Butter Chicken
I am Punjabi; that means my culture and ancestry share an origin with this Butter Chicken. Right off the bat, this is not an authentic Indian recipe. This is a recipe that I made to get to as close to the real stuff that takes forever to make the right way. I make it during the week for my kids, who love butter chicken, and also for people who are coming over last minute and want Indian food. This recipe for sure hits the spot. Original butter chicken actually uses tandoori chicken that was made especially for that meal or, more often than not, tandoori chicken that was left over from another meal. My hack for this flavor—you guessed it—is shredded rotisserie chicken. It has flavor and is soft and cooked in a pit like real tandoori chicken is. Trust me, this hacked butter chicken recipe can go up against any Indian takeout.
Makes4 - 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 jalapeño
- 8 tablespoons (114 g) butter
- 1 yellow onion, grated
- 4–5 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) minced ginger
- 28 ounces (840 ml) tomato puree
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons (12 g) cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 3 tablespoons (19 g) curry powder
- 2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
- 1 pound (454 g) shredded rotisserie chicken
- 1/2 cup (8 g) chopped cilantro
Instructions
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Prep the jalapeño. Depending on the level of spice you can handle, you can choose to leave the seeds in if you like it with a little heat, or take them out if you’re a spice chicken like me. You can either finely chop it or cut it lengthwise so that you can remove it when the dish is finished. That way, the flavor is there but nobody has to bite down on it.
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Into a skillet over medium heat, add the butter and onion and brown. Add in the garlic, ginger and jalapeño. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
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Add in the tomato puree and season with salt, sugar, cumin, chili powder and curry powder. Mix and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to cook all the spices. Add in your heavy cream. Mix to combine and taste to adjust for salt.
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Add the shredded rotisserie chicken to the sauce and mix to coat. Top with the cilantro and your kitchen is no less than an Indian takeout spot. Pour this over some basmati rice or dip in with toasted naan bread for the perfect meal.
