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

Palak Paneer ( Spinach cooked with Indian Cottage Cheese)

Hello everyone...hope you are all doing great! Things are going as usual at my end with office work, baby chores, home chores, cooking as usual, experimenting now and then with new dishes/bakes and yes, eating out and having fun with friends whenever we can. The climate's slowly getting better. We actually went for a short walk yesterday with Manish and my lil'guy  and though it was still slightly cold, it felt sooooo good to see what our neighborhood looks like after almost 6 months of chilling hibernation. I can't get enough of it and I just want it to be nice and warm soon and be out and about all the time :-D

Now coming to Palak Paneer.....who hasn't heard of this internationally famous dish? It's one of 'THE' most popular and commonly served vegetarian dishes in most Indian restaurants that I've been to and although it looks too green and kinda resembles baby food from some angles, due to the pureed spinach...hehe!...this dish is simply awesome! 

For a person who isn't a huge fan of spinach (except baby spinach) this is one dish I can wipe clean off my plate. It's so damn easy to prepare and did I mention it has creamy Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) in it, what's not to like about it then?!

Inspite of it not being my favorite green we buy it very often and it's a must in our grocery shopping list of 'veggies-to-buy'. I usually prepare thoran just like my turnip greens thoran or else sneak them inside omlettes etc. But making palak paneer is my most favorite option.

I have prepared palak paneer several times and the one thing I have observed is that it tastes great if the dish isn't overly spiced. Just a subtle hint of spice makes the dish's flavor shine out. And the masala made with onions-ginger-garlic-greenchillies-tomato gets a good smooth texture if minced very finely, unless you plan to puree it all with the spinach (like how I do usually).
For the Paneer, I buy frozen store bought paneer and they taste just fine to me, but you can definitely make your own. I prefer creamier chunks of paneer contrary to the fried pieces that's usually added, to avoid breaking the paneer pieces, but that's a personal choice and a better choice when making in large quantities for a party or potluck where there's more chance of the paneer crumbling up with too much stirring. When fried they hold their shape.

Palak Paneer is so easy and simple to prepare and you hardly need any fancy ingredients. It's best served with plain rice, jeera rice, naan or roti. I prepared some simple Jeera Rice with the jeera (cumin seeds) sauted in some butter for some flavor and served it with the palak paneer. The combo was so delicious that my lil'Appu also ate up his whole plate.

My recipe is very simple and so quick to prepare and as I said, very mild on the spices, so it's just perfect for feeding little kids as well and yet not at all compromising on the flavor. Manish really loved it and we finished the whole dish in two days :-)
I did not have coriander powder at home the day I made it and still it tasted great, which is why I have mentioned it as an optional ingredient. I bet it would taste twice as good with a little extra flavor from the coriander powder as well!

Palak Paneer


You'll Need
Fresh Spinach (chopped) - 2 bunches of spinach (as found in Indian stores) or 6 cups approx
Paneer- 8oz (cut into cubes)
Oil – 1tblsp + 2tblsp
Onions – 1 medium (diced finely)
Ginger – 1" pc, minced
Garlic – 4 cloves, minced
Green Chillies - 1 or 2, minced
Tomatoes – 1 large, chopped up  
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Red Chili Powder – a pinch or to taste
Salt - to taste
Heavy Whipping Cream – 6 tblsp or to taste
Hot Water - as needed

Directions:
1. Wash well and pat dry the fresh spinach leaves with a clean kitchen towel. Cut into smaller pieces.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet and add 1 tblsp oil and saute the spinach leaves until cooked through and soft. Allow to cool down and keep aside.
3. In the same non-stick skillet add 2 tblsp oil and add the minced onion and cook until it's pink and soft.
4. Then add ginger-garlic and saute for few minutes. Finally put in the tomatoes and cook until the oil starts to release from the sides and makes a fine masala. Let this also cool down.
5. Now take the cooked spinach along with the  masala and blend it into a fine puree.
6. Add this puree into the skillet and add the spice powders - garam masala, turmeric powder, coriander powder (if using), and a pinch of red chilli powder and salt, give it a stir and cook on medium-low heat for 5 mins.
7. If gravy is too thick add some hot water (1 tblsp at a time) until desired consistency is obtained and cook it until it simmers slightly.
8. Now keep the heat on low and add in about 6 tblsp of cream (heavy whipping cream) and stir it well.
9. Finally add in the paneer and gently stir it around and turn off the heat and serve hot!

Suggestions:
1. I prefer a smooth & creamy (non-chunky) gravy so I puree the whole batch of spinach and masala, but if you prefer a chunkier version, only puree the spinach and leave the masala as it is at step #5.
2. Adding hot water at step #7 is to reduce the cooking time needed. If we add cold or room temp water cooking time will increase.
3. For a healthier option you can substitute Heavy cream with Milk. 

Other options:
1. Another way of cooking the spinach leaves is to blanch the leaves...i.e. Cook the leaves in a vessel of boiling hot water for 2-3 mins and quickly transfer the leaves to a bowl full of ice water. This will shock the leaves and quickly stop the cooking process and also provide a beautiful bright green color for the dish. 

2. You can shallow fry the paneer on both sides in oil. Drain them on paper towels and add the fried paneer into a bowl of cold water. Squeeze out any excess water before adding it to the gravy. This will keep the paneer soft yet less prone to breaking up.

3. For Vegan options substitute Paneer with Tofu and Heavy cream or Milk with Soy Milk or Almond Milk. 
4. Can use baby spinach or frozen spinach instead of fresh spinach.

This is one of my favorite ways to eat spinach and apparently my lil'Appu too doesn't mind eating Green rice ;-) I usually mix his rice with the palak paneer making his rice look all green before I give it him....that way he has no choice of eating only the white rice and has to eat everything and it definitely tastes better too. Clever huh!

Do try out Palak Paneer sometime and you'll see why it's such a commonly served dish at parties and at restaurants and inspite of the richness from the cream and paneer its a very healthy dish as well.

-Manju