Butter Chicken with Cashew Nut Butter, July 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge
July 13, 2010
The
July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please
and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to
challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and
use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut
Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and
Food Network online.
This
is my first post after what seems to be a long while, for me anyway.
Yes, I've been busy just like everyone else and have had a really
difficult time making the challenges' deadlines although sometimes a
recipe comes along that you know you will make regardless of your
schedule and this butter chicken with cashew butter just begged to be
made.
In
fact, for a couple of years now I have been on a lookout for a really
appealing butter chicken. The internet is full of them but wasn't keen
on any particular one. When I realized this challenge provided a recipe
along the lines of butter chicken I then decided it was time to
roll-up my sleeves, use the provided recipe as a foundation and make
the components up as I went. Anyhow, I knew what type of flavour as I
trying to achieve but without a recipe I could only wing it .
The
resulting dish was completely worth the effort and I hope you enjoy
this dish as much as my partner, our friend Yurie and I did last night
for it was a smashing success. Yurie, prior to dinner, had insinuated that she could probably skip the meal as she was still full from lunch
(her lunch time meal was a rather huge bowl of a robust bean stew plus numerous
slices of sourdough bread drizzled with olive oil prepared by yours truly). Well, lovely Yurie
went for seconds ... happily and on her own accord! I think this recipe will
become a keeper.
How
does it taste? Well, it's obviously buttery but it's also tangy from
the yoghurt and the tomato paste, deeply aromatic from the spices and
beautiful to eat in winter. I must, though, apologise for the photo. It
seems to me that lately I have been in a hurry to eat my concoctions
before I get a chance to "artfully" arrange the dish and take
photographs and this time it was no exception ... the photo was taken
once it was served on our individual plates ready for consumption and
I'm very sorry about that. I won't promise it won't happen again.
Hunger trumps art.
By
the way, this recipe makes a ton of sauce which I froze for my next
batch of butter chicken. Next time around I'll marinate the chicken in
the spices while omitting the yoghurt, fry it in butter and then add it
to the simmering sauce ... I can't wait.
Thank you Margie and Natashya for organising this event.
Butter Chicken with Cashew Nut Butter
Yield: 4 servings for hungry people
You will need a coffee grinder to grind the spice mix to a powder.
Ingredients
Spice mix:
- Cloves: 6 whole
- Black Peppercorns: 10
- Cinnamon: 1 stick about 3 cm long
- Cardamom pods: 4, seeds only
- Coriander seeds: 4 teaspoons
- Cumin seeds: 3 teaspoons
- Fenugreek: whole, 2 teaspoons
- Chilli flakes: 1 teaspoon or more, to taste
Marinade mix:
- Full-fat yoghurt: 1 cup
- Garam masala: 1 teaspoon
- Turmeric powder: 2 teaspoons
- Smoked paprika: 1 teaspoon
- Bay leaves: 3, fresh or dry
- Salt to taste
The rest:
- Chicken: 1 medium, cut to pieces (you can use thighs and drumsticks pieces, if you prefer)
- Coconut oil: 3 tablespoons
- Onions: 2, chopped finely
- Garlic: 6 cloves, chopped finely
- Ginger, freshly grated or microplaned: 1 knob about 4 x 2 cm long
- Tomato paste: 4 tablespoons
- Cashew butter: 1 cup (you can use smooth peanut butter, if you prefer). This challenge required me to make my own nut butter but my food processor wasn't up for it so I had to purchase it
- Maldive chips: 3 teaspoons. You can substitute with good quality anchovies, about 2, chopped to a paste
- Chicken stock: 1 cup
- Sugar to taste
- Salt to taste
- Butter: 50 grams, cut into small cubes
- Coriander: 1 bunch, leaves only, chopped roughly
Preparation
Roast
all the ingredients from the spice mix in a fry pan at medium to low
heat until it becomes aromatic, about 8 minutes. Allow this to cool and
then grind to a powder in a coffee blender.
In
a large, non-reactive bowl, coat the chicken pieces with the spice mix
and the marinade mix and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours,
covered.
In medium to high heat, heat the coconut oil in a large casserole pot,
add the onions and fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Then add
the garlic, ginger, tomato paste, cashew butter and maldive chips (or
anchovies) and fry for another 5 minutes or until the ingredients
release their aromas.
Add
the chicken pieces, stir briefly, cover and lower heat to medium low
and cook for about 20 minutes. Uncover, stir again, lower heat to a
simmer.
Add the butter and let it melt while stirring carefully. Garnish with coriander leaves, stir again and serve with steamed rice.
Posted by Milagritos. Posted In : Poultry
