Butter Chicken aka Chicken Makhani

I don’t normally cook (or eat, for that matter) Indian food. It’s not that I have anything against it. I think it’s more that most of the recipes seem to have a bunch of ingredients that aren’t already in my cupboard. And since my cup(board) runneth over with ingredients as it is, I don’t want to add to the problem. But this recipe, from Tasty Kitchen caught my eye because I already had most of it on hand and they all seem like pretty normal ingredients. So I thought I’d give it a try.

And OMG.

You guys, this was excellent. So flavorful. So intriguing. So lick-the-plate worthy. The sauce was so delicious I was literally eating it with a spoon (I actually think I might try making this as a soup sometime.) I suggest you make it immediately.

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

5 cloves Garlic, Minced

1 teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoons Black Pepper

½ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper

¼ teaspoons Ground Coriander

¼ teaspoons Cumin

¼ teaspoons Cardamom

1 whole Lime, Juiced

1 whole Onion, Diced

¼ cups Butter

1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Tomato Sauce

1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Petite Diced Tomatoes

1 ½ cups Whipping Cream

1 bunch Chopped Cilantro, to taste

Rice

Cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and combine with garlic, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, coriander, cumin, cardamom and lime juice. I actually didn’t have any cardamom, and I’ve heard it can be expensive. However, they say it’s a taste that cannot be replaced by any other spice, so I think I’m going to get some for the next time I make this. This time, I used about 1/8^th of a teaspoon of ginger as a substitute. Marinate this mixture overnight. Or make it in the morning for an evening meal, as I did.

Melt butter in a saucepan and sauté the onion until it’s soft. Add the chicken and cook about ten minutes, then add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Steve and I don’t even like tomatoes, but they were really good in this recipe, so if you aren’t a fan, just bite the bullet and add them! Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, keeping the lid on (and keeping tomato splashes off your stovetop!) Remove from heat and add the cream and cilantro. Serve over rice.

This was somewhat spicy (like everything I make) but you can dial back the cayenne if you like. And the original recipe called for a full pint of cream, but I put in less and it was fine. After trying this, I think I may attempt more Indian recipes. And if they are all this good, I’m probably going to move to India. Just saying.

(Click here for printable recipe)