Delicious Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken is an Indian classic dish from the Punjab region which is now popular  in many countries all over the world. It can be made as mild or spicy as you wish. It is a full flavoured dish that complements the chicken well. 

I still remember the day I prepared this dish first. Two years back, on one bright Sunday morning,  when I was about to prepare chicken curry for lunch, my husband asked me : " why don't you try  something different, like butter chicken?" .I searched in my handbooks for the recipe and I got an easy one. Although it was not a great success that day, I came up with a wonderful dish finally after the initial trials. Here I am sharing with you all the tips and tricks I am using to make it delicious.   

      

Servings : 4         Prep Time : 15 min      Cooking Time : 15 min

Ingredients
        1)      Chicken ( medium pieces)       -   500 gm
        2)      Butter                                                 -   25 gm
        3)      Onion                                                 -   3 big
        4)      Tomato                                   -   2
        5)      Cashew nut                            -   10 nos        
        6)      Ginger garlic paste                -   2 tbsp.
        7)      Red chilli powder                   -   1 tbsp
        8)      Turmeric powder                   -   ½ tsp
        9)      Cardamom                             -   4 nos
       10)  Cinnamon                               -   2 inch piece
       11)  Cloves                                     -   8 nos
       12)  Coriander leaves (finely chopped) -  2 tbsp.
       13)  Kasoori methi                         -   1 tbsp.
       14)  Any sunflower oil                   - 1 tbsp.
       15) Water                                       -  2 cups
       16) Sugar                                        - 1 tbsp

 Method:

        1)    Clean the chicken pieces and drain the water well.

2)      In a thick pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté the onion.Once it is golden brown , switch off the flame and let it cool.
3)      Dip the tomatoes in hot water for 15 minutes. After that, peel off the skin.
4)      Dip the cashewnuts in a cup of water for ½ an hour.
5)      Now , grind the sauted onion, tomatoes and cashewnuts finely.
 

6)      In the same pan , heat the butter and sauté the chicken pieces for 2 minutes.

7)      Then add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté .

8)      Then add the chilly powder, turmeric powder, crushed cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Mix all these well . Rotating the pan with its handle is better than using a spoon to avoid the pieces getting shredded.
9)      Then add the onion-tomato-cashewnut paste.
10)  Add the required amount of salt ,2 cups of water and sugar.
11)  Once it starts to boil, keep the flame low and the lid closed. Cook until the butter comes out on the top. Stir in between.
12)  Then switch off the flame and garnish the chopped coriander leaves and kasoori methi on the top. Keep the lid closed  for at least 1 hour. If you keep it for more than 2 hrs, it will taste wonderful.
13) Garnish with butter before serving.