Butter Chicken

Where do I even begin describing my love for Butter Chicken. It has been my most favorite dish ever since childhood and no other dish has taken its' place. 

My very first cooking experiment was in my 7th  grade when I was living in Mumbai and it began with Shaheen's Butter Chicken recipe. Shaheen lived in our neighboring building and it would be an understatement to say that her mom made 'the best dishes ever'. Every evening my sister, myself and other kids in our neighborhood would gather outside to play Badminton or Hide-n-seek and Shaheen would often bring some snacks from home, sometimes even curries n chapathis for us to taste and they were all always mind blowing. So damn tasty!

I somehow persuaded her to give me any recipe to try from her mom's recipe book, and she gave the recipe to her favorite dish. I was so excited to get the recipe and I remember that I asked my mom to not step into the kitchen while I made the dish. I probably made a lot of mess and did inaccurate measurements b'coz mummy had to come and help out a bit here and there while I made it but finally I made my first ever dish, Butter Chicken! To me it tasted quite good, but not as good as what I had tasted from Shaheen's, but pretty decent for a 7th graders first time cooking venture.

I have lost that original recipe now over the years, but thanks to Youtube and tons of blogs with wonderful recipes I've made it several times, atleast whenever I have heavy cream at hand. 

Butter Naan or Garlic Naan is our favorite accompaniment to have with Butter Chicken. But fragrant Basmati rice is another wonderful option to have with this creamy delicious dish. If you want to indulge yourself a bit more, maybe make some Jeera Rice.  Basmati rice, naan or chapathi is what goes best with Butter Chicken. 

  
Since Butter Chicken is more on the creamy side and less on the spice it's a rich and superb dish for kids. Both my little ones love this dish and although Manish usually enjoys whatever I make, he always prefers dishes that puts his tongue on fire...lol! 

This time it was Manish's college going cousin bro, Saurav, who actually made this dish pretty much from start to end.  He had come to visit us during his spring break early March but had to stay back due to the covid-19 lockdown. We and the kids have been totally enjoying his company here with us. He loves any chicken dish and was game to make it from scratch. 

Saurav chose a recipe he had already tried with his hostel friends from HomeCooking and it came out really good. I just helped with gathering the ingredients, grinding the puree and taking pictures....haha! 

Butter Chicken
Serves : 3-4

You’ll Need

To Marinate Chicken

1 Lb Boneless Chicken (Breast or Thigh meat)

1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic paste

1 Tablespoon Thick Yogurt

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice / White Vinegar

2 teaspoons Kashmiri Red Chilli powder

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

Salt - as needed

1 Tablespoon Oil/Butter (to fry marinated chicken)

For the Gravy paste

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 Tablespoon Oil

1 Large Onion (chopped)

1 Tablespoon Ginger-Garlic paste

2 Large Tomatoes (chopped)
¼ cup Cashew Nuts

1 Tablespoon Kashmiri Red Chilli powder

1 teaspoon Corriander powder

1 teaspoon Cumin powder

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon Sugar

½ cup Water or as needed

Salt – as needed

Final Butter chicken gravy

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli powder

1 teaspoon Kasuri Methi

½ cup Heavy Cream

2 Tablespoon chopped Corriander leaves

Directions:

Marinate the Chicken

Cut the boneless chicken into 1” cubes and marinate by mixing with everything under ‘To Marinate Chicken’ for atleast 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Fry the chicken

In a large pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter or oil, add the marinated chicken cubes and fry them until the chicken is fully cooked. Transfer the cooked chicken onto a plate and keep aside.

Making the gravy paste

1. In the same pan, heat butter and oil and add Onions and Ginger garlic paste. Sauté until Onions caramelize into a golden brown color. You can add some salt to quicken the cooking.

2. Next add in the Tomatoes and cashew nuts and sauté until the tomatoes turn soft.

3. Add Kashmiri chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala, sugar and salt (as needed) and some water, cook for 2-3 more minutes and turn off the heat.

4. Once the mix has cooled, take a grinder and grind everything into a smooth paste. (I added some more water while grinding to make the paste smoother and to add more gravy)

Putting together the Butter chicken dish

1. Again in the same pan, heat 1 Tablespoon Butter and add 1 teaspoon of kashmiri red chilli powder and roast it for a minute.

