Butter Chicken

I love butter chicken! I still remember the first time I had butter chicken. I was in Toronto with my sister and we visited our cousin Julie. She took us to this little Indian buffet close to her place. When she asked if i've ever had butter chicken, I imagined chicken basted in a pool of butter...it didn't sound appetizing. When I had it...it was love!

I am unsure just how authentic butter chicken is to indian cuisine. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that butter chicken had western influence in its creation. And every time i order butter chicken at an Indian restaurant, I can't help but wonder if the Indian staff is scoffing at me and think that i don't really appreciate authentic Indian cuisine. But i'll admit...other than butter chicken, samosa, and curry...i don't know much about Indian cuisine. All I know is...my palate loves it.

Up until last night, I've only had butter chicken at restaurants or coming from a jar. On this note, the President's choice butter chicken sauce is really good. It's great if you want butter chicken quickly. So, last night, I decided to give making butter chicken from scratch a try. I combined two recipes. One I found online, and another I photocopied from a recipe book.

• 1tbsp (15ml) vegetable oil
• 1 lb (500g) boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite-size portions
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp (15ml) ginger, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp (30ml) butter
• 2 tsp (10ml) lemon juice
• 1 tsp (5ml) of each: cumin and garam masala
• 1/4 tsp (1ml) of cayenne pepper
• 1 cup (250ml) tomato sauce
• 1 cup (250ml) Evaporated Milk
• 1/4 (50ml) plain yogurt
• salt and pepper to taste
• Tandoori masala paste

1. Marinate the chicken with the Tandoori masala paste for at least 2 hrs. Preheat oven 375 degrees and bake chicken cubes on a baking sheet for about 12-15 min, or until juices run clear. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté onions, garlic, and ginger until soft and fragrant. Stir in butter, lemon juice, garam masala, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce and cook for 2 minutes, storring frequently. Stir in milk and yogurt. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add chicken to sauce and bring dauce to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes until sauce had thickened.
4. Serve with Naan or over steamed rice.

I really only realize now, from writing out the recipe, that i almost didn't follow the measurement at all. For starters, I used the whole can of milk and tomato sauce. I used ginger powder instead of real ginger, because i didn't have any on hand. I couldn't find Garam masala at the loblaws, but theyhad spices called Indian masala, so i bought that instead. I also think i used more yougurt than was asked and maybe 5 times the amount of cayenne pepper. The results came out fine though. Kevin said he couldn't make out the difference from the jar kind we usually have. The recipe also didn't take as long as i expected. Dinner was on the table in 40 minutes. The sauce smelled and taste kind of yougut-ey at first, but once i added the chicken with the tandoori, it just worked out. One thing that bothered me was that the lemon juice caused the dairy product in the sauce to become grainy (curdle). But it did not change the taste.