Most Popular Indian Dishes-Butter Chicken - Murgh Makhani

Butter Chicken - Murgh Makhani

Butter Chicken is "born" in the kitchens of Hotel Moti Mahal from Delhi, in the 1950s Today, it is among the best-known foods of India in the world over! Restaurants around the world have their version of it, many authentic at all! Before showing you the chicken authentic butter should look and taste, I feel I must tell you that it should not be like ... sweet, loaded with food coloring, full of raisins or tomato ketchup ....

Butter chicken is of Indian origin North ... Punjabi to be precise. It gets its beautiful distinctive flavors of spicy tomato, yogurt and smoky Kasuri Methi added to the sauce. This can be done as hot or mild as you like it suits most palates. Also commonly known as Murg Makhani, Butter Chicken is delicious with Kaali Daal (The black lentils), naan and a green salad. This is my own recipe for butter chicken and it is the real deal! If it feels like the ingredient list is exhaustive, please do not let that put you off because they are all just ingredients commonly used in Indian cooking. I suggest to make the spice powder from scratch (as in the recipe) as this will give you the best results. My recipe has been tried and tested many times and is loved by everyone who ate. I hope you will too.

INGREDIENTS

• boneless chicken skin removed 1 kg
• Juice of 1 lime / lemon
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (adjust according to taste)
• 6 cloves
• 8-10 peppers
• 1 "cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 8-10 almonds
• Seeds 3-4 cardamom pods
• 1 cup fresh, unsweetened yogurt (not to be sour)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable cooking oil / canola / sunflower
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste coffee
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
• 400g / 14 oz chopped tomatoes, crushed to a smooth paste in a food processor
• 1/2 liter chicken stock
• 2 tbsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• 3 tablespoons unmelted, soft butter
• Salt to taste
• coriander leaves to garnish

PREPARATION

• Combine chicken, lime juice, salt and red chili powder in large bowl, non-metallic. Cover and marinate for 1 hour.

• Heat a dish or plate of medium heat and cook gently roast (stirring frequently) cloves, pepper, cinnamon, bay leaves and almonds until lightly blackened. Cool and add the cardamom seeds. Now grind to a coarse powder in a clean, dry coffee grinder.

• Mix the yogurt over whole spice powder (from the previous step), coriander, cumin and turmeric powder together and add to the chicken. Marinate for one hour.

• Heat oil in a deep pan over medium heat. When hot, add the onions. Fry until pale golden brown, then add the ginger and garlic pastes. Fry for a minute.

• Just add chicken spice chicken mixture and fry till sealed (chicken will turn opaque and the flesh is pink to whitish color).

• Now add the tomato paste, chicken broth, kasuri methi and the remaining portion of the yogurt-spice mixture to the chicken.

• Cook until chicken is tender and the sauce is reduced to half its original volume.

• Melt the butter in another small saucepan, then pour it over the chicken.

• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with naan and Kaali Daal.

• For an authentic taste and traditional cooked-over-the-coals When the butter chicken is cooked, make a small bowl shape with aluminum foil and place it on top of the curry ( "floating" on it). Heat a charcoal briquette over an open flame until red hot and slowly put the charcoal in the bowl with foil. Cover the dish immediately. Remove the lid just before serving, toss the bowl and coal leaf and serve. Curry will be infused with a smoky taste!