Indian Butter Chicken

Have I got a chicken recipe for you.



It all started last Sunday, when I met Amman, a very cool guy I was working on a freelance project with. Amman casually throws around phrases like “Search Engine Optimization” and “Blog content.” He has a few things to teach me about the powers of the Internet as they relate to writers from the stone age, who still keep a box of sharpened number two pencils at their desks (writers like me). But I have to say, the most important lesson Amman imparted at our meeting was how to make a proper Indian Butter Chicken. In fact, all talks of web design went out the window when he told me about this recipe and the wonderfully eccentric chef behind it, who you can check out here

I have a thing for Indian food. I love how the spices give a dish as simple as chicken in tomato sauce a jolt of exoticism. As if to say, “let’s make some magic.” I also have a thing for yoga, Jhumpa Lahiri and cows who walk around the streets undisturbed. I could have been Indian in another life (I also have a thing for reincarnation).

I know a fair share of you loathe Indian food, and I think that’s because you haven’t ordered the right things - or you're too afraid of curry. I admit, curry throws me off, too. Butter Chicken is very much like my favorite dish, Chicken Tikka Masala (which has no curry). If you like Indian food, Chicken Tikka Masala is probably your favorite dish, too. It's the Chicken and Broccoli of Indian food.

Amman's Butter Chicken replaces curry with cumin, coriander, ginger garlic paste and garam masala – the sorts of ingredients you need to go a special store to obtain. One that plays foreign music and has bundles of house-made tea and food you can’t pronounce. After Amman and I discussed blogging basics, he took me to a hole-in-the wall Indian spice store in the East Village who boasted the world’s hottest chili pepper. Amman bought one for a dollar, but I was too afraid. I hope he fared OK.

There was a big to-do when I got home, as I laid all my spices on the counter. David and I marveled at the bags, wondering what each spice smelled like and what we were going to do with it all. I have since learned that Fenugreek leaves do not keep well, so sadly, you'll probably have to throw out whatever you don't use here.

I have never fathomed making Indian food myself, for fear that I have no knack whatsoever at working with cumin seeds and masala powder. But this recipe is so simple and clear it its directives, it’s pretty impossible to screw up. And the final product is impressive. Like, "Damn this is delicious and I can't believe I actually made it" impressive. My Butter Chicken looked exactly like something I would get in an Indian restaurant, and I dare say, tasted better than some of the best Masala I've ever had. Maybe it was the house-blend garam masala from the secret spice store with the world's hottest chili. Or perhaps it was the Western addition of ketchup. Who knows. There was so much goodness going on here, I couldn’t pinpoint the deliciousness to one particular ingredient. All I know is, this dish is good. So, so good. And I am very glad I met Amman.




Indian Butter Chicken
Adapted from Sanjay Thumma

Note: It seems Indian chefs don't believe in measurements. They're of the "a handful of this" a "pinch of that" variety. For those of us afraid of overdoing the cumin and coriander, Amman has graciously provided measurements. Follow this recipe exactly, and you will have one fine Butter Chicken.

Ingredients
1 ½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into two-inch strips
1 large, white onion, roughly chopped
3 Tbs olive oil (vegetable or canola will work, too)
2 Tbs ginger-garlic paste, divided PLUS an additional 2 tsp, divided
1 Tbs red chili powder PLUS an additional tsp, divided
1 Tbs coriander powder PLUS an additional tsp, divided
1 tsp cumin seeds
A handful of dried Fenugreek leaves
1 14.5 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes
half a stick of unsalted butter
1/2 c heavy cream
2 Tbs ketchup
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbs salt, divided
1 tsp garam masala

Place chicken in a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste, 1 Tbs red chili powder, 1 Tbs coriander powder and 1 Tbs salt. Mix together and set aside. Heat oil in sauce pan or Dutch oven on Medium-High heat. Once hot, add chicken. Cook chicken in pan for 3-5 minutes, making sure it does not cook all the way through. It will cook fully once it’s submerged in the sauce. Remove the chicken from the pan without taking the oil out. This is important, because the leftover oil flavors the sauce immensely. Place chicken on a plate to the side. The oil remaining in the pan should be a rich brown in color – if it’s not, add more coriander powder. With the oil and spices still in the pan, add cumin seeds, onions, 2 tsp of ginger-garlic paste and 4-6 oz water to thin the sauce a bit. Stir for five minutes, then add 1 tsp coriander powder and 1 tsp red chili powder. Take Fenugreek leaves and rub them in your hands over the pot, so they form a powder. Finally, add the tomatoes. Cover sauce and let boil for 5 minutes. Remove the cover, and let sit for at least 10 minutes. This is critical, because hot liquids expand in blenders, and you’ll end up with a huge, steamy mess if you don’t let the sauce cool substantially before blending it. Once the sauce is moderately cool, pour it into the blender and run on high for a minute or two. You can also leave the sauce in the pan and use an immersion blender – just pour it into a bowl when you’re done. Add half a stick of butter to the empty pan, over medium-low heat. Take the chicken that has been sitting on the plate and drain the water/oil back into the pan. Add the sauce back into the pan. Add 2-4 more oz of water to the sauce to give it a silky, medium consistency. Add remaining Tbs salt, sugar, ketchup and heavy cream. Finally add the chicken back in to the pan, and sprinkle And add garam masala into the sauce. Stir and cook, covered for 10-15 minutes.

