Butter Chicken
Punjabi folks have an unconditional love for chicken dishes. Inarguably, the most popular among them all is Butter Chicken. It perfectly sums up the authenticity of Punjab on a plate. The most interesting fact about this dish is that it was initially prepared with leftovers of tandoori chicken! Butter Chicken consists of chunks of roasted chicken cooked in rich gravy enriched with cream (malai), butter (makhhan).
As with most chicken recipes, the first step is the marination. The curd (dahi) and hot-spice mixture gives the marinade a rustic, tandoori overtone. These spices can be added according to taste. I have also added a hint of orange food colouring to get a wonderful orange hue, but it can be skipped too. Ideal time for marination would be about 6 hours, after which the chicken pieces absorb the marinade and become succulent.
For Butter Chicken to be a success, it is a must to nail the gravy Incorporation of onion, cashew nuts and tomatoes, and butter in right amount ties the dish together. The roasted chicken added to rich gravy and is cooked properly. Finally Butter Chicken is topped with some cream, the trademark of any Punjabi dish. It can be served with rotis, naan or basmati rice. Trust me; you will need more than one helping of this awesome dish to satisfy your taste buds.
You may also like recipes of Badami Chicken, kadhai Chicken, Shahi Chicken, Shahi Chicken Korma.
How to make Butter Chicken
Ingredients |
|
Chicken | 1 kg |
Onion (payaz) | 2 big |
Tomatoes (tamater) | 2 big |
Cashew nut (kaju) | 8-10 piece |
Red chili (lal mirch) powder | 1 tea spoon |
Bay leaves (tej patta) | 2 piece |
Cloves (laung) | 2 piece |
Cinnamon (dalchini) | 1” piece |
Green cardamoms (chhoti elaichi) | 2 piece |
Salt (namak) | to taste |
Sugar (chini) | 1 table spoon |
Butter (makhhan) | 6 table spoon |
Vegetable oil | 2 table spoon |
For Marinade |
|
Hot spices (garam masala) | ½ tea spoon |
Ginger (adrakh) paste | 1 table spoon |
Garlic (lahsan) paste | 1 table spoon |
Yogurt (curd) | ¼ cup |
Red chilli (lal mirch) powder | 1 tea spoon |
Orange food colour (optional) | a pinch |
Salt | to taste |
For Garnishing |
|
Fresh coriander (hara dhaniya), chopped | for garnishing |
Cream (malai) | 4 table spoon |
Method
For Chicken
- 1. Mix curd, ginger, garlic, red chilli, hot spices, orange food colour and salt in a bowl and blend it together thoroughly.
- 2. Marinate chicken pieces with yogurt mixture and keep it for 6 hours.
- 3. After 6 hours roast the chicken in tandoor or microwave.
For Gravy
- 1. Soak cashew nuts in milk and grind it to smooth paste.
- 2. Meanwhile, in a pan heat vegetable oil and cook onion till it becomes brown.
- 3. Add water and simmer it till becomes soft. Put the flame off and grind it to a smooth paste.
- 4. Boil tomatoes with little water, peel and grind it also to a smooth paste.
- 5. Heat butter in another frying pan. Add bay leaves, cloves. cinnamon and cardamom and stir it for 30 seconds.
- 6. Add onion paste and cook it for about 3 minutes. Now add Cashew nut paste, red chilli powder and tomato puree and cook this till oil gets separated.
- 7. Add roasted chicken and stir-fry for about 7 to 10 minutes.
- 8. Add salt, sugar and water and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- 9. Finish it with cream and chopped coriander leaves and serve it hot.
- Recipe Type : Chicken, Curries, Non vegetarian, Non Vegetarian, Punjab, Regional
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