I loooove a good Butter Chicken Curry. Especially when its easy to make and the whole family loves it.
When I worked in beautiful Sydney, Australia, our head chef sometimes let us have the Butter Chicken Curry from the restaurant. Mainly after a really busy night of service, where you were tired, your feet hurt and all you wanted was some good food and a beer. And then he said: I got some curry left for you! Jackpot. Obviously that did not happen every night so it also remained special to us. The beer we got ourselves after work from the Bar downstairs.
But that’s something I will never ever forget. It was also my first encounter with Indian food and spices.
Over the years I tried my fair share of curries, but they simply weren`t as good as THE ONE I had in Sydney.
After years of being too afraid to give it a try, I suddenly thought in a nostalgic moment, why not give it a go! Best call ever! So after some serious research on various recipes and food blogs, out came my version of it. Serve with rice or naan bread.
But before you start, make sure to have a look through my tips for a butter chicken curry!
My tips for a successful Butter Chicken Curry:
- definitely let the Chicken marinate in Yoghurt, the meat will be so tender
- try it with some Mango Chutney
- have some Basmati rice with it
- ENJOY IT
If you marinate the chicken in yoghurt & spices, it will be even more tender and flavorful. Simply delicious.
A mango chutney adds a bit of sweetness, which really suits this curry.
And enjoying is the most important thing, isn’t it?
For a spicier taste, just add some chillis, but if your taste buds say nah, thanks, then just stick with my recipe. I hope you think as well that it is pretty awesome!
Can I also cook the butter chicken curry with the Thermomix?
Sure thing!- That works just as well. I have written the instructions for the Thermomix under the normal recipe. Both versions taste absolutely wonderful and don’t need cream, since coconut milk is used in this recipe.
What I don’t like, however, is cooking or frying the meat in the Thermomix. So I always sear it and then add the sauce to the chicken. And when the curry is simmering in the pan, your Thermomix can cook the rice for you. Win Win situation I would say!
I hope no matter what method of preparation you choose, you will enjoy it as much as we do! Because I have to cook this curry for my son at least once a month! 🙂
And if you like the curry a little spicier, just add a chilli pepper.
love,
sabrina x
And if you are looking for an alternative Curry, why not try out my chickpea curry?
Butter Chicken Cury
a mild curry for the whole family
simple-
Prep time: 20 minutes -
Rest time: 1 hours -
Cook time: 30 minutes -
Total time: 1 hours 50 minutes
Ingredients
| Yoghurt Marinade | |
|---|---|
| 100 g | plain yoghurt |
| 10 g | ginger peeled |
| 1 | clove garlic |
| 1 | tsp garam massala |
| 0.5 | tsp cumin |
| 1 | Tbsp tandoori paste |
| 0.5 | tsp Turmeric |
| salt to season | |
| 500 g | Chicken breast sliced. If you prefer, use chicken thighs. |
| Butter Chicken Curry | |
| 3 | Tbsp ghee-substitute with sunflower oil or coconut oil |
| 10 g | ginger |
| 1 | clove of garlic |
| 1 | tbsp garam masala |
| 0.5 | tsp cumin |
| 1 | Tsp ground coriander seeds |
| 2 | sprigs fresh coriander, some call it cilantro |
| 1 | onion cut in small cubes |
| 400 g | crushed tomatoes (1 can)—if you have no blender, use tomato passata |
| 400 ml | coconut milk (1 can) |
| 0.5 | tsp salt |
| pepper | |
Steps of preparation
Yoghurt Marinade
- Prepare yoghurt marinade in a bowl:
- mix yoghurt, garlic, cumin, garam masala, tumeric powder and tandoori paste.
- If you can, grate the ginger to the Yoghurt. Otherwise just cut small dices and add them
- Dice the chicken in small cubes and add some salt and pepper and marinate it for minimum 30 Min in the fridge – best is 1 hour
Butter Chicken
- Sauté the chicken in a pan with ghee until it’s golden and place it in a separate bowl.
- In the meantime, cut the onion in small cubes, peel ginger and garlic into thin slices and cut the coriander.
- Put 1 teaspoon of Ghee in the same pan.
- Brown the onions and add the ginger, garlic and half of the coriander and let it get some colour.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and spices and let it reduce for about 3 -5 min.
- Add the coconut milk and let it cook for 10 min on low heat.
- Use a blender and mix it until smooth.
- Return the sautéed chicken and season to taste.
- Sprinkle with some coriander and serve with some rice or Naan bread.
With a Thermomix
- Mix yogurt, garlic, cumin, garam masala, turmeric powder and tandoori paste.
- Either cut the ginger into small pieces and add it OR, if you like it a bit more spicy, grate it into the yogurt
- Cut the chicken breast into small cubes, add a little salt and pepper and marinate in the yogurt marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, preferably 1 hour
- Heat 20g ghee for 1 min, Varoma, speed 1
- Add onion, garlic, coriander, and ginger. Chop 10 sec/ speed 5
- Scrape down with spatula and repeat.
- Then sauté 5 min/Varoma/speed 2
- Add spices (cumin, salt, turmeric, garam masala, coriander) and sauté 2 min/Varoma/speed 2
- Add tomatoes and cook 5 min/Varoma/speed 2
- Add coconut milk and stir 15 minutes/100 °C/speed 1
- After 10 minutes, sear the marinated chicken in batches with the remaining ghee in a large pan.
- Then purée the sauce for another 30 seconds/gradually on level 10. Caution! Hot! I always hold the mixing bowl lid to make sure nothing spills out, as the sauce is really hot.
- Carefully pour the WARNING HOT sauce over the seared chicken.
- Rinse mixing bowl and cook basmati rice with the Thermomix
- In the meantime, simply let the curry simmer over a low heat.
- Enjoy the butter chicken curry with the rice
