then quickly spread the mixture along the bottom of a large baking tray and place in the refrigerator to thoroughly chill. Once chilled, I’ll portion into small deli cups with lids and freeze. From there, I’ll pull a deli cup from the freezer and defrost overnight. The next day, I’ll add the mixture to a small soup pot with some cream and bring it up to a simmer. Then, I’ll stir some fresh cilantro leaves into it, adjust seasoning, then pour over a bed of cauli-rice or squaghetti!
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This butter chicken looks super good, definitely going to give this a shot. Thanks for the recipe.