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Butter Chicken Recipe - Delicious Smooth Indian Curry

by: Sanskriti

Yummy or delicious are the two words which you'll sure utter after having the most famous Indian curry "The Butter Chicken". Unlike other Indian curries, the butter chicken is not spice rather a little on sweeter side. This is one dish which is not only famous amongst Indians but people from other origin too. The restaurants generally serve it mild but if you are cooking it at home you can add spices as per your taste.

Butter Chicken is generally made with boneless chicken and not the chicken with bones. Small chunks of chicken are put in rich and smooth gravy which contains a good amount of creme. When served it is usually garnished with fresh coriander leaves, a spoon full of fresh creme and a cube or two of butter.

Ingredients:
For marinade :

1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chili powder

salt to taste

For 2nd stage marinade:

1 cup yogurt

salt to taste

2 tablespoons garlic paste

1/2 tablespoon garam masala

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 tablespoons ginger paste

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

For gravy:

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 tablespoon ginger paste

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon chopped green chili pepper

2 cups tomato puree

1 tablespoon chili powder

salt to taste

1 cup water

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves

1 cup heavy cream

Directions :

To Marinate: Place chicken in a nonporous glass dish or bowl with lemon juice, 1 tablespoon chili powder and salt. Toss to coat; cover dish and refrigerate to marinate for 1 hour.

Drain yogurt in a cloth for 15 to 20 minutes. Place in a medium bowl; mix in salt, garlic paste, garam masala, butter, chili powder, ginger paste, lemon juice and oil. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken, replace cover and refrigerate to marinate for another 3 to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place chicken on skewers. Place skewers in a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until almost cooked through.

To Make Sauce: Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garam masala. When masala begins to crackle, mix in ginger paste, chopped garlic and green chile peppers. Saute until tender, then stir in tomato puree, chili powder, salt and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring in honey and fenugreek.

Place chicken in sauce mixture. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside. Stir in fresh cream.

Image credit: http://images.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://choowies.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/butter-chicken-2.jpg&usg=AFQjCNHBFpvFpRc9tpJvaMmzf7bjrSA-0w

Ingredients:

1 kg boneless chicken skin removed

Juice of 1 lime

Salt to taste

1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to suit your taste)

6 cloves

8-10 peppercorns

1" stick of cinnamon

2 bay leaves

8-10 almonds

Seeds from 3-4 pods of cardamom

1 cup fresh yoghurt (must not be sour)

3 tbsps vegetable/canola/sunflower cooking oil

2 onions chopped

2 tsps garlic paste

1 tsp ginger paste

2 tsps coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 can (400g or 14 oz) of tomato paste

1/2 litre chicken stock

2 tbsps kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

3 tbsps unmelted, soft butter

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves to garnish

Directions:

Mix the chicken, lime juice, salt and red chilli powder in a large, non-metallic bowl. Cover and allow to marinate for 1 hour.

Heat a flat pan or griddle on medium heat and gently roast (stirring frequently) the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves and almonds till they darken slightly. Cool and add the cardamom seeds. Now grind into a coarse powder in a clean, dry coffee grinder.

Mix the yoghurt, above whole spice powder (from previous step), coriander, cumin and turmeric powders together and add them to the chicken. Allow to marinate for another hour.

Heat the oil in a deep pan on medium heat. When hot, add the onions. Fry till a pale golden brown in color and then add the ginger and garlic pastes. Fry for a minute.

Add only the chicken from the chicken-spice mix and fry till sealed (chicken will turn opaque and the flesh will go from pink to whitish in color).

Now add the tomato paste, chicken stock, kasuri methi and remaining part of the yogurt-spice mix to the chicken.

Cook till the chicken is tender and the gravy is reduced to half its original volume.

Melt the butter in another small pan and then pour it over the chicken.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Naan or tandoori roti.

Image credit: http://images.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4769821/chicken-curry-web-main_Full.jpg&usg=AFQjCNFjpha5QsLhWmOWBuXTc7Jy0p2eBg