2. Now add the pureed gravy paste and bring the gravy to a boil

3. Add the fried chicken pieces, kasuri methi , heavy cream and simmer for a minute.

4. Garnish with chopped Corriander leaves and turn off the heat.

5. Serve Butter Chicken with Basmati rice, Naan, Rotis etc

Notes:
1. I used 4 large boneless Chicken Breasts for this recipe.
2. Kashmiri Red chilli is not as spicy as regular Red Chilli powder and gives a bright red color to the dish. However, if you do not have Kashmiri chilli, use regular Red chilli powder and a pinch of orange food coloring for that bright color for the gravy.
3. Adjust spice levels to your taste. 

This Sunday, May10th, is Mother's Day...So wishing all wonderful moms a splendid, healthy and Happy Mother's day! Show this recipe to your spouse or family and let them make this easy dish for you and pamper you to the core ;-)

-Manju

Mexican Flan | Creamy and delicious | Low Fat recipe

I just came to know from my work colleague that today 5th of May is Cinco De Mayo. It's a historical military victory of the Battle of Puebla celebrated in some parts of Mexico and USA. So here's wishing all who are celebrating, a very Happy Cinco De Mayo. My office always celebrates all kinds of cultural festivals both regional and international and we would have been treated to some yumm Tacos and mexcian treats today had it not been closed to the quarantine. I do miss all that but here's some fun facts shared by one of my office colleagues about the festival.

And to celebrate I thought it's a perfect day to be sharing with a you a truly delicious Mexican dessert...Flan! And this coming Sunday is Mother's Day, so if not for Cinco De Mayo you can always prepare this delicious dessert for another fun celebration.

Mexican Flan is known by many names, Caramel Custard, Egg Pudding, Creme Caramel etc to name a few and it's basically a cooked vanilla egg custard/pudding with caramel sauce and best enjoyed chilled. It's always seen in most Mexican restaurant menu.

My Mom called it Caramel Custard and made it several times in our younger days. She used a deep bottomed steel bowl and made one large Flan with the delicious caramel running down it's sides. It was quite the magic act when she inverted the bowl and waited for the mild thud of the custard being released from the bowl into the plate below. We used to wait with keen anticipation and hope it would stay in shape and it always did...lol! I believe she used to steam her caramel custard instead of baking it, but it works just fine both ways. 

There are so many recipes for Flan, but I specifically wanted to try a low-fat version. Most recipes call for condensed milk or heavy cream etc and lots of sugar. It tastes divine no matter how it's made but I wanted something that we could indulge in but still not too high in calories. Eating Well had the perfect recipe and it took me less than 1 hour to put it together, bake the flan and refrigerate.  

Its best to either prepare the Flan at night and enjoy the next day, or make it in the morning and it'b be ready to indulge in by evening as it needs a few hours to set and get chilled before serving.

Mexican Flan (Low fat recipe)

Serves: 6

Prep time: 10 mins

Bake time: 35-40 mins

Serve: in about 4-12 hours (after chilling)

You’ll Need

For caramel sauce

⅓ cup sugar

For Flan

1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk (1 ½ cups)

⅓ cup sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 small ramekins 

Rectangular baking tray

Hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Caramelize the sugar:  In a saucepan, spread ⅓ cup sugar evenly and cook over medium-high heat until sugar starts to melt. Once sugar starts to melt, reduce heat to low. Cook until all of the sugar is melted and golden brown, stirring as needed with wooden spoon.

3. Immediately divide caramelized sugar among six ramekins; tilt the ramekins to coat bottoms evenly. Allow to cool slightly. (the caramel hardens quickly so be as fast as possible taking care not to touch the piping hot caramel)

4. In a bowl, combine eggs, evaporated milk, 1/3 cup sugar and vanilla. (can use a magic bullet to mix everything together)

5. Place ramekins in a rectangular baking pan (I used my 9"x13" cake pan). Divide egg mixture equally amongst the ramekins. Place baking pan on oven rack and pour hot water into baking pan around ramekins to a depth of about ½ inch.

Baking the Flan in ramekins placed within baking tray filled halfway with hot water

6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center of each flan comes out clean. Remove ramekins from water. Cool on wire rack.

7. Cover  the top of ramekins and chill in refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours.

8. To unmold, loosen edges of the flan (from the sides and bottom) with a knife and invert a dessert plate over each flan; turn plate and custard cup over together. Remove ramekins from flans. Spoon out any caramelized sugar that remains over the flan.

