BUTTER CHICKEN (MURGH MAKHANI)

This is probably the richest, creamiest, and calorie-laden dish I have ever eaten.  The richness of the sauce comes from the poppy seeds and the cashews (of course, the butter and the cream!!) and the vibrant color is from the tandoori/orange food coloring.  You can make the dish mild or hot and adjust the amount of chillis to suit your palate.  In most restaurants, this dish has a burnt charcoal flavor to it because the chicken would be partially cooked in the tandoor so to give the dish the smokiness, you can do the following: Form a piece of aluminium foil into a bowl shape and place it in the pan after adding the chicken to the gravy.  Then, heat a briquette of charcoal on the stove till it is red hot and then place it in the aluminium foil and cover the pan with a lid and cook for 15 minutes on a low flame.  And try to use chilled butter for the dish.  If not, the butter emulsifies into ghee and the dish tastes a little different.

Butter Chicken

Ingredients
1 kg chicken thigh fillets or 1 inch boneless chicken cubes
Marinade:
2 cups yoghurt
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp white poppy seeds soaked and ground to a paste
50 g of unsalted cashews paste
a pinch of tandoori coloring

Gravy:
6 medium tomatoes, blanched, skinned, deseeded, and pureed.
1 large onion, grated
100 g of butter
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
salt
50 g of single cream
1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
5 tbsp vegetable oil
fresh coriander leaves chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala powder

Method:

• Marinate the chicken in the marinade ingredients and let it sit for 4 hours in the fridge.
• Heat 3 tbsp of oil and add the marinated chicken.  Mix and cook covered on a low heat till almost done.
• Heat the remaining oil in a separate pan and add the onions.  Fry till the onions are golden brown in color and then add the ginger-garlic paste, dried fenugreek leaves, garam masala, red chilli powder, and tomatoes.  Cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the butter and mix.  Cook till oil floats on top.
• Add the cooked chicken and mix it well.  Lower the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes (You can add the charcoal step at this point in time).  Stir occasionally so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Stir in the cream and garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or naan.