Mr. Right and I enjoy recreating dishes we’ve had on our travels. One night, we went to Wild Ginger, an absolutely delicious restaurant with a Pan-Asian theme in a historic building downtown.
He had the duck. I ordered Butter Chicken, a classic Indian dish that we’d both heard of but never tried. (You might enjoy this NPR piece, “A deep dive into the controversy over who created the Indian dish: butter chicken.”)
Oh, my. Tender chicken cooked in a curry thickened with pureed tomatoes and served over rice. I couldn’t eat it all, so one night in the hotel, it was Leftovers Night – half a turkey sandwich, nachos, and the chicken. No microwave, so we warmed it all with the hair dryer. Call it a Hair Fryer. It won’t get your food hot, exactly, but warm enough to eat and enjoy!
This dish is little hotter than the Wild Ginger version. We used cayenne; if you’d like to tone it down, use ground chilis (note that typical American chili powder may include other spices) or skip that ingredient entirely. The cooking process sounds more involved than it really is. Garam masala is a classic Indian blend without much heat – you can buy the blend or make your own. See my recipe in Guilty as Cinnamon.) Note that the chicken does need to sit in the marinade for at least 3 hours.
I’ll share more recreations from our travels in the next couple of weeks.
PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe so you can print it easily. Scroll down to the 💕 for the link.
Indian Butter Chicken
For the marinade:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground chilis or cayenne
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tablespoon ginger, freshly grated or jarred
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
1-1/2 to 2 pounds chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
For cooking and for the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
1 cup cream or half and half
1 tablespoon sugar
1-1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter (additional)
For serving:
Jasmine or Basmati rice, cooked
fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (optional)
Make the marinade: Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl or casserole dish with a lid. Mix well. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or up to 24 hours.
To cook the chicken and sauce: White rice usually takes 20-25 minutes to cook, on the stove or in a rice cooker, so start it before you cook the chicken.
In a large saute pan, heat the butter over medium to medium-high. Use a fork or slotted spoon to remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and place in the pan. (Keep the leftover marinade in the bowl for a later step.)
Cook the chicken 3-5 minutes, until it appears whitish – because of the marinade, it won’t appear to actually brown.
Serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro, if you’d like.
Serves 6.
Enjoy!
Do you like to recreate dishes you've eaten in restaurants or on your travels? Do tell!
💕 Click here for a free printable PDF!
TO ERR IS CUMIN: A Spice Shop Mystery (Seventh St. Books, coming July 16, 2024 in paper, ebook, and audio)
Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest book is Between a Wok and a Dead Place, the 7th Spice Shop mystery. Watch for To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery, in July 2024 and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024.
A past president of Sisters in Crime and national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.
Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.
Wonderful post, Leslie! Butter chicken is one of our faves. Thanks for sharing the recipe (and the interesting story on the origin). And cheers for the joyous recap (and great photos!) of LCC and your trip to the beautiful city of Seattle. ~ Cleo
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cleo -- food history can be fascinating!
DeleteThank you for the intriguing and delicious sounding recipe! My experimental side says TRY IT. Besides any dish that tastes so good that heating with a hair drying HAS to be a keeper. :)
ReplyDelete2clowns at arkansas dot net
I must credit the hair dryer trick to Leslie Karst! Perfect for a hotel room picnic!
DeleteThank you for the recipe. I do like to try to recreate dishes from travels if it's an easy recipe. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com
ReplyDeleteThis one was, as you can see -- although the Jaffrey recipe in the NPR recipe was tempting, it was quite a bit more involved, and honestly, other than being a little hotter than what I had in Seattle, it was virtually identical!
DeleteI love Indian food, and this is a most tempting recipe. It is 7:05AM for me, but I want to sit down and eat this yummy chicken recipe. I am printing and will make it. Thanks for sharing your adventures in the Seattle area! Luis at ole dot travel
ReplyDeleteLove recreating classics! Namaste!
DeleteOops -- I had a little trouble with the PDF but I'm going in to fix access now, if I can!
ReplyDeleteSuccess!
ReplyDeleteThis recipe is a keeper. I love butter chicken, and this recipe is so simple--yay! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! And it reheats nicely the conventional way, too!
DeleteA lovely, tasty dish.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to try other proteins, this works well with other meats as well as beans and tofu.
Great suggestion -- thanks, Libby!
DeleteI love butter chicken! I'll have to try this recipe. <3
ReplyDeleteOh, do -- and enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI love butter chicken. This looks delicious. I'm definitely going to try it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it!
Delete