Butter Chicken

evelyn/athens's Note:

I have been making this recipe for several years and love the flavour and texture.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 chicken , cut into 8 pieces (or more)
• salt
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 green chili pepper , seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger paste
• 3 garlic cloves , peeled
• 4 green cardamom pods
• ½ pint yoghurt
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
• orange food coloring (optional)
• 2 ounces butter , melted, for basting
• 6 ounces unsalted butter
• 1 large onion , cut crosswise and sliced thin
• ½ cup ground almonds
• ½ pint sour cream
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

1. With a sharp knife make regular slits through the skin and flesh of the chicken portions; rub with salt and garam masala, then sprinkle with the lemon juice; grind the green chili, ginger, garlic and cardamom to a fine paste; mix this paste with the yoghurt, paprika, chili powder and a few drops of orange food coloring (optional); place the chicken and the spice mixture in a large bowl or dish and give a good swirl so the pieces are evenly coated, cover and set aside (in the fridge) for 4-5 hours to marinate; remove the chicken and place on a greased baking tray and cook in a preheated oven (400F) for 45-50 minutes, turning as they get golden-brown and crisp; brush the portions with a little melted butter occasionally.
2. Melt the unsalted butter in a saucepan and saute onion until just starting to brown, about 8-10 minutes; add ground almonds and saute until lightly toasted and fragrant; add the remaining marinade, sour cream and heavy cream; gently heat, without boiling for 5-6 minutes; pour the sauce over the baked chicken and serve as a main dish with naan bread.
3. I serve this with steamed basmati rice (the sauce is excellent) but might try a pullau next time cause this deserves something more elaborate.
4. Note1: I use ultra-thick, Greek yoghurt for both the yoghurt AND the sour cream called for in this recipe. There are different fat levels, I like to use the 2%.
5. Note2: I really don't remember where I initially came across this recipe - I know I tried several different variations of butter chicken till I found this one and pronounced it 'just right' (to my taste, anyway). I can tell you though that I NEVER use the food colouring. I prefer to soak some saffron in a tiny bit of warm milk and stir that in for colour. May not be traditional, but that's my way.

Reviews

[UmmHumza]

Fantastic mild flavored dish. My Indian husband said this was the best butter chicken I have made. I made one substitution- I used ground cashews instead of almonds.I think next time I might double the spices in the yogurt marinade as per my personal preference. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!

[Kittencalskitchen]

Evelyn, this is a wonderful recipe for butter chicken, I made no changes to this recipe, except I did increase the garlic, my family loved this! this recipe is going into my favorites folder to make again! thanks so much for posting hon!...Kitten:)

[tigerduck]

Another great recipe, Ev! Loved the trick to make slits into the meat, so the meat can suck more of that lovely marinade in. I marinated the chicken for 24 hours and it was very tasty. Served it with basmati. Yummy.