Butter Chicken

I got this recipe from a co-worker from India.  She's from south India - Chennai, but said this wasn't a family recipe, just one she got from a friend and has been making for a very long time.  Anyway, she had invited me for dinner last year and I couldn't make it, but another co-worker said I missed out and that her butter chicken was delicious, so I was anxious to give it a try!  She gave me two recipes, one with more ingredient/steps and one easy.  Below is the more involved recipe though still easy.  She said she uses fresh tomatoes.  I did not as they are not quite ready at the farmer's market yet, meaning "the tomato man" has not made his appearance there yet:

Ingredients: (I followed her amounts as written)

• 150 ml natural yogurt (I used plain 1% m.f.)
• 4 tbsp cream (I used 18% m.f. coffee cream)
• 50 gms ground almonds
• 1-1/2 tsp chilli powder (I used Indian chili powder)
• ¼ tsp crushed bay leaves
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 green cardamom pods 
• 1 tsp ginger pulp (I used a 1/2 inch nub)
• 1 tsp garlic pulp (I used 2 cloves)
• 400 gms can tomatoes (I used D.O.P San Marzano, crushed by hand)
• 1-1/4 tsp salt (I used kosher)
• 1 kg chicken, skinned, boned and cubed (I used white chicken tenders as they were easy to get ready for this)
• 75 gms butter (I used unsalted)
• 1 tablespoon oil (I used avocado oil)
• 2 medium onions sliced (I used Walla Walla and diced them small in the food processor)
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped (I used a handful)

Method:

• In a large mixing bowl blend together yogurt, almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and salt.
• Add chicken to the yogurt mixture and keep aside OR put chicken in another mixing bowl and pour the yogurt mixture over the chicken and keep aside.
• Melt together butter & oil in a large vessel (preferably a large saucepan)
• Add the onions, fry for about 3 mts till transparent. Add the chicken mixture and fry for about 7/10 minutes till chicken turns white. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• When done, stir in half of the coriander and mix well. Pour the cream over and stir well. Bring to a boil. Garnish with remaining chopped coriander.
• Best eaten with roti or naan.

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I discovered cardamom pods are expensive.  I paid $6.50 for a little bag but maybe homemade chai tea is next???  This recipe screamed for a mortar & pestle.  So, I worked on mine over the weekend and it was now seasoned and ready to be used!  I started first with the cardamom pods.

I smashed those until the pod was off and removed them.

Then I added in the cloves and crushed until everything was like a spice powder - the smell was intoxicating!

I added the almonds in next and continued to crush and grind until they were ground.

Finally, the ginger and garlic were done the same way and everything joined the yogurt party.

Because it was so light in color after everything was combined, I brought a heaping tablespoon of organic no salt tomato paste into the picture.  I fried this after the onions were tender...

The tenders were easy, I just sliced them crosswise till I had one inch pieces.

I also patted them dry.

This went into the yogurt marinade and I let it sit for half an hour in the fridge.   I have to admit it was weird to cook the chicken like this (I would have fried it first, then added the yogurt sauce), but not my recipe so I gave it a try.  I started by sauteing the onions.  I did this much longer than 3 minutes as simmering for 20 minutes would not make them tender and I wanted them absolutely soft and full of flavor.  I did mine for about 15 minutes over med-high heat.  Then I added in the tomato paste for 5 minutes more... it definitely helped the color, but the onions were still not tender.  

I poured the yogurt/chicken mixture in and brought to a boil, then I covered and simmered.  I had to remove the lid at the 10 minute point, as the chicken exuded liquid (as I feared) and I needed to reduce it...it was bubbling all over my stove.

At the 20 minute mark, I couldn't let it thicken anymore as the white chicken would become tough/inedible so I threw in some cilantro and the cream and served over basmati rice.  I tucked some naan bread in the side, both of which I purchased from an Indian place by my office.

So, what did my son think?  He said it was "good", the spices were nice but it was not like any butter chicken he's tasted before.  Maybe it's meant to be different?  I will send this to my co-worker for her comments, especially since we dined out and had butter chicken together and it wasn't like this.  I'll report back with anything she found that I failed in.  😎  I agreed with him and I can't imagine if I didn't put the tomato paste in what the color would have been like, but for sure less than a pinkish hue would have been the result...Unfortunately, I would not call this a success...On the bright side though - I loved using the mortar & pestle!