A Serious Soup

I’m afraid to say it out loud.

Yesterday, I woke up with a sore throat. And the sniffles. It pains me to admit this, but I think a cold is coming on. The temperature has dropped. It may even be time for gloves. David and I stepped outside the apartment this morning and both exclaimed “Ohhh” in that same sort of high pitched voice that can only signify a drastic change in the weather. On the subway, I’ve seen one too many people sneezing.

The situation calls for a serious soup.

When I was little, my brothers and I secretly loved being sick. At the first sign of a fever, our mom called the school, tucked us back into bed and set about making chicken soup. For lunch, a bowl of steaming soup and a glass of orange juice was brought to us in bed on a hideous red plastic structure that we lovingly referred to as the sick tray (my parents still have it). A cold was our only excuse to skip a meal at the table, and the three of us quietly rejoiced in being bundled under the covers watching cartoons while mom tended to us. If only sick days were still like that. There’s really nothing better than being taken care of, and no matter how old I get, I don’t think there’s anything my parents can’t make all right. I feel the same way about soup. It’s the first thing I turn to at the hint of a cold, and the one sick-day tradition I continue to embrace (besides being cranky). It’s sort of impossible not to feel better after a bowl of soup. Its curative powers are endless.

Yesterday, before coffee and without being fully awake, I turned to the soup section of my Gourmet Cookbook (yes, I use this book all the time – that’s because it is truly the only cookbook one could ever need). This recipe for Kale and White Bean soup was exactly what I needed: it's hearty and full of stuff that's good for you - like kale. Now, I’ve had some problems with kale in the past. It’s not a vegetable I normally turn to. It’s bitter if you don’t sautee or steam it, and really, who wants to sautee or steam something that looks like lettuce but doesn’t taste as good? It has to be said, though, that kale is a superfood – loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C, it’s as good as warding off a virus better than any medicine I can think of. Plus, it’s something green that is also in season in the winter. That’s pretty super, too, if you ask me. The kale takes on a rich, meaty flavor in this soup, brought about by onions and garlic. I dare say, I may be a kale convert - as long as I have a soup recipe that pairs it with Parmesan cheese. A rind of Parmesan cheese is the standout ingredient in this soup. It disperses strands of sharp flavor throughout the broth.

A couple notes: the original recipe calls for draining the beans for eight hours. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have eight hours to watch a bunch of beans drain. To do this quickly, place the beans in a saucepan with two inches of water. Bring water to a boil for two minutes, remove from heat and leave uncovered for one hour, then drain and rinse. This may result in simmering the beans in your broth for a longer period of time (as I experienced), but it is a surefire way to get them soup-ready in a hurry.

Also, I did not have the requisite five cups of chicken stock. I had four (most store-bought cartons of stock hold four cups, and I didn’t want to buy an extra one). My aunt, the professional cook responsible for this uses water when she’s short on stock. If it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me. I substituted one cup of water for the missing cup of chicken stock, and the soup is still extremely flavorful. And of course, vegetable stock can be used in place of chicken stock.

Kale + White Bean Soup
Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

Ingredients
1 lb dried white beans. I prefer cannellini.
2 medium Spanish onions, coarsely chopped
2 Tbs olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 c low-sodium chicken broth
8 c water
1 (3 x 2-inch) piece Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (make sure there’s a little bit of cheese still attached to it.
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Turkish bay leaf
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
8 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
1 lb kale, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves roughly chopped.

Prepare beans as indicated above and set aside. Heat oil in an 8-quart soup pot over moderately low heat. Add onions to oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add beans, broth, 4 c water, cheese rind, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and rosemary. Simmer, uncovered, until beans are just tender, 50 minutes or up to an hour and 10 minutes. Stir carrots into soup and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in kale, and remaining 4 c of water and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until kale is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan.

Note: This soup tastes best made 1 or 2 days ahead.