Butter Chicken in a Silky Sauce
Alison Mollenhauer was right on when she named the recipe she submitted for the Primal Blueprint Reader-Created Cookbook Contest “Butter Chicken” instead of simply “Chicken Curry”. Yes, the recipe has spices like garam marsala, cumin and cardamom. Yes, the air in your kitchen will be heavy with the enticing aroma of curry. But it’s the silky, rich, lick-the-back-of-your-spoon texture that really stands out in this dish. The credit goes to a generous amount of butter and the addition of cream or coconut milk, mellowing the spices and turning this fairly simple dish into something luxurious. The moist, tender meat of chicken thighs can take some credit too, as the chicken practically melts in your mouth with each bite.
For this recipe, Alison uses a marinating technique that makes the chicken as tender and flavorful as possible and you can too if you “do” dairy. Marinating meat in Greek-style yogurt (or other acidic dairy products like buttermilk) breaks down the enzymes in meat and tenderizes the protein. A yogurt marinade is especially great with meat that leans towards dry or tough, like chicken breast or lamb. In the case of chicken thighs the marinade adds additional flavor and tenderness, but since dark meat tends to be tender anyway those of you who don’t love dairy can skip the yogurt and still end up with a really tasty meal.
As the sauce bubbles on your stove, lean in and inhale. Even with all the spices milling around you might be able to detect the distinct aroma of the cardamom pods. Although cardamom is part of the ginger family, it will probably remind you of cinnamon or nutmeg, as they share the same sweet-spicy aroma. Inside each pod are dozens of little seeds that will flavor the dish; the pods will pretty much dissolve as they cook so there is no need to remove them at the end. (If you buy ground cardamom seeds instead of the pods, use it sparingly in this recipe. A little goes a long way.)
Alison’s recipe feeds her family of five with leftovers remaining, and we can’t think of a good reason to cut the recipe in half even if you’re not feeding that many. Butter Chicken is the perfect dish to make in large quantities and eat over the course of several days. The flavors will just keep getting richer and that buttery, creamy texture even more irresistible.
Ingredients:
- 4 pounds chicken thighs, chopped into 1-inch cubes
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 3 teaspoons ground coriander
- 3 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3/4 cup Greek-style (thick) yogurt
- 7 tablespoons butter, chopped1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 6 cardamom pods (crush pods slightly to release seeds and more flavor)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 1/2 cup cream or coconut milk
- 1/2 cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
Instructions:
Combine chicken, garlic, spices and yogurt in a covered container. Refrigerate for an hour or two.
Melt butter in a deep pan. Add vinegar, tomato paste, tomatoes, cardamom and cinnamon. Boil rapidly, stirring until sauce is thick (approximately 20 minutes).
Reduce heat to a simmer and add chicken. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until chicken is cooked through. Add cream or coconut milk, simmer a few minutes more, and garnish with chopped cilantro.
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Posted By: Worker Bee
Oh, heaven.
My my.
looks and sounds absolutely delicious!
Shan spice packets will get to the same place without the cost…gotta go to an Indian market to get ‘em though. Use the “tandoori” chicken mix for this recipe.
If anyone has traveled through India – one would have noticed ‘Butter Chicken’ is THE National dish in Northern India. No menu of any local eatery, big or small, is complete without Butter chicken.
Alison recipe is great, here is a slight variation as learned from a star rated Indian chef..
After marinating the chicken as directed, grill it in an oven or on a gas/charcoal grill.
Puree the tomatoes and cook them till all the liquids evaporate – now add the grilled chicken and butter, simmer for a while – finish by adding cream or coconut milk.
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pureed tomatoes can be cooked in bulk and frozen. If you ever have leftover grilled chicken, just combine the cooked frozen tomato puree and butter etc. and you can have Butter chicken in a snap.. Enjoy !!
My Indian friend told me that butter chicken started as making a meal out of leftovers and because of that it’s still looked down at in many parts of India; however, in West, it’s synonymous with Indian food!
Elle – check Shan spice packets ‘ingredients list’ before you buy. They used to contain loads of MSG – lately I have noticed they do not mention MSG but do mention sodium content upwards of a thousand mg per tsp. Best to mix your own spices as Mark has done from virgin material.
yummmmmmm
Do you know if it freezes well? This may be a great dish to make on the weekend, then use later in the week. I’m making this week. Yummm.
This will never get a chance to be frozen!
