Butter Chicken

Butter chicken done right can be an incredible curry. Rich. Creamy. Well-spiced. Just really tasty. Big, big tastes.

Done poorly, it tastes like a can of Campbells cream of tomato soup with a little garam masala. Like curried tomato soup with chicken. Who wants that?

butter chicken

Ingredients

Tandoori seasoned chicken

• 10 oz boneless, skinless chicken - thighs or breasts. 3 thighs or one large breast
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp tandoori masala - available in Indian grocery stores

Spice mix

• 1 1/2 tsp indian restaurant spice mix - recipe link below
• 3/4 tsp tandoori masala
• 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder - or more to taste
• 1 tsp kasoor methi - dried fenugreek leaves
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt or 1/3 tsp table salt

Butter chicken

• 2 tbsp onion finely diced
• 1 green chili cut into strips plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp garlic ginger paste - recipe link in notes
• 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste diluted with 3 tbsp water
• 15 oz curry base - recipe link in notes
• 1 tbsp almond flour
• 2 tsp sugar - jaggery is a nice touch if you can get it
• 2-3 tbsp heavy cream
• 2 tbsp butter (optional)

Instructions

Do your prep.

• Make the spice mix.
• Dilute the tomato paste with enough water to get to the consistency of passata.
• Have everything ready to go. Onions chopped. Chilies cut. Garlic ginger paste standing by. Curry base pre-heated. Ingredients at hand. Be ready. It’s going to go fast from here.

Cook the tandoori seasoned chicken

• Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces
• Heat your frying pan (don’t use non-stick) briefly over medium low heat. Add the oil and then 1 tsp tandoori masala.
• Add the chicken and fry until it’s all evenly coloured and partially cooked. This takes about 5 minutes. Don’t worry. It will finish cooking in the curry.
• Remove the chicken and set aside. Return the pan with the now seasoned oil to the stove over medium low heat.

Make the butter chicken

• Add the onion and cook until well softened.
• Turn the heat to medium. Add the garlic ginger paste and the green chili and cook, stirring constantly, until it stops sputtering.
• Turn down the heat and add the spice mix. This is the critical step. Stir it constantly for 30 seconds. If it starts to darken lift the pan off the heat. You want the spice mix to cook in the oil but not burn.
• Turn the heat up to medium high. This is important. The heat is what drives Indian restaurant flavour. Maillard reaction magic. You have to love food science! As you become more comfortable with this technique try pushing it. Add the diluted tomato paste and stir until bubbles form (the oil will likely separate). This takes around 30 seconds to one minute depending on the heat.
• Add 3 oz of curry base. Stir until bubbles form (little craters really), around 30 seconds. Think lively boil. Watch the edges of the pan. The curry can stick here. Sticking is OK. Just scrape it back into the base. Burning is bad.
• Now add 6 oz of curry base and stir briefly. Let it cook until the bubbles form again. This takes 1-2 minutes.
• Add the rest of the curry base and let cook until the bubbles form.
• Turn the heat down to low. Add the chicken, almond flour and sugar. Stir and simmer until the chicken is just done. This takes about another 5-6 minutes depending on how much you pre-cooked the chicken. Sneak a peek if you need to. Cut into a piece to see if it’s done.
• Let the curry simmer for about 5 minutes. If it gets too thick add a bit more curry base. Don’t add water.
• Remove from heat. Add the cream and butter if using.
• Garnish with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro and green chili if you like. Serve.

Notes

Nutrition

Pizza margherita is the ultimate pizza. Tomato sauce. Fresh mozzarella. Basil. Olive oil. Everything has to perfect. There is nowhere to hide.

I think pizza margherita is the true test of a pizza joint. If they can get this right, they can get anything right. It’s what I order every time I visit a new pizza restaurant.

There is real beauty in the simplicity of pizza margherita. Delicate almost. Simple flavours that come together to make something surprising. Something unexpectedly good.

After all, there’s nothing to pizza margherita. It’s a cheese pizza. Like you feed little kids. That’s why I love it. To make something so seemingly uninteresting absolutely delicious. That’s just magic.

Dough

At the base, the dough has to be great. Bland dough equals bland pizza margherita. No way around it.

Neapolitan pizza dough only has 4 ingredients. Flour, salt, yeast and water. That’s it. So it’s important to learn how to make it. It’s a bit of a journey to master but it is absolutely worth it. Figure that out and you will be able to make better pizza than you can buy.