Aromatic Butter Chicken
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Butter Chicken is a favourite of ours from our local takeaway and always such a hit with the kids. With aromatic spices, a rich gravy and succulent chicken there’s nothing more you want from a curry but you can achieve that same delicious taste at home and in fact, we think it’s even better! With a plethora of spices this dish is a labour of love but oh so worth it.
We don’t just love the taste of food but we also eat with our eyes so with the added golden glow of turmeric and the rich deep red of sweet paprika, this dish is one to satisfy every sense. Simmered away until the chicken is tender and falling apart, the gravy has infused with all those aromatic spices and finished off with a little cream; this dish is ultra-decadent and a real treat to make at home.
If you’re poor on time or pantry space, check out our own Spice People’s Butter Chicken Curry blend. We’ve done the mixing work for you to make life a little simpler.
Spices used in this recipe
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Kashmiri Chillies Ground – Mild
Product Description
The Kashmiri Chilli is a variety of chilli known for its intense red colour and lower heat rating, making it ideal to use in tandoori, butter chicken and rogan josh curries. They are dried and finely ground before adding to curries, soups, stews or even as a finishing sprinkle for a spicy heat. It is widely used especially in Indian cuisine, but also Mexican, Asian and Italian dishes.
$3.45 -
Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks
Product description
Cinnamon Sticks, or quills, are obtained from the inner bark of a variety of trees from the Cinnamomum genus. The dried cinnamon quills are characterised by their light brown colour and thin rolled shape, as well as it’s warm, sweet and delicate fragrance. It is used to flavour poached fruits, tagines and curries, as well as baked goods.
The Spice People carry pure cinnamon in varieties as cinnamon ground and cinnamon sticks, as well as cinnamon sugar
$3.45 -
Turmeric Powder (Alleppey)
Product Description
Turmeric alleppey has the highest level of naturally occurring curcumin. It has a light, warm, mildly bitter peppery flavor, and an earthy musky aroma. Its deep mustard yellow-ochre color imparts a strong dark yellow hue to any dish. It is preferred for its health benefits due to its higher levels of curcumin.
$6.95 -
Garam Masala – Mild
Product description
Garam masala, “hot spices” in Hindi, is a richly aromatic blend of spices that gives a balanced blend of sweet and peppery flavours to Indian and Asian dishes. Even tough the ingredients vary according to the country, village or family, some of the ingredients of this versatile Indian mix are cardamom, ginger, fennel, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It is widely used in Indian and Asian cooking and seasoning and especially for adding flavour to curries.
$3.45 -
Green Cardamom Pods (Whole)
Product Description
Green Cardamom Pods have a strong, unique taste, with an intensely aromatic fragrance and a minty coolness. The oval-shaped pods are green, as suggested by their name, and are used in a variety of savoury and sweet dishes. Next to black pepper, cardamom is the most common spice in India. It is also one of the world’s most ancient spices, often glorified as the Queen of Spices. It is an essential ingredient of Garam Masala.
The spice people carry cardamom in the form of these products; cardamom green pods whole, black whole cardamom and cardamom pods ground.
$3.45 -
Cumin Seeds Whole
Product description
Cumin seeds are an ancient and versatile spice that is a staple in countless kitchens across the world. Cumin has a khaki colour and peppery and nutty flavour with tangy citrus overtones. It is a key ingredient in curry making. Use in Middle Eastern, Indian, Spanish, and Mexican cooking.
$3.45 -
Paprika Sweet- Spanish
Product description
Spanish paprika sweet is made from ground red pepper has a rich red colour while retaining a mild flavour which complements most savoury dishes. Due to its vibrant colour and full-bodied flavour it is used in many European and Indian dishes. It gives a subtle caramelised sweet warmth to dishes and it is a core ingredient in our North Africa Chermula.
$6.95 -
Pepper Black Ground
Product description
Black Pepper is picked from the flowering vine of the peppercorn plant and is the most pungent and flavoursome variety of Pepper. Black peppercorns are picked green and then dried to 12% moisture content. When ground, its grey in colour as the seed inside is white. It has a woody flavour with a spicy heat and it is used in all cultures and types of cuisine especially in Moroccan and Middle East cooking. Pepper is used in all cultures and all types of cuisine. Also, it is known for improving digestion.
The Spice People carry these pepper products: pepper black whole, pepper black ground, pepper black cracked, pepper white whole, pepper white ground, pepper green whole, pepper lemon, pepper mill mix.
$3.45
Method
Start this recipe by combining all the ingredients for the marinade in a non reactive dish and place the chicken in before tossing it through until it is evenly coated.
This recipe is best if you let the chicken marinade for a couple of hours however, as I always say who has time for that… plenty of flavour here.
Meanwhile begin the sauce for the butter chicken. Brown the onion off in olive oil before adding the spices and cooking for 1-2 minutes to take the rawness out of them.
Add the marinated chicken and the marinade followed by the remaining ingredients bar the cream and cook for 30 minutes. Add the cream and cook for a further 10 minutes before serving.
I found a low calorie version of Butter Chicken online (Cook it Out! on YouTube) which is surprisingly good. The ingredients to serve four are: 1 tsp oil; 1 tsp garlic paste; ½ tsp ginger paste; 150 g Tomato Puree; 1 tsp Salt; 1.5 tsp black pepper; 2 tsp Garam Masala; a pinch of Chilli Powder; a pinch of ground Coriander; ½ tsp Heeng (Asafoetida); 500 g skinless chicken pieces or thigh fillets; 250 ml full cream milk (but I used low fat milk for even fewer calories), and 1 tbsp dried fenugreek (Kasoori Methi) is optional.
To cook it: Fry the ginger and garlic paste in the oil in a hot pan. Add the tomato puree and cook until thickened and reduced.
Add the spices and cook for a few minutes. Add ¼ cup of water if necessary before adding the chicken and stirring to coat with gravy. Bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. If using larger pieces of chicken with the bone in (drumsticks or thigh cutlets for example) cook for an extra 10-15 minutes.
Sprinkle in the crushed dried fenugreek leaves (if used), pour in ½ cup of milk and stir. Boil for 15 minutes.
Pour in the other ½ cup of milk and continue to boil until the gravy reaches the desired thickness.
Turn off the heat and allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes.
Serve with basmati rice, naan and any vegetable dish you like.
This recipe has about 300 calories per serve, with 28g of protein, 7g of carbs and 18g of fat (or even less if low fat milk is used)