Guest Series: My Mother's Butter Chicken

My parents are visiting us from India. And that usually means a whole lot of yummy food that my mom cooks from scratch. She takes requests pretty much everyday and makes sure to satisfy all of our whims and fancies. I haven't been taking any pictures or documenting any of her recipes, since I'm usually too busy pigging out. Why waste time with pictures, when you can be stuffing yourself silly with all this goodness? 

As they're packing up they're stuff and getting ready for the long trip back home, one of our final requests was for Butter Chicken. Also known as Chicken Tikka Masala, its a very mildly spiced, but creamy sauce of onions and tomatoes, with succulent pieces of yogurt marinated chicken. It's simple, yet complex layers of flavors are just divine. I had to make sure to get my camera out, get her secret (well, not that secret) recipe and make sure I can make this over and over again.

So without further ado, I start my special guest series with my mom's famous Butter Chicken

Step 1: The chicken

The chicken is marinated in a spiced yogurt sauce and the roasted in the oven. The marinade contains:

Plain yogurt

Garlic paste

Ginger paste

Green chili paste

Cumin powder

Coriander powder

Turmeric

Red chili powder

Salt

Cut up your chicken into bite size pieces and marinate overnight or less depending on your time constraints. The longer it marinates the better it tastes. Although its not going to be terrible if it only sits for 4 hours.

Step 2: The gravy

Meanwhile, get started on the curry part. While we're on the subject, let me clarify some American misconceptions about "curry". Curry is not a dish. Curry not a spice either. Chicken curry is not something you find in India and neither is curry powder. Curry pretty much means a gravy. It means the sauce that the meat/vegetable/cheese is covered in. It could be yogurt based, cream based, tomato based, or broth based. It could even just be water. Nobody in India knows what "curry powder" is. And no Indian (including myself) will ever use it. People in India make their own spice blends while the cook. So stop claiming you make Indian food when all you do is add a pinch of generic curry powder to stuff (you know who you are!)

So where was I...ah, the curry. This is what you'll need:
Sliced onions
Garlic
Ginger
A can of tomato sauce, or peeled tomatos
Turmeric
Chili powder
Cumin powder
Coriander powder
Salt
optional - Kasuri Methi (more on this later)

The curry starts with a pat of butter. Even though its called "butter" chicken, it surprisingly only needs about a tablespoons worth. Add in a bit of oil and start on caramelizing the sliced onions. You want these onions a nice dark brown, without burning then. So keep the heat low.

Meanwhile, get the chicken in the oven. Spread out on a baking dish, a drop or two of oil, just so that it doesn't stick. Set in the oven at 375º for about 30-40 mins. Turn once, about 3/4 way through.

Back to the onions. Once these are caramelized, add the rest of the ingredients - chopped garlic and ginger, turmeric, chili powder, cumin powder, coriander seed powder. Mix in and then add a can of tomato sauce. Fresh tomatoes, canned diced or sauce is also acceptable. Doesn't really matter what kind you use. 

If you have it, you may add a generous pinch of Kasuri Methi. Methi is called fenugreek in English. It is a leafy green, used in a lot in India. The dried leaves, called Kasuri Methi have a bitter taste and a characteristically strong smell. It more of an aromatic addition to the dish, than flavor. So easily omitted.

Once everything is sauted, remove from heat and cool for a few minutes. Transfer contents to a blender and blend to a thick paste. Sparingly use water or milk to facilitate the blending. 

You'll get an idea of the consistency here.

Transfer the paste to the pan and saute some more. Add a whole pint of cream (!) slowly into the paste and blend in. Let it come to a slow simmer. 

Don't forget about to check on the chicken in the oven.

You don't need it to get brown, just soft, tender and cooked through.

In goes the chicken into the gravy. Mix well, and bring to a boil.

At this point you can keep this and eat it the next day. The flavors develop even more. But who am I kidding? How can you possibly resist this yumminess?

Serve with hot-of-the-pan rotis and cool raw onions and lime. Enjoy! And thank my mom for the wonderful recipe.