This week we decided to try one of our all time favourites Butter Chicken. This was a bit of a challenge for me and should only be considered if you have a bit more spare time than some of the other recipes. This is how Wikipedia describes butter chicken

Butter chicken or murgh makhani is an Indian dish popular in countries all over the world that have a tradition of Indian restaurants. While the dish’s general recipe is well known, the actual flavour can vary from restaurant to restaurant even within Delhi. Butter chicken is usually served with naan ,roti,parathas or steamed rice

It is a dish made by marinating a chicken overnight in a yoghurt and spice mixture usually including garam masala, ginger, lemon or lime, pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli, methi and garlic. It is in some ways similar to chicken tikka masala. The chicken is then roasted or baked.

A sauce is made from butter, tomatoes, almonds and various spices, often including cumin, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, pepper, fenugreek and sometimes cream. Once the sauce is prepared, the marinated and roasted chicken is chopped and added to it.

Firstly the yoghurt ginger and salt was mixed up into a marinade, the chicken added to this and soaked overnight. Then the chicken is placed in an oven proof dish and baked for about an hour.

Then and this is where I return to my comfort zone the saucepan the other ingredients are mixed up and the baked and marinated chicken pieces added.

Unfortunately something was not quite right with the way I cooked this dish, because as per one of the comments from the diners “I have never seen butter chicken look like that before” there were a few taste and display issues. Maybe it was because I just don’t like that much cream and butter, but it didn’t really do it for me either. If anyone has a slightly healthier and more flavoursome butter chicken recipe I would be keen to review it. If so please submit it.