Indian food
Alicia, we did it. We finally made Indian butter chicken! Matt's asked for it several times but I didn't know where to buy the spice packets or naan. So last week I found a listing for "Bollywood market" in Orem. At first I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the smells (they also sell authentic Chinese and Mexican ingredients too). I perused the aisles until I found the spice packet for butter chicken, but I couldn't find the other packet you listed, tandori, or something like that. I asked the lady for it and she didn't understand what I was asking for. Likewise, I wasn't sure what she was saying. I nodded politely and did my best to decipher her English. Eventually she asked what it was I was trying to make. I said "butter chicken that my sister makes, like this," pointing to the first spice packet. "Okay, this is what you do," she said.
My ears started getting used to her heavy accent--"first you prepare the chicken. How many people this for?" "Two," I replied.
"Okay, two people. First you prepare chicken with four spoons tandoori paste." And so it went. She walked me through the spice aisle and asked if I had each of the ingredients at home or not. I left her store the proud owner of more garam masala than I will ever be able to use in my lifetime, but the results were fantastic!
This was her recipe that I wrote on the back of my receipt:
Marinate chicken in 4 TBSP tandoori paste (she said at least 5 hours or overnight; I did it for an hour and a half)
Bake chicken in oven until it's cooked (I did about 30 minutes)
Gravy:
4-5 small pieces of butter in pan (I used maybe 1.5 TBSP total)
cook 1 onion chopped very small in butter until onion is brown (so I tried to kind of caramelize the onion since she said brown, not clear)
add the following to the onion:
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP ginger garlic paste (I have separate paste in the refrigerator -ginger paste that we used for making pumpkin roll and a jar of minced garlic because it's so much faster than mincing garlic yourself every time you need it; her store sells ginger-garlic paste though)
1 tsp garam masala (this has all sorts of cool things in it: cumin, dried mango, bay leaves, etc)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander
"2 pieces tomato or 1 can tomato paste if you no have tomatoes" (I used a pint of my home canned crushed tomatoes)
a little chili powder, or more if you want it more spicy
"just a little cream, like maybe 1/2 cup"
1-2 TBSP plain yogurt
Thai chilies (optional, if you like them. I didn't have them so I didn't include it)
Add a little water and cook this for 10 minutes and add the chicken. Eat with rice and naan.
It was so good. This is my new favorite oriental/eastern dish. It was SO good, so flavorful, and not spicy (hot). I bought freezer naan to go with it because I didn't have time to try out any of the recipes I found online. Someday I'd like to try making it though and freezing my own extras for future meals. The freezer naan is really good though. Heidi, when I get around to making my own naan I will send you the recipe and let you know how it turns out.
Here are my sub-par pictures of the meal. We were eating late, that's why I was already in pj's. Oh, I also added fresh cilantro like you did, Alicia, because I had already bought it at the grocery store.
My ears started getting used to her heavy accent--"first you prepare the chicken. How many people this for?" "Two," I replied.
"Okay, two people. First you prepare chicken with four spoons tandoori paste." And so it went. She walked me through the spice aisle and asked if I had each of the ingredients at home or not. I left her store the proud owner of more garam masala than I will ever be able to use in my lifetime, but the results were fantastic!
This was her recipe that I wrote on the back of my receipt:
Marinate chicken in 4 TBSP tandoori paste (she said at least 5 hours or overnight; I did it for an hour and a half)
Bake chicken in oven until it's cooked (I did about 30 minutes)
Gravy:
4-5 small pieces of butter in pan (I used maybe 1.5 TBSP total)
cook 1 onion chopped very small in butter until onion is brown (so I tried to kind of caramelize the onion since she said brown, not clear)
add the following to the onion:
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP ginger garlic paste (I have separate paste in the refrigerator -ginger paste that we used for making pumpkin roll and a jar of minced garlic because it's so much faster than mincing garlic yourself every time you need it; her store sells ginger-garlic paste though)
1 tsp garam masala (this has all sorts of cool things in it: cumin, dried mango, bay leaves, etc)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander
"2 pieces tomato or 1 can tomato paste if you no have tomatoes" (I used a pint of my home canned crushed tomatoes)
a little chili powder, or more if you want it more spicy
"just a little cream, like maybe 1/2 cup"
1-2 TBSP plain yogurt
Thai chilies (optional, if you like them. I didn't have them so I didn't include it)
Add a little water and cook this for 10 minutes and add the chicken. Eat with rice and naan.
It was so good. This is my new favorite oriental/eastern dish. It was SO good, so flavorful, and not spicy (hot). I bought freezer naan to go with it because I didn't have time to try out any of the recipes I found online. Someday I'd like to try making it though and freezing my own extras for future meals. The freezer naan is really good though. Heidi, when I get around to making my own naan I will send you the recipe and let you know how it turns out.
Here are my sub-par pictures of the meal. We were eating late, that's why I was already in pj's. Oh, I also added fresh cilantro like you did, Alicia, because I had already bought it at the grocery store.
Awesome!!! I've made it several different ways depending on advice from Indians, recipes online, and what I have on hand. It's cool to see the advice you received! I'll have to try it that way. I have Garam Masala, too, and usually use it. I've seen that paste on a cooking show but never made it. I should try it. Also, usually before I put the chicken in I throw the gravy in the blender and it makes the sauce really smooth and creamy. Looks yummy! I have yet to try to make naan. I should really attempt it one of these days. Way to go!!!
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