Serve it just as it is or with some whipped cream or fruits.

Other delicious Mexican inspired treats on the blog include:

Tres Leches Cake (Three Milks Cake)

Tres Leches Cake with Lychee Mousse filling and Chocolate Collar

-Manju

No Knead Bread | Artisan Yeast Bread | Dutch Oven baked Bread

This is probably one of the easiest Bread recipes there ever is. This no Knead yeasty bread is every bit as true to it's title...really quick and easy to make. Just mix all the ingredients together and leave it to rise for about 3-4 hours and bake in a dutch oven closed with it's lid. We loved its beautiful crust and soft spongy texture that's perfect to dunk in some soup or sauce. It tasted somewhat like a sour dough bread.

After baking it reminded us of the crusty bread that is offered at one of our favorite Italian restaurants here. At the restaurant the crusty loaf is served with Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil and we love to season with some salt-pepper or parmesan cheese and enjoy the bread by dunking it into this mix. So my son did not waste any time in gathering up some of those and we ate half the loaf just as is....sooo good!

The rest of the loaf we dunked in some Chicken Noodle soup that I had made for dinner that night and my baby girl loved to munch on the slices with some Butter on it and the loaf didn't see another day as we polished it right off...lol!

Since I had a Dutch oven it was easy to bake this bread. If you do not have a Dutch oven here are some alternatives :
1. Using an Oven safe (upto 500F) Casserole dish with an Oven safe lid or cover with Aluminium Foil.
2. Using a baking pan to place the dough and place another oven safe pan under the baking pan filled with water. This steaming effect is required to get that lovely crust for the bread.
3. Using Oven safe heavy Metal pot with a lid.

I have followed the recipe from RecipeTinsEats. Fresh homemade bread tastes so good, you have to eat one to really know what that means. Do give this a try and you will be making it several times for sure.

Easy no knead Yeast Bread

You’ll Need

3 cups All-purpose Flour (bread flour or plain)

2 tsp instant or active dry yeast

2 tsp salt

1.5 cups very warm water (ie up to 55°C/130°F)

1.5 Tablespoon flour, for dusting and shaping dough

Directions

Make the dough:

1. Mix flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add water (atleast 130F warm water), then use the handle of a wooden spoon to mix until all the flour is incorporated. Dough will be wet and sloppy.

2. Cover the bowl with cling wrap or plate, leave it on counter (or inside the oven with lights on) for 2-3 hours or until it doubles in volume.

3. Once dough has risen well, Preheat oven to 450F and place a dutch oven in oven with lid on while it is preheating (I used my Le Creuset Oval shaped dutch oven).

Shape the dough:

1. Sprinkle counter top with 1 Tablespoon flour. Scrape dough onto the counter top and sprinkle top of the dough with ½ Tablespoon flour.

2. Fold the sides of the dough inwards to roughly form a roundish shape.

Transfer to parchment paper:

Transfer the dough to the center of the parchment paper. Shape it again if needed to form a round or oval shaped dough. Dough may be sticky.

Baking the bread in Dutch Oven:

1. Remove the hot dutch oven from oven. Place the dough in parchment paper into the dutch oven and place lid on.

2. Bake for 30 minutes covered with lid, then remove lid and bake for 12 minutes or until outer crust looks deep golden and crispy.

3. Cool on rack for 10 minutes before slicing.

Notes:

1. Make sure the water used to make the dough is NOT boiling or super-hot. 120F-130F is recommended. This temp is good for proofing the yeast.

2. Dough can be prepared in morning and baked in evening , similarly it can be made at night, left to rise, refrigerated and baked in morning. When taking out of fridge, let it sit out until it loses its chill and then bake.

You can find other bread recipes on the blog in the 'My Recipes' section but here are 2 of my favorite:
Focaccia with Herbed oil


Herbs and Cheese Garlic Pull Apart Bread


-Manju

Mutton Biriyani | Pressure Cooker method

We are Biriyani lovers in the house and it is a must have item for any special occasion. My go to recipe is usually my mom's chicken biriyani but every now and then we love to try new kinds as well. Manish wanted Mutton Biriyani for his special birthday and so that's what we had.

