Butter Chicken

I’ve wanted to try making Indian food for a long time so when I stumbled upon this butter chicken recipe on Simply Scratch I decided to try making it. I’m not sure if it’s traditional to use coconut milk in butter chicken recipes, because most recipes call for heavy cream, but I am so glad this recipe used it because we all thought it gave the dish a nice richness. The chicken was tender and the sauce was so flavorful and paired nicely with garlic rice, flatbread, and a cucumber yogurt raita salad.

Marinade:

• ¾ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger grated
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 tsp garam marsala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp coriander
• Pinch of cayenne to taste
• Sea salt to taste
• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces

Other Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes, pureed with a blender (not tomato sauce)
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk or heavy cream
• Sea salt to taste
• Fresh cilantro

Serve with:

• Basmati rice
• Flatbread or naan  bread

How to Make Butter Chicken

Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, fresh ginger, minced garlic, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, coriander, and cayenne pepper, together in a large bowl. Add the chicken and mix around to completely coat the chicken; seal with plastic wrap. Place into the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 20 minutes before cooking the meal; set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the butter. Add the chicken and marinade and cook, stirring often for 5-7 minutes, or until no longer pink.

Add the pureed tomatoes and sugar. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the coconut milk and heat through. Taste and season with sea salt, to taste.

Pour into a serving bowl and top with fresh cilantro. Serve with basmati rice and naan bread, if desired. Enjoy!