Scratch butter chicken recipe
This scratch butter chicken curry uses fresh ingredients to create this mildly spicy, delicious butter chicken sauce and tender morsels of chicken. Serve with basmati rice and naan bread for a real treat!
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice, freshly squeezed if possible
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1-2 tsp sea salt (divided)
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric (see note)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp garam masala (see note)
- 2 tsp minced garlic (divided)
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced (divided)
- 1 kg fresh tomatoes
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 2 whole Ceylon cinnamon quills (see note)
- 4 whole green cardamom pods (see note)
- 4 whole cloves (see note)
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes (or more or less to taste)
- 1 tbsp crushed curry leaf (see note)
- 1-2 tsp golden cane sugar (see note)
- 1 cup light cream
Instructions
- In a container with lid, place the uncooked chicken cubes, lemon juice, 1 tsp of the paprika and 1/2 tsp of the salt. Stir it up, cover and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. This is your first marinade.
- Meanwhile, get your second marinade started. Mix your Greek yogurt with the turmeric, olive oil, curry leaf, half the garam masala, half the garlic and half the ginger. Once you're finished marinating the chicken in the lemon mixture, stir the yogurt mixture into the chicken and let marinate at least 12 hours and up to 2 days.
- When you're almost ready to start cooking the chicken, make a puree out of the tomatoes and cashews. We use a bullet-style blender for this, as it gets it nice and smooth. You'll want it as smooth as possible.
- To cook the chicken, heat a small amount of oil in a pan on medium-high heat and add the chicken and marinade. Cook until the liquid evaporates and the chicken is just cooked (not pink inside, but also not overcooked, so that it doesn't get too tough). Remove the chicken and thickened marinade from the pan and set aside.
- Melt the butter in the pan and add the whole cinnamon, cardamom and clove to toast the spices for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the remaining garlic, remaining ginger and chili flakes and fry for another minute or two until fragrant.
- Add the tomato puree to the pan, along with 1/2 tsp salt to start with (add more if you like it fairly salty) and the sugar. Cook until the sauce becomes thick enough that when you draw the spoon across the bottom of the pan, it leaves a trail for a moment before the pan is covered up again with the sauce.
- Add 1-2 cups water, depending on how thick you like your curry, and the remaining garam masala. Simmer for about 5 minutes and then add the chicken and marinade. Simmer the chicken gently for about 5 minutes to heat through and infuse the flavours.
- Remove the pan from the heat and cool 1-2 minutes before stirring in the cream. (If it's too hot, it might curdle.)
- Serve hot over cooked basmati rice with a side salad. For an extra treat, you can have some naan bread on the side!
Notes
Ground turmeric is an antifungal and helps to keep the marinade from going off while it's in the fridge. I recommend Cha's Organics' ground turmeric.
Garam masala is a spice blend commonly used in Indian cuisine. You can easily make your own garam masala at home.
Ceylon cinnamon quills are sort of like the cinnamon sticks, but better. Most of the "cinnamon" sold on the market is actually cassia (a cheaper cousin of cinnamon). I recommend Cha's Organics' true cinnamon quills because their flavour is so much better.
Green cardamom pods are the whole cardamom, rather than just the little black seeds. The whole pod imparts amazing flavour even after cooking finishes (discard the pod while eating). I recommend Cha's Organics' whole cardamom.
Whole cloves are a spice sometimes used in canning and sweet recipes, but here they add a lovely spiciness to the curry. Try Cha's Organics' whole clove.
Curry leaf is used in mostly South Indian recipes. You can leave it out if you can't find any, you can also get Cha's Organics' whole curry leaf online.
Sugar is used to cut the sharpness of the tomato. My favourite type to use is the Camino turbinado (golden cane sugar).