I went out to lunch the other day with a couple of friends and we went to a Thai restaurant, within walking distance of my suburban home. I suspect all you city folk find this inconceivable! But I can easily walk to Thai, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, Spanish, Mexican, and more… When I was growing up, I lived in Sonoma (CA) and Mexican was about as exotic as we got–although my parents were big fans of Juanitas, out in Boys’ Springs. But now, in the SF Bay Area, you can’t keep track of the various “ethnic” restaurants.
The first time I ate Chinese food that my mother hadn’t tried to fix after taking a cooking class was when I worked for a Chinese/Bostonian architect just out of high school. He would take me to dinner if we had to work late–but only after calling my mother to ask permission! Indian… I can’t remember the first time. But I loved it. I worked for a few years with a group of Indians and it was fun to go out to lunch and have some of them order food (Indian or Chinese or whatever) extra spicy and others extra mild.
I found the basics for this in a Cooking Light magazine. I made it for a “date night” a couple of years ago and it was a big hit but I was nervous about fixing it for the kids somehow. But tonight, because of the Thai lunch somehow, I really wanted something with some different flavors. I didn’t want to go shopping just for one meal and I had one girl to feed. I made this with some plain steamed rice and it was a big hit–although she insisted on putting soy sauce on her rice. Ugh.
Indian Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 6- oz can tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4″ chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup butter
- fresh cilantro
- lime wedges
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat the oil over high heat and cook the onion and ginger, stirring often until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes . Stir in the garam masala, then put it all in a blender, add the tomato paste and chicken broth, and whir until smooth.
- Put the sauce back into the pan, add the half and half, and simmer, stirring often, about 5-10 minutes until reduced to about 3 cups. Pour sauce into a bowl and set aside. Rinse the pan and reuse for the chicken.
- Heat 1 Tbs of the butter over medium-high heat, sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken pieces, then add the chicken to the pan, cooking a few minutes until the outside is no longer pink, 2-3 minutes. Pour the sauce back in and bring to a simmer. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. (Take a piece out and cut in half to make sure.)
- Cut the remaining 3 Tbs of butter into chunks and stir in until melted. Serve over steamed rice. If you like, sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
* If you can’t find garam masala in the grocery, you can make your own, which I did the first time. A few weeks ago during a spice sale at the grocery store, I saw a mix of garam masala and bought it. We also have a local Indian grocery store and I mean to go back there soon. Last time I bought some cardamon for pfefferneuse cookies, some bulk sesame seeds, and a few other things.
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp crumbled bay leaves
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
Wal Mart grocery stores carry Garam Masala in their spice section
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the Garam Masala substitute! I need it for the Mango Banana Muffins I am about to bake…
This is an interesting recipe. I tried and this and it turned out pretty well. hmm…thanks. Do also check out some of the Best Butter Chicken Recipes on my squidoo lens.
I made the second recipe last night and it was perfect. I have tried numerous recipes for this dish and this was right on.. I did put about 70 ml more cream in though and it was fine..Thanks
Mmm, this was delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe – this is by far the easiest recipe I have found for butter chicken – I had to add some more of the spices at the end though to give it enough flavor – next time I am gonna double the spices, ginger, and onion, and add some more butter. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi, I used to make Butter Chicken in an Indian restaurant. The traditional way I was taught to cook the Butter Chicken SAUCE is as follows:
Add 1 can tomato puree to a sauce pan
Add 400ml of full cream aswell.
As this is simmering to boil add:
1 teaspoon garlic
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1 table spoon home made garam masala
2 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Fenugreek leaves
half teaspoon chilli powder
Once it boils it is ready!
The sauce was then added to the tandoori oven cooked BBQ chicken (which is very hard to replicate at home) Try skewer grilling chicken with a mild tandoori marinate of lemon, tumeric, ginger, garlic, garam masala.
To make real garam masala first very lightly ‘dry fry’ the coriander seed, cummin seeds, star annise, cinamon sticks, cardamon pods then stick all this in a blender or coffee maker and grind up to make authentic garam masala at home.
You are a GOD! I couldnt find Garam Marsala anywhere here. Thankyou, I have been wanting to make Butter Chicken for a while now.
Hi! I am a taste tester and the youngest daughter of Ellen. I’m 10 years old and it is true that lots of cooking goes on in this house.It is 8:30 P.M. and I just made Choclate Chip Squres,(my Mom is laughing hard at her book right now)very easy for children(about 9 and up)to make on their own. My mom spends most of her time off work cooking;and my teenager sister spends msot of her time playing on the computer and sometimes plays piano like my mom.I play a bit of piano. I have always enjoyed helping my mom cook. I enjoy reading and playing dolls and doing hair. I will write more soon!