My Best Butter Chicken Ever!

I’m so excited about this recipe, as you’ve probably heard! I was cheeky enough to call it the ‘best butter chicken ever’ because my 16 year old son insisted it was the best he’d ever tasted, and said that I HAD to call it ‘the best ever’, and I HAD to teach him how to make it so he could make it any time he liked!! (Don’t you love it when your teenage kids rave about a recipe you’ve made up?? It means so much more than a few likes on Facebook, as nice as that is!)

I know what you’re thinking. “It can’t be the best, it’s too simple. It just can’t taste amazing and authentic when it has so few steps and such basic ingredients.” All I can say is, TRY IT! Ok, it’s not cooked the traditional way, with chicken marinating for hours and then simmered slowly in a big pot for ages… but believe me, it tastes amazing. 

I developed this recipe for my Quirky Cooking for Gut Health online program (which will be released soon – you can register here if you want to know more) and the criteria was as follows: 

• not too spicy so it’s suitable for kids, but FULL of flavour so that when you eat it with cauliflower ‘rice’ the flavour doesn’t get lost
• super simple so even kids can make it
• dairy free, gluten free, grain and starch free (suitable for GAPS and Paleo diets)
• basic ingredients anyone will have on hand or can easily buy at the supermarket
• quick to make, perfect for those last minute dinner decisions
• and so delicious that you’ll want to invite some friends over to share it with you!

It worked out to be soooooo delicious I couldn’t wait for my program to be finished to share it – I had to share straight away! So I popped the recipe into my newsletter (as I often do with recipes I can’t wait to share) and it went a bit viral, so I thought I’d better just get it up on the blog! So here it is. 

P.S. If you want to see some feedback before you try it, here’s a few comments:

“Very fussy about butter chicken BUT this was sensational. Thank you”

“Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing Jo! Recipe was super easy to follow, quick and totally delicious. Thank you, you’re a total ‘good food’ superstar. Oh and yes agreed – best recipe ever!”

“Made it tonight and it was such a delicious comfort food. It’s now in the rotating menu, big complement from our 5 and 3 year olds. You should have seen my son checking with everyone if it was now their favorite. Thanks for generously sharing Jo!”

“Jo, I think your butter chicken recipe has probably been made or will be made by nearly every Quirky fan! It looks as if it’s one of your most all time favourite recipes! The only other recipe I can think of that equals this is the macadamia lime cheesecake!”

Let me know what you think – I hope you love it too!

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My Best Butter Chicken Recipe Ever (with Cauliflower Rice)

2015-11-20 11:33:59

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Ingredients

Cauliflower ‘Rice’

1. 800g cauliflower, (cut into small florets)

Butter Chicken

1. 4 garlic cloves
2. 3cm fresh ginger, peeled
3. 1 long red chilli, deseeded and halved
4. 1 brown onion, halved
5. 100g ghee or coconut oil
6. ½ tsp ground cinnamon
7. 2 tsp ground paprika
8. 3 tsp garam masala
9. 1 tsp ground cardamom
10. 2 tsp ground coriander
11. 2 tsp ground cumin
12. 2 tsp ground turmeric
13. 500g coconut cream
14. 3 Tbsp lemon juice
15. 200g tomato paste
16. 3 tsp sea salt
17. 1 kg chicken thigh fillets, cut into 3-5cm pieces (or up to 1.3kg for TM5 or stovetop)

Thermomix Method

1. Place cauliflower florets into TM bowl, and chop 10 sec/speed 5, or until ‘rice’ sized pieces. Place into Varoma dish, poking a hole in the centre to let the steam through. Set aside. Wash and dry TM bowl.
2. Place garlic, ginger, and chilli into TM bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 7.
3. Add onion and chop 2 sec/speed 5. Scrape down sides with spatula.
4. Add ghee or coconut oil, cinnamon, paprika, garam masala, cardamom, coriander, cumin, and turmeric, and cook 5 min/100/speed soft. Loosen mixture from sides and base of bowl with spatula.
5. Add coconut cream, lemon juice, tomato paste, salt and chicken to TM bowl. Place Varoma dish into position, and cook 25 min/Varoma/reverse/speed soft. Cauliflower rice will steam above, as butter chicken cooks below. Check cauliflower is cooked - if not, add another 5 mins/Varoma/reverse/speed soft.
6. Place cauliflower rice into a serving dish, and butter chicken into a separate dish.
7. Serve butter chicken and cauliflower rice with steamed vegetables or a salad.

Stovetop Method

1. Process cauliflower in a food processor until chopped into rice sized pieces. Set aside.
2. Chop onion, garlic, ginger and chilli by hand, then saute in a heavy based saucepan with ghee or coconut oil, until soft.
3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer gently, covered, for 20 mins or until chicken is cooked through and sauce is beginning to thicken. Stir now and then.
4. While chicken cooks, fry cauliflower rice in a frying pan with some ghee or coconut oil, for 15 mins or until soft.

Notes

1. Vegetarian Version: Replace chicken with vegetables such as sweet potato, pumpkin, cauliflower and peas and cook for 20 mins in sauce, or until done. Can add chick peas also if you like.
2. Freezes well. Store for up to 4 months in the freezer.

Quirky Cooking https://www.quirkycooking.com.au/