Let me start off by saying that this is not a traditional Butter Chicken recipe. I referred to a traditional recipe when making this, but my goal was to create a lower-fat version of Butter Chicken. So now it’s ‘A Little Butter and No Cream Chicken’. I used yogurt rather than cream, and I cut down greatly on the amount of butter (about 1/6 the amount).
Even with out all the butter and cream, it’s still delicious! I recognize that it would it be much more decadent with them, sure, but the lower-fat version is healthier while still tasty.
I served this with brown rice, and roasted cauliflower and eggplant.
What you need for the marinade:
- 400 to 500 grams of chicken
- ½ to ¾ teaspoons cayenne powder
- 1/s teaspoon grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon grated garlic
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons yogurt
- ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- pinch of turmeric
What you need for the sauce:
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 cup cubed onions
- 1 & 1/2 cups finely chopped deseeded tomatoes (I used canned tomatoes)
- ½ to ¾ teaspoons garam masala powder
- ½ to ¾ teaspoons kashmiri red chilli powder (or a combo or cayenne and sweet paprika)
- 1 teaspoons ground coriander
- ½ teaspoons sugar (optional)
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 green cardamom pods
- 2 to 3 cloves
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek
- salt to taste
- 1/4-1/2 cup yogurt (not low-fat)
- cilantro for garnish
What you do:
- Combine the ingredients for the marinade. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and coat them in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or preferably overnight.
- Heat 1 teaspoon butter or in a large pan and fry the onions on medium heat until the raw smell goes away.
- Add the tomatoes and some salt to the pan, then add the cayenne, garam masala and coriander. Cook for a few minutes, until the onions are soft.
- Cool and purée the tomato and onions with 3/4 cup water, and set it aside.
- Heat a large pan on medium heat and add a teaspoon of butter. Fry the cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf, and cardamom. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for a for less than a minute.
- Add the marinated chicken to the pan and sauté on medium heat until it is dry, just a minute or two. Pour in the tomato purée, adding cayenne and garam masala to taste. Add more water if needed. Cook until the chicken turns tender. Stir in the fenugreek, and try to fish out the bay leaf and other whole spices.
- Stir in the yogurt, and serve with rice or naan, garnished with cilantro.
Trust in Kim (she will guide thee) 