Butter Chicken – Mumbai Manner

Butter Loaded Chicken With Cream on Top

Everyone has their own palate for butter chicken, some plump for sweet, other spicy and remaining its mild flavor. The taste of butter chicken in the outlets of Mumbai leans more towards a bit sweet side. Bademiya, delhi darbar or anywhere in Mumbai butter chicken always leave a classic mark on the taste buds of nonveg hoggerz. My husband dearest personally enjoys hogging this particular because of its authentic and peculiar sauce coated around the crispy fried chicken. He is not a big fan of curries, but this unique dish has always captivated his interest. I believe in treating my husband with the crown, so whenever he is not around I swing to markup my menu with a sapid pattern of recipes so that when he is back home, he finds the dinner table full of goodness. I think the sauce of butter chicken taste closer to paneer masala curry whereas the chunks of chicken taste alike chicken tandoori fried version. This recipe is next to ordering from your favorite restaurant, to make this, I used boneless chicken, simmered with cashews, and ample of dairy products, it just couldn’t be any easier.

We mop it up with rumali roti, also taste excellent with garlic naan or lemon rice, the buttery taste and tenderness of the chicken falls apart and melts in your mouth. Try once and you’ll never forget its flavorsome taste.

Butter Chicken – Mumbai Manner

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Serves: 2-3 persons

Ingredients:

500-grams boneless chicken cubes

1 cup cooking oil

2 tablespoons butter, unsalted

1/2 cup plain yogurt, whisk

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 cup tomato puree

6 cashews

2 tablespoons garlic paste

2 tablespoons ginger paste

2 teaspoons cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

3 teaspoons red chili powder, spice as per your choice

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon garam masala powder, adjust later

½ teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves, crushed well

½ cup thickened cream

1 tablespoon sugar, adjust as per your choice

1 teaspoon of salt or as per your pref.

Method:

• In a big bowl, add boneless chicken pieces, ½ tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon red chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon garam masala powder, 1 tablespoon each ginger-garlic paste and ½ cup yogurt. Mix well and marinate the chicken for 2 hours or overnight.
• After the marination process, heat ½ cup cooking oil and place chicken pieces on a hot nonstick pan, and allow it to shallow fry from both the sides on a medium heat. It shouldn’t take less than 7 minutes. Remaining tenderness of chicken will be fixed while being cooked in sauce.
• In the same pan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, Fry chopped onions until it's translucent, later put in remaining ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute.
• Add 1 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder and ½ teaspoon garam masala powder and keep stirring until fragrant, add 1 cup tomato puree and cashews, 1 teaspoon red chili powder and salt. Allow it to simmer on a medium heat for about 15 minutes. As soon as tomato mixture thickens, turn off the heat and allow it to come to room temperature. Later, blend the mixture with the help of water into a smooth paste.
• Simply add this paste into the pan along with the fried chicken pieces and allow it to cook for another 15 minutes. As soon as the chicken is well cooked and the sauce become thick, add in ½ teaspoon dried fenugreek, 1 tablespoon sugar and ½ cup cream and mix well. Addition of cream lightens the overall taste of curry hence adjust the spice, salt and sugar as needed. Garnish with cream and chopped cilantro and enjoy digging your naan in this glossy textured gravy. 

Happy winters!