Butter Chicken

I think I’m in love with Sam Sifton, who is the New York Times food editor. But I only recently figured out why, when I read a brief profile of Chef/Editor Sifton in the NYT Sunday Magazine last month. It’s because he thinks about food. He analyzes it. He’s endlessly curious about how dishes are made and why they’re made in one particular way. But he doesn’t stop there: he takes all the information he collects and reduces any given recipe to something that an ordinary person can make in her or his own kitchen at home. He “gets” food.

In searching for inspiration for this week’s MLK recipe, I discovered I had carefully saved one of Sifton’s NYT articles from 2014, in which he offers a wonderful aromatic chicken recipe, one that originated in Australia and is essentially Indian in spirit (and spices!). Lucky me, I had most of the ingredients, including the spices. So I decided it was time to try it (with, as always, a few small changes).


Butter Chicken                                                                       
Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups full fat yogurt
2 Tblsp lemon juice
1-1/2 Tblsp ground turmeric
2 Tblsp garam masala (or a curry mix)
2 Tblsp ground cumin
2 lbs chicken parts 

1/4 pound unsalted butter
4 tsp oil
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 Tblsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 Tblsp cumin seeds

2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
Kosher salt to taste

1/2 cup chicken stock
1-1/2 cups cream
1-1/2 tsp tomato paste

Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala and ground cumin in a large bowl. Add the chicken and coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate (for up to a day). 

Yogurt plus spices

Blended

Chicken added

In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter in the oil until it starts to foam. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until they are translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and cumin seeds and cook until the onions start to brown.

Chopped ingredients

Add the tomatoes (no need to skin them), chopped jalapeno and salt, and cook until the chile is soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the chicken and marinade and cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. (Yes, the sauce will look curdled at this point, but that’s what happens with yogurt—it will smooth out a bit in the next step.)

Whisk together the cream and the tomato paste, stir it into the pan, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

Cream added

Serve with rice. The result is richly flavored, the spices well balanced. Even the jalapeno doesn’t dominate but blends well (not too spicy!). 

And! Still counting down to the release of Murder at the Mansion at the end of this month. 

The book gets a rave review from Library Journal:

Kate loses a job, consults on a historic property, and finds a body, all in one week. It’s a heck of a week! … Connolly’s accomplished series launch incorporates humor, a realistic setting and well-developed, appealing characters.



Find it at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

www.sheilaconnolly.com