Butter chicken with Naan and a game of Recipe Roulette

Last week-end I decided to take a gamble and play a game of ‘recipe roulette’,  which was very risky, considering I’m on a extreme health kick after my recent near death experience (slight exaggeration) but I thought, stuff it, I’m all in for a little ‘excitement’

Now for those who’ve never played recipe roulette, it’s simple but be warned, highly additive. Choose a recipe book, magazine or Pinterst board, close your eyes, flick/scroll through the pages and when you’re ready stop! What ever recipe you’ve landed on, is the recipe you HAVE to make. Hypothetically speaking, you land on Lobster pasta and there’s not a lobster in a 100 mile radius, you could spin again. And then let’s say, hypothetically speaking of course, you land on caramel ice-cream, which you made last week,  you could spin 1 more time, but that’s it. I eventually landed on One Pot Greek Chicken with Lemon Rice by RecipeTinEats which is a fabulous blog and all her recipes are divine.

Lovie had 3 servings, it was that delicious.

Here is a link to her recipe    http://www.recipetineats.com/one-pot-greek-chicken-lemon-rice/

Moving on….. After the phenomenal success of my game of recipe roulette I decided to give it another spin the following day  and yes I know, I might have a small problem but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about….. …………………………………………..yet.

I hit pay dirt on my 1st spin with Butter chicken with Naan bread. We both love Butter chicken but skimming through the recipe I knew this recipe wouldn’t work for me….it had a hundred different spices, long winded and confusing even to me, so I scrapped it and made my own.

Now before the Butter chicken police come knocking on my door for violating its authenticity let me state this. This is my simple, quick and delicious chicken recipe that tastes a lot like butter chicken. So, if were you, I’d scrap the whole game of ‘recipe roulette’ (you don’t want to start something you can’t stop) and make this recipe instead.

I’ve also included my Naan bread recipe which is a real winner because butter chicken without naan is like making a speech to a 1000’s people, NAKED …………..not cool!

Butter Chicken

• For the Marinade
• 1kg chicken breast fillet, chopped
• 250ml Plain full fat yoghurt
• 15ml Amina’s butter chicken masala paste
• 15ml Garam Masala
• 15ml Chilli flakes (dried)
• 5ml Turmeric
• 2x cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 5ml finely chopped/grated fresh ginger

For the Sauce

• Oil for frying
• 1x Onion, finely chopped
• 4x cloves of garlic (15ml) finely chopped
• 5ml fresh ginger finely chopped/grated
• 15ml Amina’s butter chicken masala paste (see note 1)
• 250ml tomato puree/passata – see note 2
• 15ml chicken stock powder or 1 chicken stock cube
• 5ml sugar
• 250ml  -300 ml cream
• Handful of fresh coriander (optional)

Marinade the chicken

See it’s not swimming in yoghurt just nicely coated.

Add all the spices, garlic & ginger and Amina’s butter chicken masala to the yoghurt and combine. Pour over the chicken making sure that the chicken is properly coated with the yoghurt spice mix. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hrs or preferably overnight

To make the curry

Heat a pot over a medium low heat – if you have a cast iron pot use this because everything tastes better, cooked in a cast iron pot. Add a generous amount of oil (approx. 45ml) and gently fry the onions, garlic and ginger for a few minutes. Add the butter chicken masala paste and continue to fry over a low heat until the onions are completely soft – don’t rush this bit as the low slow fry releases the flavours in the butter chicken masala.

Add the chicken, marinade and all – butter chicken fundi’s don’t recommend adding any left over marinade to the pot but I’ve never had a problem adding the whole lot.

Turn up the heat slightly and fry the chicken until it’s no longer pink – it’s never going to brown so don’t panic….should take approx 10 -15min.

Then add the chicken stock powder/cube, tomato puree and sugar and give everything a good stir. Test for seasoning and adjust if necessary.  Turn down the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes

Add the cream and simmer for a further 5-8 minutes.

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with home-made Naan bread (recipe below) and/or rice.

Serves 5-6

Note 1: Most supermarket and butcheries stock a wide range of ready made curry pastes & powders. These ready made pastes are so user friendly as you don’t have to buy a 100 different spices that you may or may not use ever again. There is ALWAYS a butter chicken paste

Note 2: Tomato puree or passata can be bought at any supermarket but I just buy a tin of whole tomatoes and blitz to a puree with a stick blender

Naan Bread

Terrible pic but Lovie gobbled up the photo shoot one before I could take a pic.

• Ingredients:
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup plain yoghurt
• 5ml salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 5ml baking powder
• pinch of bicarb

Method:

• 1. Sieve flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt two times. Place the sieved flour on a wide plate. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour sugar, milk, yogurt and slowly combine, to form a soft dough. Cover with damp cloth and let it rest for 2 hrs (I’ve been known to wait 45 -60min).
  2 After two hrs, knead the dough gently for 2 minutes. Dust the working surface with some flour, pinch a small lemon sized dough and roll into a roti, slightly elongated in shape.

  

  See how thin I’ve rolled it out.

3. Heat a cast iron frying pan (if you have) over a medium/high heat. Once it’s hot, add just a little sunflower oil and immediately add the naan bread. Cover with a lid and cook for 45-60sec. Remove the lid and you will find that the naan has bubbled up.
4. Turnover and place the lid back….cook for a further 40-60 sec.
5. Brush with melted butter and freshly chopped garlic over the naan and serve hot with any curry of your choice.