Wow, that looks so delicious I can’t believe it. I better go eat something, I must be hungry!
I will be eating this…. soon.
I love Indian food and this recipe looks AMAZING! Very well done indeed!
This will be part of my meal plan for next week.
I second that. This recipe looks absolutely amazing.
YUM! That goes in the keeper file.
my oh my… Last night I cooked thighs, trying to make up my own recipe to submit, then I see this the next morning. This is one I will print & file for use over & over…
I’m afraid to try butter chicken with a coconut milk base. Can anyone attest to it being good?
I can attest it’s delicious with Coconut milk….I would use 1/2 the amount at first if you want to try it out and decide whether or not you like it. My husband prefers the tomato base w/out the coconut milk though. Depends on what you’re in the mood for. I found that the coconut milk tone’s down the heat a little.
Oh my gosh Chaohinon, coconut milk base is AWESOME in butter chicken. I think it really tempers the spices, so it still has a spicy kick but a smooth creamyness to it also. I don’t know if that makes sense but trust me, it’s AMAZING!
I’ve been eating Paleo for about 3 months now, and I have always been told no yogurt or butter, as they are dairy based. Help me out here.
@ Diana, this is a Primal recipe…”primal” vs “paleo” allows delicious saturated fats such as butter. Read http://www.marksdailyapple.com/whats-the-difference-between-primal-and-paleo/
I am cooking this tomorrow night. My mouth is watering just reading the recipe!!!
Oh wow, guess what I will be eating for dinner!
I am so making this next weekend.
Heaven. I love the long list of spices. I am learning how to mix spices as time goes on but I am not quite there. I will have to make this soon!
Funny that you published this recipe yesterday, cause I was looking for a recipe with chicken and found that recipe directly on the main site.
Cooked it yesterday. Had all of the ingredients at home. Never happens when I look up recipes
Was good and rich as I like it, but not as good as I thought it would be. Wonder if anybody has some improvements on this recipe.
I’ve taken several indian cooking classes, and I’d add a teaspoon of ginger paste and a half a small onion, diced small and saute the onion in the butter until it almost dissolves. Also, a touch more salt if you want it authentic.
The reason some butter chicken is so red is that they add a few drops of food coloring (no thank you!)
I wish I had read this before. It was good, but needed more flavour. Onion, ginger, pepper and salt would have done it. My spices were super-fresh, but I’d definitely add more next time.
just make sure you have all the spices and that they all are of good quality
Hi,
Can you recommend some really good places, online preferably, to buy excellent, fresh, and top quality spices? Herbs too, if you know of any?
I’m just starting to teach myself to cook and want to know as much about spices, where they come from, all the variety’s, and where the best places are to get them. I’m deaf and there are no cooking or culinary schools where I live, so I am pretty much on my own when it comes to cooking. So any help at all, tips, info, recommendations, etc., would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Anyone reading this, on this wonderful Blog can feel free to email anytime, with any help.
Thank you for your assistance.
Helen -
BlueDove4445@gmail.com
Penzey’s
http://www.penzeys.com/
My wife made this last night and it was excellent. Looking forward to the leftovers.
Compliments to the creator of this recipe! It was absolutely yummy!
I too look forward to tomorrow’s left overs!
I made this last night and it was fantastic. My 11yo son took one bite and murmured “Oh my god” and my daughter piped in “yeah, mom, this is amazing” WIN! Also, it was mild enough spice-wise that my 19mo baby ate it (and ate it and ate it) with no problems.
Did anyone have trouble finding the cardamon pods?
I found them at an Asian supermarket (along with every possible spice under the sun, I love walking around there
)
Just made this today — nummy!!
I just tried this recipe tonight. A couple of things needs to be noted:
If you have trouble with finding cardamon pods (or cardamon for that matter), use nutmeg.
For those who like spicy foods you may want to add a little salt AND some cayenne pepper or hot sauce.
After I put the chicken in the butter sauce as instructed the water in the chicken made the sauce “soupy”. I had to add a little stock to make it thick again. After I did that, the family loved it.
I made it for dinner too. Mine turned out the same way, soupy. But was able to thicken it up. I added chili pepper flakes to my dish and it needed salt too. Everyone liked it. Yea!
Look very good. Thanks. I would a bit of turmeric though.
Interestingly, turmeric isn’t really necessary in this dish since it helps with digesting legumes. Plus, many garam masala blends include tumeric.