Indian Butter Chicken

Wow! Delicious! Warm, comfort food at its best. The spiciness along with the creaminess of the sauce turns regular chicken breasts into a meal fit for a special occasion but easy enough for a weeknight dinner. This meal can be ready to put on the table in about 40 minutes, but the actual hands on time is more like 10 minutes. My kids helped me make this before lacrosse practice last week, but I hadn't cooked the rice ahead of time. By the time we got home around 7:00, I figured I'd better throw in some nuggets and whip up some mac n cheese for them so they wouldn't get too hangry. They were NOT happy with my choice and kept asking me where the other chicken was. Well, I heated up the chicken while the rice was cooking (my husband and I ate after they went to bed), and they gobbled it up despite it being pretty spicy. If you're looking for something a little out of your comfort zone, try this. It's easy, and I think you'll be pleased!

This recipe is adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com found HERE. I doubled the chicken and I broke it up into three steps. You can do them all at once, but read through the entire recipe to make your plan of action.

Ingredients & Method: 

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
2 T canola oil
2 T tandoori masala (I ordered this on amazon, but I saw it at Whole Foods)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat chicken in canola oil and then in tandoori masala seasoning. Spread onto a greased cookie sheet (I lined mine with aluminum foil and sprayed it), and bake for 12 minutes.

3 T butter (save the remainder of the stick for the next step)
Medium onion, minced
1 T minced garlic

In a small frying pan, melt the butter and add the onion and garlic. Cook for approximately 15 minutes, until the onion is golden brown.

1 stick butter plus the remaining 5 T of butter from the stick used above
15 oz tomato sauce
3 cups heavy cream
2 t salt
1 t garam masala (I found this at my regular grocery store)
1 t cayenne pepper (can omit or half if you don't want the additional heat)

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add tomato sauce, cream, and spices. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, and chicken. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Brown basmati rice - cook according to package directions. Cook more than you think you'll need!

Serve chicken over rice with sauce and enjoy!!

Happy Cooking!


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