Thursday, March 24, 2011

Butter Chicken


I saw Gordon Ramsay on the telly a while back when he was going to India and getting back to cooking authentic Indian food.   All the dishes he was cooking up looked fantastic, plus I'm a fan of Indian food.  So I decided to buy the book and haven't been disappointed since.  The curries and dishes from the book in my opinion are better than take aways any day.  (At least the ones I've had, I'm all for trying new places)

One night I was in the mood for an Indian dish, so I pulled out my Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape cook book and flipped through the pages.  My mouth was watering at every recipe.  I decided on Butter Chicken because I've made it a few times before and it's really tasty!!  Even though there is a lot going on the flavors are amazing and it's worth the time letting it marinate.

Butter Chicken
Serves 4

Marinade
800g boneless and skinless chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 cm knob of ginger peeled and finely grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot or mild chili powder
1.5 tbsp lemon juice
75ml natural yogurt
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin

Sauce
1.5 tbsp ghee or melted unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 cm fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped
2 cardamom pod, seeds lightly crushed
3 cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
1tsp garam masala
1tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp hot or mild chili powder
250 ml tomato puree
1 tbsp lemon juice
40 g unsalted butter
100ml double cream
1 tbsp chopped coriander to garnish

Place the chicken in a bowl and add the garlic, ginger, salt, chili powder and lemon juice.  Give a good mix and cover with cling film chilling for 30 minutes.  Mix together the yogurt, garam masala, turmeric, and cumin and add to the chicken, making sure each piece is well coated with all the yumminess.  Cover again and chill for 3-4 hours to let the flavors make some love. 

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.  Put the marinated chicken pieces on a grill rack set on a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes.

For the sauce, heat the ghee or utter in a pan and add the garlic and ginger.  Fry for a minute or so then add the cardamom, cloves coriander, garam masala, turmeric and chili powder.  Stir well and fry for 1-2 minus until they give off a lovely aroma.  Stir in the tomato puree and lemon juice and cook for another couple of minutes.  Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and stir well to coat.  Finally, add the butter (that's why they call it butter chicken) and cream and stir continuously until the butter has melted and the sauce is smooth as silk.  Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.  Transfer to a warm bowl and serve hot over rice, garnished with chopped coriander.

3 comments:

  1. I also love Indian food and sadly I am the only one who love Indian food among my friends so what I am trying to say is, I need new friends :)
    The butter chicken looks divine. Yum.

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  2. this sounds great, and something i haven't tried at an indian restaurant! i'll have to remember this next time i have a craving :)

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  3. Your butter chicken dish looks so colorful, and delicious. Love the spices used in this Indian inspired dish. Beautiful presentation, as well...thanks for sharing!

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