Butter Chicken

Created on 2024-08-11

Adapted from Butter chicken - indisk smørkylling @ MatPrat (2024-08-11)

Estimated time needed: At least 5 hours 32 minutes. At most 7 hours 1 minutes.

Ingredients

600 g tomato 1 tomato is approximately 150 g
400 g chicken meat
56 g garlic 1 clove of garlic is about 7 g.1 clove of garlic is about 7 g.
55 g cream approximately 37 % fat, 50 ml is about 55 g.
50 g cashews
30 ml lemon juice 30 ml is approximately 2 tablespoons
21.6 g honey 21.6 g is approximately 1 tablespoon
20 g fresh cilantro
15 ml rapeseed oil 15 ml is approximately 1 tablespoon
15 ml garam masala 15 ml is approximately 1 tablespoon
15 ml oil 15 ml is approximately 1 tablespoon
15.0 ml ginger
15 g butter 15 g is approximately 1 tablespoon
8.73 ml chilli powder 7.5 ml is approximately 0.5 tablespoons1.23 ml is 0.25 teaspoon
5 ml salt 5 ml is approximately 1 teaspoon
5 ml pepper 5 ml is approximately 1 teaspoon
1 tsp fenugreek greens Can be substituted with fennel seeds
1 pod cardamom
1 piece green chillies 1 piece is approximately 1 piece
1 dl greek yoghurt

Scaling

Percent %
By ingredient

Timeline

Directions

⌛ Active time 5 minutes

  • 28 g garlic | 1 clove of garlic is about 7 g.
  • 7.5 ml ginger
  • 30 ml lemon juice | 30 ml is approximately 2 tablespoons

Prepare rub for chicken:

Finely chop garlic, shred ginger, and combine with lemon juice.

⌛ Active time 5 minutes

  • 400 g chicken meat

Prep chicken meat:

If using files, pat it dry, cube it in big chunks (but not larger than what you'll comfortably fit on a spoon with more other stuff). If using whole chicken, we assume a ratio of 60% meat, so the base recipe amount of 400 g would call for a rather small chicken of about 666 g. A practical solution would be to use a more easily obtained chicken of about 1300 g, and doubling the amount of sauce. Should you be using whole chicken, remove the skin, pat it dry, and cut deep scores in the meat all over the chicken.

⌛ Active time 2 minutes

Rub chicken:

With the rub you prepared, rub in the whole chicken, and sprinkle over some salt to taste.

⌛ Passive time 20 minutes

Let chicken rest for 20 minutes:

Put the chicken somewhere cold and let it rest for 20 minutes

⌛ Active time 3 minutes

  • 1 dl greek yoghurt
  • 15 ml rapeseed oil | 15 ml is approximately 1 tablespoon
  • 15 ml garam masala | 15 ml is approximately 1 tablespoon
  • 7.5 ml chilli powder | 7.5 ml is approximately 0.5 tablespoons

Prepare marinade:

Combine the ingredients into a paste.

⌛ Active time 2 minutes

Apply the marinade:

Once again pat the chicken dry, and rub in the marinade

⌛ Active time 3 minutes | Passive time 240 minutes

Let chicken rest for 4 to 6 hours, or overnight:

Most recipes indicate that storing it overnight gives the best results. If you like us only have a refrigerator to store it in I'd probably try to cover it with some plastic film.

⌛ Active time 3 minutes | Passive time 50 minutes

Roast the chicken:

Roast the chicken at 200 ℃, or grill it until it's golden brown and cooked through. If you used whole chicken, pluck the meat in large chunks of the bones after it's done.

⌛ Passive time 30 minutes

  • 50 g cashews

Soak cashews:

Soak the cashews in lukewarm water for at least 30 minutes. This is important for the texture when blending

⌛ Passive time 30 minutes

Blend cashews:

Discard the soaking water, and blend/mash the cashews

⌛ Active time 5 minutes

  • 600 g tomato | 1 tomato is approximately 150 g
  • 28 g garlic | 1 clove of garlic is about 7 g.
  • 7.5 ml ginger
  • 1 tsp fenugreek greens | Can be substituted with fennel seeds

Prepare vegetables for frying:

Roughly chop the tomatoes, finely chop the garlic, shred the ginger, and chop the fenugreek

⌛ Active time 5 minutes

  • 15 ml oil | 15 ml is approximately 1 tablespoon
  • 1 pod cardamom
  • 1.23 ml chilli powder | 1.23 ml is 0.25 teaspoon

Fry greens and spices:

In a frying pan, add some oil, heat it up, add the greens and spices, then fry until the tomatoes are soft.

⌛ Active time 2 minutes

Add cashew paste and blend:

Add the cashew paste you previously prepared to the tomatoes and vegetables and blend them using an immersion blender. If you want the sauce to be very smooth strain it through a rough sieve/mesh to filter out remnants of shells.

⌛ Active time 1 minutes | Passive time 3 minutes

Simmer sauce for a couple of minutes:

After you've blended the sauce, get it back in the pan/pot and let it simmer for a couple of minutes

⌛ Active time 2 minutes

  • 1 piece green chillies | 1 piece is approximately 1 piece

Finely chop green chillies:

Finely chop some green chilli for the last round of spices before the end

⌛ Active time 3 minutes

  • 21.6 g honey | 21.6 g is approximately 1 tablespoon
  • 5 ml salt | 5 ml is approximately 1 teaspoon
  • 5 ml pepper | 5 ml is approximately 1 teaspoon
  • 55 g cream | approximately 37 % fat, 50 ml is about 55 g.
  • 15 g butter | 15 g is approximately 1 tablespoon

Add final spices and whisk in cream:

Add the green chilli you just chopped, some honey, salt and pepper to taste. Then whisk in the cream and butter

⌛ Active time 1 minutes | Passive time 4 minutes

Add chicken and simmer until everything is warm

⌛ Active time 2 minutes

  • 20 g fresh cilantro

Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve:

For the base recipe use about a half of one of the small bushes you get at the store. The 20g packages are also a fine amount. Remember to wash it.