Butter Hen – A Lovely Mess

We order take out perhaps as soon as every week at our home. And our primary, go-to is Indian meals. Considered one of my objectives for the yr is to work on do-it-yourself variations of a few of our favourite take-out meals. This butter hen recipe is a kind of. It’s tremendous flavorful, wholesome, straightforward to make and scrumptious!

What’s butter hen? Butter hen is a traditional Indian curry made with marinated hen and a creamy tomato sauce. We normally serve it with steamed rice, however Naan is a good addition as effectively. I additionally assume this butter hen recipe makes nice leftovers as you possibly can simply reheat it on the stovetop, very similar to leftover soup.

Associated: Subsequent up attempt a do-it-yourself chai latte or iced chai latte.

Elements

• Hen
• Kashmiri chili powder
• Salt
• Lemon juice
• Greek yogurt
• Garam masala
• Cumin
• Butter
• Cinnamon stick
• Inexperienced cardamom pods
• Cloves
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Onion – yellow or white
• Tomato sauce
• Tomato paste
• Granulated white sugar
• Dried fenugreek leaves
• Heavy whipping cream
• Cilantro

Sure, this can be a lot of components. However don’t get intimidated! Most of those are shelf steady dried spices or canned items. Plus, that’s what makes Indian meals good—all the flavour!

The right way to make Butter Hen

First marinate the hen. Begin by slicing the hen into small, chew dimension items. Attempt to get all of the items comparable dimension so they may prepare dinner for a similar period of time. Place in a mixing bowl and toss / stir with the kashmiri chili powder, salt, lemon juice, greek yogurt, garam masala and cumin. Cowl and refrigerate for half-hour.

Whereas the hen marinates begin the rice. I like to make use of a rice cooker.

Subsequent make the gravy / curry. Finely chop the onions, mince the garlic, peel and mince the ginger. In a big pot or dutch oven soften the butter. Cook dinner the onions over medium / excessive warmth for 3-4 minutes till very delicate and brown. Toss within the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Then add the garlic and ginger and prepare dinner for one more minute. Cut back the warmth to low and stir within the tomato sauce, tomato paste, kashmiri chili powder, garam masala, cumin, slat and sugar. Cowl and permit to simmer whilst you prepare dinner the hen.

Add the remaining butter to a big skillet and prepare dinner the hen till it reaches 160°F internally (cooked by way of). For those who don’t have a meat thermometer, I like to recommend it, however you may as well lower open the biggest/thickest piece to examine it’s accomplished. It must be white in shade with no pink remaining.

Returning to the gravy / curry. Take away the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods. Add the dried fenugreek leaves. Use an immersion blender (or you possibly can pour right into a blender after which return to the pot) puree the sauce. Then stir within the cream and cooked hen. I normally add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of water as effectively, as we like our sauce extra on the skinny aspect. However that is as much as you. High with a chopped cilantro when serving.

Suggestions and Substitutions

• I usually use boneless skinless hen breasts on this recipe however different cuts of hen can work simply as effectively.
• Kashmiri chili powder is value in search of out and might be simply purchased on-line. However, should you don’t have it you possibly can substitute it for paprika and small quantity of cayenne.
• Inexperienced cardamom pods aren’t all the time simply discovered on the grocery shops I usually store at, however they’re simply discovered on-line. I LOVE the scent of those and can add a pair to the rice whereas it cooks. However, should you can’t discover them you possibly can merely omit them from this recipe.
• Dried fenugreek leaves can simply be discovered on-line should you can’t discover them in shops. If wanted you possibly can substitute celery leaves or just omit them.

Extra Do-it-yourself Curry Recipes

If you’re excited by studying extra about conventional Indian delicacies I like to recommend Julie Sahni’s Introdution to Indian Cooking or Basic Indian Cooking.