I’ve never heard of butter chicken only because I never actually had Indian food besides one time in my whole entire life. When I came across Vijaya Selvaraju tutorial on how to make the best butter chicken, I was curious why it was called butter chicken. I just assumed that it would be a buttery chicken in curry form, which sounds amazing and tender. The chicken looks super tender and perfectly marinated. They are pan-fried until golden before diving into a lush tomato cream sauce flavored with lots of butter to finish. This would be the perfect recipe to try out because I am new with Indian food. Plus, I do love Naan bread, which would be great to dip into the sauce.
Ingredients:
For the marinade:
- 1 cup, Plain Yogurt
- 1 tbsp, Lemon Juice
- 2 tsp, Garam Masala
- 1 tsp, Ground Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp, Ground Coriander
- 1 tsp, Turmeric
- ½ tsp, Salt
- 1.5 lbs, Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs cut into bite side pieces.
- 3 tbsp, Clarified Butter
For the Sauce:
- ½ cup, Butter cut into cubes
- 2 cups, Tomato Sauce
- 1 tbsp, Sugar
- 1 tsp, Ground Red Chili Powder
- 2 tbsp, Dried Fenugreek Leaves
- 1 tsp, Garam Masala
- 2 cups, Heavy Cream
- Salt to Taste
Directions:
First, combine all ingredients for the marinade in a bowl, cover and let that sit overnight, or a minimum of 2 hours. In a saucepan, pour clarified butter (known as Ghee) and add the chicken until they are golden brown. Do not overcrowd the chicken, or it will not fry correctly. Instead, it’ll make it steamy.
Next, add more butter in the same pan until it’s melted and the tomato sauce. Then, add the spices that are listed for the sauce and cook on medium heat until the tomato sauce becomes concentrated/thick.
Overall, I love curries and serving it with rice. The best way to eat curry is by pouring it over a bed of rice, letting the rice soak up all of the flavorful juices. Now, I understand why it’s called butter chicken because she adds butter almost after everything. This makes it creamy and velvety and completes the whole dish.