Posted on by me

Butter Chicken

I love Indian food, and I have been working on learning the spices and how to blend them.  It is a lot of work, but I am starting to believe it is worth it.  Here is a test of butter chicken, so I can one day make it quick and easy in my rice cooker.   Sometimes you want too much to fit in the cooker so out comes the cast iron dutch oven.

Marinate the chicken.

  • chicken I’ve been on a wings kick.
  • ginger garlic paste Fresh ginger if you have it.
  • more garlic 3-4 big toes
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • Spices
    • 1 tsp turmeric powder
    • 1 tbsp 3 chili blend
    • 2 tsp “mild curry” powder ( a blend from the store)
    • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper.
  • 1 cup whole milk “greek style” yogurt with active cultures.
chicken marinade

Put it all in a bowl and leave sit as long as you can 3-4 hours minimum.

Make a Garam Masala

  • Green cardamon pods
  • fenugreek methi seeds
  • Fennel seeds
  • cinnamon stick
  • whole cloves
  • ginger powder
  • nutmeg
  • paprika
  • turmeric powder
  • ground black pepper
  • 3 chili blend

grind all the spices in a mortar and pestle leaving the cinnamon stick whole.   Once the garam masala is ready bloom the spices in the dry cast iron pot on medium high.  This is a bit non traditional as you would normally toast the spices and then blend them in a spice grinder.    After I toasted them ground spices I added butter, ghee and the onions and fresh garlic.

bloom the masala

Add the tomatoes and chilis

I would have preferred fresh chilis like Serrano  but only had canned jalapenos, so I just used more and some Rotel to boot.

  • two cans of roasted tomatoes
  • 1 can of Rotel
  • 1 onion and more garlic added in the step above but listed here.
butter chicken sauce in progress

Brown the chicken

I browned the chicken to get a little texture on it.  It could have used more.

browned chicken in marinade

Finalize the dish

I took a stick blender to the sauce which simmered for about an hour while the rice pot cooked rice and I browned the chicken.    I did not strain the sauce either.        I added the partially cooked chicken and 1 small head of cauliflower and cooked for about 20 minutes until the chicken was cooked through and the cauliflower was fork tender but not mushy.    The final step was 2 tbsp of butter a and 1 cup of half n half to make creamy.   I may switch to coconut milk in the future which is an alternative.