Butter Chicken

Update: The were some requests for a photo. For a change I decided to show the beginning of the dish rather than the finished product!!!







Every once in a while we crave for a little bit of decadence. Butter Chicken or "Murgh Makhani" falls into the category of rich foods that is the hallmark of Indian cuisine. A lot of recipes that I have seen, use a variety of spices which actually takes away from the buttery taste of the dish. One recipe I found perchance on "CMU Dinner Coop" webpage made minimal use of spices and the preparation was also easy enough for the novice cook in me. Withut much ado here is the recipe:

1.5 lbs boneless chicken diced into small pieces
1 cup plain yoghurt
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 inch stick cinnamon
8 cloves
8 cardomoms
12 peppercorns or 1 tsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp vegetable oild
1 can tomato puree
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp white pepper powder
1 tsp kasoori methi
2 tbsp fresh cream
1 slab unsalted butter
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:
Use a coffee grinder or mixer to grind the spices into powder. Add yoghurt, veg oil, lime juice, ginger-garlic paste, ground spices and salt, and mix well using a beater. Soak the chicken pieces in this mixture and marinate in refrigerator for 5-6 hours.

Preheat oven to 300 F and then bake the chicken pieces for 15 minutes turning over the pieces mid way for even baking.

Heat a pan and pour the tomato puree and bring to slight boil. Add the slab of butter and let it melt into the puree. Stir weel for the butter to evenly coat the puree. Fry the methi leaves and add it ot the gravy along with white pepper powder. Now add the baked chicken pieces to this gravy, and let it simmer for a while. Once you notice the gravy bubbling, turn down the heat and add fresh cream while stirring. Garnish with the coriander leaves. This dish works well with plain white rice or parattas.