Healthy Butter Chicken

Healthy Butter Chicken

Butter chicken is a dish of Indian subcontinent made of chicken mildly spiced in curry sauce. Traditionally butter chicken is loaded with butter and heavy cream. I love Indian cuisine but can’t stomach all the butter so had to come up with my own version of butter chicken with is healthy and taste just like authentic butter chicken minus the butter and heavy cream.  Moreover I have tried to add more nutrition to dish by adding walnuts and cashews.

So here we go.

Ingredients

For Chicken

• Organic chicken thighs: 800 gms (skinned and boned cut in cubes)
• Yogurt 2%: 250 gms (thick with minimum water)
• Red chilli powder: 1.5 tsp
• Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
• Coriander powder: 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

For Sauce

• Onion: 1 medium size
• Fresh Tomatoes: 500 gms
• Walnuts: 30 gms (soaked in water for 1 hour)
• Cashews: 30 gms (soaked in water for 1 hour)
• Garlic: 3 – 4 cloves
• 1 Cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 2 Bayleaf, 3 green cardamom
• Oil of choice: 2 tsp
• Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
• Water: 1 cup
• Milk 2%: 1 cup
• Fenugreek leaves powder: 1 tsp
• Butter: 1 tsp
• BBQ Coal: 1 piece (Optional)

Method

• First marinate chicken by mixing all the ingredients in the list above and keep it in fridge for at least 30 mins.
• Heat a sauce pan and add oil to it. Add cinnamon sticks, cloves, bayleaf and cardamom to it. Stir for 30 secs and as aroma releases add in chopped onions. Cook the onions till soft and translucent. Add chopped garlic. Stir it for another minute. Now add chopped tomatoes, red chilli and salt to the sauce. Cook the till the tomatoes are mushy. Add in walnuts and cashews without the water. Keep stirring. Once the sauce looks soupy add in 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil.
• Turn off the heat and let sauce cool down a little.
• Meanwhile in a non stick pan cook the chicken cubes.
• Run the sauce through blender and sieve it into a smooth creamy paste.
• Return the sauce to pan and turn the heat on. Keep it on medium.
• Now add 1 cup milk to the sauce and let it simmer.
• Add the chicken to the sauce along with fenugreek leaves powder.
• Let the gravy simmer and reach the consistency you need. If it’s too thick add some milk or too thin let it simmer.

This is optional but adds amazing flavour to the dish:

• Heat the bbq coal on the gas to hot red. Now place a bowl in the sauce pan and put the hot coal in the bowl. Add 2 tsp melted butter over it and put the tight lid on the sauce pan. Let the smoke of coal get infused in the gravy. Remove the lid and bowl with coal.

Your dish should be ready to serve with steamed rice or naan.

Enjoy!