last week while spending my favorite time of the year in my hometown in Lebanon and with the help of my amazing mum and the supplies from my father garden , I managed to create a more rectified version of the famous butter chicken recipe. I shared with you my first version of this recipe and this is the second one, it is more authentic, deeper in flavors and richer in texture but yet still very easy to do ! check it out in this video on how easy is this recipe!
the first version of this recipe i prepared back in 2017, was good and very light and easy to do. this one is still very easy to do with not much complicated ingredients , but it is more authentic and have more texture and flavors and doing it with freshly picked vegetables made it even more special.
having the privilege of accessing my dad garden and picking some ripe red tomato and some fresh chili peppers made the flavors even better.
I change a little bit in the techniques and steps of cooking this version with a different mix and match with the seasonings and aromas .
for any more questions you have on this recipe or if you need any help finding the ingredients or knowing their name in different language do not hesitate to leave me a comment here or on social media !
Don’t forget to make some NAAN bread and Fresh Coriander Salad to enjoy this dish to the fullest ! recipe in this link
Butter Chicken
A super easy, full flavored Butter Chicken recipe that will win over any restaurant or take out recipe! these instructions will guide you how to make butter chicken at home that tastes absolutely delicious, flavor packed, creamy with easy ingredients that you can find at any grocery store!
Ingredients
for the chicken marinate:
- – 2 kg boneless chicken breast cut into cubes washed and drained well
- – 2 tbsp minced garlic
- – 2 tbsp minced ginger
- – 1/2 tbsp. chili paste or to taste (see notes)
- – 1 tbsp turmeric powder
- – 1 tbsp cumin powder
- – 1 tbsp coriander powder
- – 2 tbsp garam masala see notes
- – 2 tsp fenugreek powder
- – 2 tbsp sweet paprika powder
- – 1/2 tbsp salt
- – 1 tsp yellow mustard
- – fresh juice of three lemons
- – 1 cup yoghurt
- – 1 tsp of grass-fed ghee optional
for the tomato gravy :
- – 1/2 cup cashew soaked overnight see notes
- – 1 tbsp grass-fed ghee
- – 4 big onions roughly chopped into wedges
- – 1.5 kg of fresh ripe tomato. see notes
- – 1/2 tsp chili paste
- – 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
- – 1/2 tbsp minced ginger
- – 1 tbsp tomato paste
- – 1 1/2 tbsp honey
- – salt to taste
- – 3 tbsp garam masala
- – 1 tbsp fenugreek
- – 1/2 cup water to loosen up the gravy if needed
- – fresh coriander roughly chopped
Instructions
for the chicken marinate:
- in a deep bowl add all the seasoning with the garlic and ginger to the chicken cubes and mix it up with your hands massaging all the seasoning into the chicken till everything is coated . add the remaining ingredients mix it all together and marinate overnight for best results or for minimum of 2 hours.
- the next day , in a preheated pan on high heat , add the ghee (1/2 tbsp) cook the chicken through on both sides until the liquid from the marinate evaporate. approximately 5 min on each side. you can cook in batches so you don't over crowed your pan. after the chicken is cooked remove from pan and set aside .
for the tomato gravy :
- in the same pan that you cooked the chicken in , add more ghee (1/2 tbsp) and add the onions and cook on medium-high heat , stirring occasionally for minimum 5 minutes, until the onions are golden brown.
- add the chopped tomato and the chili and mix it all together and cook for extra 5 minutes until the tomato start to break down, stirring occasionally .
- add the ginger and garlic and give it a mix until you smell the garlic/ginger fragrance (30 sec.)
- add half of the soaked cashew drained , salt and sugar and mix it all together .
- bring the mixture to boil ans simmer for 5 min until everything incorporate together .
- use a hand mixer to blend the mixture until you have a smooth gravy .
- bring it to boil and add water if needed to your liking, but don’t don’t make it to thin .
- bring it to boil and simmer for 5 minutes .
- add the garam massala and the fenugreek and mix it well into the gravy, simmer for 3 min so the seasoning incorporate well into the gravy.
- add the cooked chicken cubes and simmer for extra 7 minutes.
- while the gravy is simmering, blend the other half of the cashew with a high speed blender or a hand mixer until you have a smooth paste , add little bit of water if needed to loosen up the cashew paste until you have a kind of jam constancy and set aside.
- after the gravy is done simmering with the chicken , turn off the heat add the cashew paste and give it a little mix , the paste don’t have to be fully mixed in the gravy .
- serve in deep bowl and sprinkle the fresh chopped coriander on the top.
- enjoy!
Notes
*garam masala is an Indian spices mix that you can find at any grocery store in Indian food section, but if you couldn’t find it just replace it with a mixture of (1/2 tsp. Turmeric, ½ tsp. cumin powder, 1 tsp. coriander powder, ½ tsp. Black pepper, ½ tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ginger powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder)
*for overnight soaked nuts, if you don’t have cashew you can replace it with almonds. And I you didn’t have time to soak it overnight you can blanch it.
*if you don’t like spicy food at all you can omit the red chili paste , and you can even make it more spicy by adding some more red chili paste.
- you can use canned tomato instead of fresh ones, any kind of canned tomato will work(puree, strained or whole)