Receta Butter Chicken
Inspiration and Photo Courtesy of The New York Times and Sarah Ann Ward
Suvir Saran
The moment the thermometer drops
below 60 degrees, I cannot wait to put some Indian food on the table. This makes very little sense since the
temperature on Indian sub-continent is 65.5 degrees. And in Delhi, where this recipe was invented,
the average is 77.4. But I wait to serve
Indian comfort once summer is over. And I could not wait to serve this
outstanding example of wonderful Indian cooking. Outside of India, this recipe
is called Chicken Tikka Masala. It may
surprise you to know that this yogurt and spice-marinated dish with its onions,
ginger and tomatoes scented with cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and garam masala has only recently been
deposed as Britain’s most popular dish. (It was replaced by Chinese stir
frys.) There are, of course, dozens of
variations of this classic, whose origin dates from the 1940s in India. It was
first served at a restaurant which itself was a first. According to Suvir Saran in “Indian Home
Cooking” (Clarkson Potter 2004), Moti Mahal (The Palace of Pearls) was India’s
first, real sitdown restaurant where, when India gained its independence from
Britain, Indians of all classes could enjoy a sit-down meal indoors. From its kitchen came the first Butter
Chicken, which, by the way, is what the dish is always called in India. And Butter Chicken, by the way, is not
swimming in butter although it does use a quarter pound of the stuff.
Sam Sifton devoted a recent Sunday Times Magazine
column entirely to Butter Chicken. The
recipe that he featured however was not even the Indian original. It came from
a restaurant called Attica in, of all places, Melbourne, Australia, where it
was developed by a young cook responsible for the staff meal. A Swedish photographer called Per-Anders
Jorgensen included it is his collection of photographs of restaurants around
the world, “ Eating with the Chefs” (Phaidon
2014). Now if this does not show just what an International classic Butter
Chicken is, what will? I could not wait to make it but I thought I’d
check in with Suvir Saran and see how the Australian version aligned with the
genuine article. The result is the
recipe that I’m sharing with you today.
I followed Sam Sifton’s ingredients
to the letter. Where I digressed were in
some of Suvir’s techniques. The result
was an intensely luxurious dish which I served with Coriander Rice and, because
I had it on hand, some Confetti Corn (see post immediately before this one for
the recipe) to which I added a tablespoon of good old Curry Powder. My guests loved the dish and vowed it make it
themselves. Their only concern was whether they could find the key ingredient, Garam Masala at their winter home in
Miami. I happy to say that the Epicure
Market at 1656 Alton Road, Miami, has it! (This discovery took all of 2 minutes
on Google so I am sure you will have similar success if you live anywhere
else). This recipe is not at all
complicated. However, I would recommend
making the marinade and using it on the chicken overnight then proceeding with
the rest of the cooking the day you are going to serve it. Suvir recommends marinating a minimum of an
hour but I think that is pushing it. The
other departure between Suvir’s recipe and Sam’s is that Sam uses chicken
thighs and Suvir boneless chicken breasts.
Sam never mentions whether the thighs are skinless but virtually all
Indian chicken dishes use skinless chicken.
I thought I detected some skin in Sam’s photo and since I am a thigh
lover and believe chicken skin is a delicacy, I went with full on and loved the
results. As did my guests. Here is the recipe:
- Recipe for Butter Chicken adapted from Sam Sifton and Suvir Saran:
- 1 ½ cups full-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground turmeric
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 3 pounds chicken thighs, on the bone
- 4 teaspoons neutral oil, like vegetable
- or canola oil
- 2 medium-size yellow onions, peeled
- and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled
- and grated or finely diced
- 2 medium-size tomatoes, diced
- 2 red chiles, like Anaheim, or 1
- jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
- ⅔ cup chicken stock, low-sodium or homemade
- 1 ½ teaspoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons ground almonds, or
- finely chopped almonds
- ½ bunch cilantro leaves, stems
removed.
1. Whisk together the yogurt, lemon
juice, turmeric, garam masala and cumin in a large bowl.
2. Put the chicken in,
and coat with the marinade.
3. Cover, and refrigerate (for up to a day).
4. In the bowl of a food processor
fitted with a steel blade, puree the onion, garlic, ginger and cumin seeds.
5. In a large pan over medium heat,
melt the butter in the oil until it starts to foam. Add the onion mixture, and
cook, stirring frequently, until translucent. Cook until the onions start to
brown.
6. Add the cinnamon stick, tomatoes,
chiles and salt, and cook until the chiles are soft, about 10 minutes.
Add the chicken and marinade to the
pan, and cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a
boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for approximately 30 minutes.
7. Stir in the cream and tomato paste,
and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Add the almonds, cook for an additional 5 minutes and
remove from the heat. Garnish with the cilantro leaves. Serve with Coriander rice and Man