Indian butter chicken

Indian butter chicken, my way... I always have a hard time going to Indian restaurants, mostly because I'm not at all familiar with their cuisine. When I have a choice, I go to a buffet, where I can try a little bit of everything and decide what to actually eat. Naan bread of course is a must. I much prefer it to any kind of rice or other side dishes. And really all you need is a good sauce to eat it with. Well, here is a try at Indian butter chicken, with huge modifications to fit my taste. It worked quite well this way, but I have to add: the dish tasted much better cold. Room temperature at max. But it was best straight out of the fridge, like some delicious chicken ice-cream :-)

My problem stemmed from the strength of the tomato sauce, which overpowered the other flavors when at warmer temperatures. Next time I will adjust the sweetness a little more.

Ingredients
3 chicken breast halves
2 cups half-and-half
15 oz tomato sauce
60g butter
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2-3 tbsp Patak's tandoori paste
sugar

Preparation
Mince the onion and garlic, and brown in the butter.

Add the spices and saute on low for a few minutes, without burning them. Add in the tomato sauce and half-and-half.

Simmer for 10 minutes. As for the above picture: you are not hallucinating. Indeed, there is another stick of butter in there. I found it unnecessary. You may like it in the dish, me...not so much.

Then add in the chicken pieces, cut into bite-sized bits.

Simmer on low for 30 minutes, until the chicken is done. Adjust the salt level at the end. Serve over rice. If you are like me, serve cold the next day. So delicious. It reminds me a great deal of the Hungarian sour creamy chicken stew. Well, not the flavor, just the technique and concept.

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