Indian Spiced Butter Chicken ~ Classic Indian chicken dish in a hearty spiced creamy tomato sauce of yogurt, cream, and ghee served with basmati rice.A couple of weeks ago I posted my Slow Cooker Butter Chicken that I served in lettuce leaves. The day I made that version, I also made an oven and stove top version (that was such a good day) to see if there was much difference in the end-taste because there is less effort involved in the slow cooker version. Ghee turned out to be the only major difference between the two.

I did not use ghee in my slow cooker version because it is not readily available at most grocery stores, or wasn’t in my area and I wanted to see how every day unsalted butter stacked up. It worked, it was delicious and I’d eat it again, and again, and again. However, I used ghee in this version and the flavor was more intense and profound (all good things). Ghee has a nuttier flavor too it and that came through. My recommendation is in whichever version you make, this one or the slow cooker one, use ghee if you can get your hands on it or you can make it yourself. I will make a post soon on how to make it yourself, it’s actually rather easy. But in pinch, butter will work and you will be happy.

Butter Chicken

Author: Michelle De La Cerda

Ingredients

1/3 cup Greek yogurt
2 tbsp fresh lime juice (1 large lime)
6 cloves garlic; divided 4/2 minced/grated
1 1/2 ground ginger
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/4 cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/3 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt +/- to taste
3 lbs chicken (thighs and/or breast meat)
1-28 oz crushed tomatoes
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt and pepper; to taste
1/3 cup ghee
1/3 cup cream
1/4 cup cilantro; plus more for garnish
Cooked basmati rice

Instructions

Whisk together the yogurt and next 10 ingredients (to salt).
Add chicken to a zip seal bag or a large bowl.
Pour the spiced yogurt in and make sure the chicken is completely coated.
Cover/Seal and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but to all day.
Pre-heat oven to 450°
When ready to cook, place the chicken on a rack on a baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake for 10 minutes then flip the pieces over and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Once chicken is done, remove from oven and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.
Slice chicken into strips.
In a large skillet/pan, add the tomatoes, ginger, coriander, salt, pepper, ghee, cream, and cilantro, bring to a low simmer.
Add the chicken, along with the resting juices, stir well.
Serve over cooked basmati rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.

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Many of you have written to me about trying to find the spices I use in my cooking like this Indian Spiced Butter Chicken, so I am linking them to Amazon for your convenience. However, these are all sold on your spice aisle at most grocery stores, except maybe the ghee…I can only find that at speciality food stores, but I live in a small town. The rice should be available at your local store where rice is sold, or sometimes where international foods are.