In 2008 I went to India for 3 weeks for my brother and sister in law's wedding. Prior to this trip I had little exposure to ethnic foods (I grew up in a small town and the diversity in foods consisted of about 5 pizza places and a Chinese restaurant). I was intrigued and delighted by the spices and herbs that were used to cook Indian food. I loved how each dish had a distinct smell and they were all good. Indian cuisine and I got along very well since I am a huge fan of spicy food (which is the exact opposite of how my father-in-law felt). Honestly; I put hot sauce or siracha on pretty much everything except cereal. At our favourite local hangout restaurant my favourite server has a box of hot sauces that she brings out the second I arrive in anticipation that I will request more spice on whatever I order. But I digress. What I'm getting at is that I fell in love with the curries and dips and varieties of rice that India had to offer. Once home we tried our best to replicate some of the amazing recipes we encountered. the first one was a simple rice dish with a hint of coconut and saffron. My favourite dish though had to be butter chicken. Now as the name implies, butter was a very common ingredient in many of the recipes I found. Most butter chicken recipes started with a base of 1/2 cup of butter and 1 cup of cream. As deliciously rich as that sounds, it wasn't something that I was interesting in putting in my body. I love butter chicken, but not enough to eat 1500 calories as my dinner! After much searching, and some substitutions I have come up with the perfect butter chicken recipe. This one is creamy and delicious, but lacks cream and most of the butter (although I have found that a little bit really is necessary). In the end this one is pretty healthy and will continue to find its way onto our dinner table!
Part of the problem with me starting a food blog is the fact that I don't really follow any recipes. Ever. The first time I make a dish I always try to follow a recipe, but I usually get bored and end up improvising very early on. The second piece is that I often try to "healthify" recipes on the fly; substituting butter with yogourt or sour cream, using vegetable stock in lieu of oil and whatever else I can do to reduce fat and calories from the delicious meals that we make. The problem with this really comes into play when I start trying to share the recipes I use with friends and family, since I don't really use a recipe. The last part is that I am crazy with spices. I often add things randomly and just test it to see if it tastes good. If not, I add something else to counter.
Below I have my best guess of my butter chicken recipe. Its healthy, high in protein and absolutely delicious!
We usually serve this over Coconut Rice and add vegetables such as steamed peas, corn, spinach, asparagus, green & wax beans on top.
Butter Chicken
Sauce
1/2 medium onion - diced fine
1/2 a container of fat free plain yogourt
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp honey
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cardamom
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp cayenne (or more if you like it spicy)
1/2 tsp cumin
1-2 tbsp ground ginger (put it in the freezer, and then grate away with a fine grater)
In a medium saucepan melt the butter on medium. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add lemon juice, honey and tomato paste; mix thoroughly. Add in yogourt and bring to a low boil. Add all spices and reduce heat to med-low. Cover and let simmer until chicken is done.
Chicken
5-6 chicken thighs or 3 chicken breasts (de-boned and without skin)
- you could also use tofu to make this vegetarian, or a white fish would be tasty too!
1/3 red pepper - finely chopped
4 mushrooms - finely chopped
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp cumin
1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp flour or corn starch.
Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.In a bowl combine flour/corn starch with all spices. Mix thoroughly. Add chicken to spice mixture and coat evenly.
In a large skillet or deep frying pan (the sauce will be added to the chicken later, so it should be a big pan) add the oil and heat on med-high. Once the pan is hot, add the peppers and mushrooms. Once the peppers start to soften, add the chicken and all of the spice mixture and saute until fully cooked. Turn heat down to medium. Once fully cooked add the sauce to the chicken pan. Mix thoroughly and let simmer.
Enjoy!
Part of the problem with me starting a food blog is the fact that I don't really follow any recipes. Ever. The first time I make a dish I always try to follow a recipe, but I usually get bored and end up improvising very early on. The second piece is that I often try to "healthify" recipes on the fly; substituting butter with yogourt or sour cream, using vegetable stock in lieu of oil and whatever else I can do to reduce fat and calories from the delicious meals that we make. The problem with this really comes into play when I start trying to share the recipes I use with friends and family, since I don't really use a recipe. The last part is that I am crazy with spices. I often add things randomly and just test it to see if it tastes good. If not, I add something else to counter.
Below I have my best guess of my butter chicken recipe. Its healthy, high in protein and absolutely delicious!
We usually serve this over Coconut Rice and add vegetables such as steamed peas, corn, spinach, asparagus, green & wax beans on top.
Butter Chicken
Sauce
1/2 medium onion - diced fine
1/2 a container of fat free plain yogourt
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp honey
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cardamom
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp cayenne (or more if you like it spicy)
1/2 tsp cumin
1-2 tbsp ground ginger (put it in the freezer, and then grate away with a fine grater)
In a medium saucepan melt the butter on medium. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add lemon juice, honey and tomato paste; mix thoroughly. Add in yogourt and bring to a low boil. Add all spices and reduce heat to med-low. Cover and let simmer until chicken is done.
Chicken
5-6 chicken thighs or 3 chicken breasts (de-boned and without skin)
- you could also use tofu to make this vegetarian, or a white fish would be tasty too!
1/3 red pepper - finely chopped
4 mushrooms - finely chopped
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp cumin
1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp flour or corn starch.
Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.In a bowl combine flour/corn starch with all spices. Mix thoroughly. Add chicken to spice mixture and coat evenly.
In a large skillet or deep frying pan (the sauce will be added to the chicken later, so it should be a big pan) add the oil and heat on med-high. Once the pan is hot, add the peppers and mushrooms. Once the peppers start to soften, add the chicken and all of the spice mixture and saute until fully cooked. Turn heat down to medium. Once fully cooked add the sauce to the chicken pan. Mix thoroughly and let simmer.
Enjoy!
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