I welcome the day I’m no longer nervous about messing up the spices in an Indian dish. While I’m not quite there yet, I did find this recipe fantastic after a few trial runs, tweaking as I went along. By the time I cooked this for two of my three clients last week, I was confident it was a tried and true recipe. My husband considers this dish in the Dinners by Dara, Top 10.
Butter Chicken with Rice and Naan
Butter Chicken with Rice and Naan
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
serve with rice and naan
Author: Dara Boxer
Recipe type: Poultry
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced into bite sized pieces
- kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large yellow onion, medium diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely diced
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
- ⅔ cup chicken stock
- 1 ½ cups light cream
- 1 ½ teaspoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons sliced almonds
- ½ bunch cilantro leaves, stems removed
Instructions
- Whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala and cumin in a large bowl. Season chicken pieces with kosher salt, and fold chicken into the yogurt mixture, coat entirely with the marinade. Cover, and refrigerate (the longer you can let this marinate, the better).
- In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter until it starts to foam. Add the onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent. Season with salt. Add the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds, and cook until the onions start to brown.
- Add the cinnamon stick, sugar, tomatoes, and jalapeno, season with salt, and cook until the chiles are soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add the chicken and marinade to the pan, and cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for approximately 40 minutes.
- Stir in the cream and tomato paste, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the almonds, cook for an additional 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Garnish with the cilantro leaves.