Butter Chicken...this recipe was a keeper.

Not at all for the faint of heart, Butter Chicken has a lot of local competition for me, my kids all have their favorites. I must master this skill. I think i did tonight but it took 2 days. I started on Friday, grinding spices and prepping the chicken for the double marinade. Was it worth it? Totally.

 It took a lot of time mostly waiting for marinades to work their magic and doughs to stop snapping back on me allowing adequate rest time. I made naan and paratha too. Delicious fresh breads to compliment the gravy and sop up whats left. It was good, really good.  Here’s the link to the recipe I used:  https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/murgh-makhani-recipe-butter-chicken/

Paratha in a dry skillet after the first turn.

Naan in front some with garlic and cilantro. Paratha in the rear, coils of buttery layers.

To be fair, I have an incredibly well stocked Indian pantry. I had cilantro on hand as well as Greek yogurt. A few years ago, one of our third year fellows went home for a few weeks to India and knew my interest in the culture and food (I have a Indian playlist) so he brought me  bags of spices. The Garam Masala I ground from the raw spices into a redolent mix of Indian nirvana. The bag looked like potpourri and some of the spices I had never seen in their whole form.
With the chicken marinating over night I started the breads this morning while Brenda was at work. I took the chicken out, placed it on non stick foil and oven grilled it till dark spots appeared on the surface. I set that aside and began working in earnest on the gravy. Lots of microplaning fresh garlic and ginger (from my freezer) the a quick saute of the spices,  adding tomatoes that had been pureed with raw cashews. After cooking down the gravy, I added back the chicken and juices then into the oven for an hour.  Once out of the oven I added the last of the spice mix of Kashmiri Menthi (fenugreek) and garam masala. Then the magic of heavy cream. Not a lot, about 1/2 cup or so and a quick spin of the immersion blender to smooth out the gravy. Adjust the seasoning for salt and heat. A bit of tomato paste to redden the gravy a bit and a big squirt of Siracha to bring up the heat. I had Kashmiri Chilis but opted out for a gentler burn. Silken divinity in a pot. Tender chunks of chicken and to die for gravy.
The bread had to start about 3,  so first the parathas were made and cooked in a dry skillet. I used Serious Eats web site which showed me how to laminate the dough and I found my tortilla press makes very thin paratha and naan and saved me rolling it all out by hand. A little wax paper and cooking spray made the job easy and non stick.  Brenda helped cook the breads while I squashed the next one. The paratha was so flaky and buttery. The naan soft and pillowy. My favorite jalapeno beer was not on hand so I added jalepenos and their liquid to a Corona on hand which worked just fine. Jalapeno beer is the best with Indian food.  Cheers everyone to a great Saturday night meal.