Indian Butter Chicken

I know, I know... BUTTER Chicken???  Really, there's not a ton of butter in this recipe, but there is cream, so I am aware this is not a low calorie dish.  I made this at the request of my husband, who loves to go to the Indian Buffet lunch places near his work and loves this dish the most.   

This has intense spicy flavors with lots of garlic and ginger too, but not as hot as you might expect especially when served on plain white, or basmati, rice.  Traditionally it's made with white chicken meat, but I think it would be great with chicken thighs too. Don't be put off by the list of ingredients, it's mostly spices.  I was tempted to combine the two marinades to save time, but I did it the way I read up on the internet... figuring if millions of Indians do it that way, I better too.



Serves about 4-5
Ingredient:

Marinade 1:

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

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tsp salt

Marinade 2:

1 cup greek yogurt

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp garlic paste

1/2 Tbsp garam masala

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 Tbsp chili powder

2 Tbsp ginger

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp olive oil

Sauce:

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp garam masala

1 Tbsp ginger

1 Tbsp chopped garlic

1 Tbsp jalapeno, chopped 

2 cups tomato puree

1 Tbsp chili powder

salt to taste

1 cup water

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream

Directions

In a ziploc bag, place chicken with lemon juice, 1 tablespoon chili powder and salt. Toss to coat; cover dish and refrigerate to marinate for 1 hour.

Add yoghurt, salt, garlic paste, garam masala, butter, chili powder, ginger paste, lemon juice and oil to ziploc bag of chicken and Marinade 1. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken, refrigerate and marinate for another 3 to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Bake on a rack over a baking sheet in a 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 jalapeno 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.

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

If you like Indian Food, you might also like:
Turkey Keema Curry
Spicy Shrimp Curry