Indian: Butter Chicken

Indian food. You either love it or you hate it. I happen to love it! 

I love, love, loooove Butter Chicken; Creamy, curried and delicious. I paired this dish with Jasmine rice, Naan, my spicy peach chutney and a tangy cucumber relish. Believe it or not, this is a very simple dish to create. You can have it on the table in 30 minutes, flat.

Butter Chicken: 
Serves 2-4
Prep time: 25min

2 chicken breasts, butterflied
1/2 can of coconut milk
1 medium onion, roughly diced
2 tsp tamarind powder
2 tsp sweet curry powder (Penzeys has an EXCELLENT sweet curry powder)
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp powdered sage
4 garlic cloves or 1 tbsp of that squeezable pureed garlic (which I happen to love)
Olive Oil
3 tbsp butter
3 Fresh Sage leaves
3-4 dried Sanaam chili peppers


Relish: 

1/2 seedless cucumber washed and chopped
1 large Carrot, minced
2 Green onions, chopped
Two pinches of sea salt
1/4 cup Seasoned rice wine vinegar
Two turns of olive oil

Step 1: Prepare your Jasmine rice, FIRST, per my fool proof rice cooking instructions.

Step 2: Prepare the relish by combining all ingredients and let it chill in a covered container until you are ready to serve the meal.

Step 3: Dice your onion and set aside. Slice your chicken breasts in half and place them on a large piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Add salt, spices (tamarind, curry and sage) and olive oil to the chicken and coat both sides.  Place a second sheet of paper over the seasoned chicken and pound the breasts somewhat. I use my rolling pin. You don't want them too thick or too thin, and the pounding helps the flavor dig in! After that, dice the flattened chicken breasts to bigger than bite sized pieces and coat them in the garlic.

In a large pan or wok, add some Olive Oil and set the burner to high heat. Saute the onions for 3 minutes and reduce the temp to medium-high. Add the butter and the chicken. Let the chicken brown in the butter for 5 minutes before adding the chilies. Let those cook together for another 3 minutes before adding the coconut milk and reducing the heat to medium. Be sure to add some of the liquid and most of the thick, creamy "build up" on the top of the can. You WANT that! Yummy!

TASTE TEST! 

Does it need more salt? More heat? Garlic? 

ALWAYS taste your food before you serve it! 

Alter it to your palette, not mine.   

The last thing you should add should be the fresh sage leaves, if you have them? They really add another level of flavor that the powdered sage cannot. Let that cook for another 3 or so mins and VOILA!


Serve this ladled over a heaping spot of Jasmine rice and a side dollop of the relish and chutney. A chutney gives it a super sweet/spicy element while the relish is a refreshing, crunchy tang.  Don't forget the naan bread, of course!

ENJOY!