My brother-in-law once shared a FB recipe post from HomeCooking for this Pressure cooker Mutton biriyani and it looked very easy, so I gave it a try and I have to say, it came out great. I have made this recipe about 3-4 times now and it always turns out great. I love to make it spicy and the kids don't seem to mind. They love any Biriyani that I make. 

Just see how beautiful each grain of rice looks and those beautiful mutton pieces, that just melts in the mouth. Cooking in the pressure cooker is a breeze and the rice is mixed in with the gravy so it gets beautifully flavored and plumped up with all that masala.

I should try Shrimp Biriyani next...any excuse is a good excuse to have some biriyani...Lol!

Serve Mutton Biriyani with Raita, Pappad and some tangy pickle. I made my raita with plain Yogurt mixed together with chopped onions, green chilies, carrots, cucumber, corriander leaves, salt and pepper. 
This pressure cooker recipe always turns out perfect for me so do give it a try. 

Mutton Biriyani in Pressure Cooker

Serves 4

You’ll Need

To marinate

3 lbs Mutton

1 teaspoon Turmeric powder

2 teaspoons Red Chilli powder

Salt to taste

For Masala paste

1 large Onion

6 Garlic cloves

2” piece Ginger

3 Green Chillies

6 pieces dry Red chilli

1 Tablespoon Grated Coconut

½ cup Mint Leaves

½ cup Coriander leaves

1 teaspoon Coriander powder

Little water

For Pressure Cooking

5 Litre Pressure Cooker

2 Tablespoons Ghee or Butter

1 Tablespoon Oil

Whole Spices : 2 Cinnamon sticks, 3 Cardamom pods, 5 Cloves, 5 whole Black pepper, 1 Star Anise, 2 Bay Leaves

4 Onions (thinly sliced)

3 Tomatoes (chopped)

3 cups Diluted Coconut Milk

3 cups Basmati Rice (soaked in water for 30mins)

1 cup Coriander Leaves (chopped)

1 cup Mint Leaves (chopped)

Directions:

Marinate the Mutton pieces

In a bowl add the mutton pieces and the spices and marinate it for 30minutes.

Soak the rice

Measure and wash 3 cups of Basmati Rice in a bowl . Allow it to soak for atleast 30 minutes before cooking.

Make Masala paste

Add all the ingredients under Masala paste in a grinder and grind it to a fine paste using little water if needed.

Pressure cooking the Biriyani

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons of Ghee/Butter and 1 Tablespoon of Oil in the Pressure cooker.

2. Add all the whole spices and give it a sauté.

3. Add the sliced onions and sauté until the onions caramelize and turn golden brown.

4. Add the chopped tomatoes and the ground masala paste and sauté everything until the tomatoes soften.

5. Add the marinated Mutton pieces and mix it with the Onion masala.

6. Add 3 cups of Diluted Coconut Milk, 1 cup each of chopped Coriander and Mint Leaves and stir everything.

7. Season with enough salt, cover with lid, place the whistle and pressure cook for 6-7 whistles or until the mutton is cooked.

8. Once the cooker cools down, open the pressure cooker, make sure mutton pieces are cooked, season again if needed and then add the soaked Basmati rice and mix gently.

9. Cover with pressure cooker lid and wait for steam to come out (water starts coming off the whistle spout) and then place the whistle and cook for 7 mins. (no need for the whistle to blow)

10. Turn off the heat and let the cooker rest for about 5 mins before opening it.

Notes:

1. For Diluted Coconut Milk: I used 1 14oz can of coconut milk, which is about 2 ½ cups coconut milk, so I added 2 ½ cups Coconut milk + ½ cup water for the liquid. 

2. Wait for pressure cooker to cool down always before trying to open it after cooking. Or run cold water over the cooker with the whistle on it until the pressure comes down and then attempt opening the lid. Else it can be very dangerous!

3. The recipe can be easily modified based on your need. Just make sure the cups of rice = cups of diluted coconut milk and adjust the mutton quantity and spices accordingly. (I have made with 4 cups of rice and 4 cups of diluted coconut milk)

4. If you do not want to use Coconut Milk, feel free to use Water. 


Recipe Source: HomeCooking

Here are some other Biriyani recipes that I have on the blog which are just as good, click on the recipe title to get to the recipe:

Chicken Biriyani


Fish Biriyani


Lauki Biriyani (veg option)



Other recipe with Mutton:
Kerala style Mutton Roast


-Manju