This sweet and mild Butter Chicken recipe is as close you'll get to the New Zealand 'Food Court Butter Chicken' (kinda niche I know!!) It's not an authentic Indian butter chicken at all but it is ten times better than the jar sauces and equally as quick!! You can make it from scratch with a few ingredients, serve it with rice and vegies for a healthy and budget friendly fake-away dinner!!
We are a big family of 7 (2 adults, 3 young adults and 2 littles) so this recipe makes alot, enough for everyone to have a serve and there still be some for leftovers. It's very saucey so you could even bulk it out with more meat or vegetables if that's what your family prefers, I often like to add a little cauliflower and some peas but my kids would prefer that I never do that!!! The recipe is easily halved though and half could easily do 4 adult sized serves. Otherwise it works well for meal prepping or dinner parties too and I have been known to make a mean Butter Chicken Pie with any leftovers so it really is very versatile!!! You can also freeze the extra - just make sure you heat any leftovers until piping hot when reheating!!
Ingredients:
1kg Chicken Breast or Thigh - diced
1 Red Onion (or brown-it doesn't matter!)
2 tablespoons Butter (I use 1/2 Nuttelex and 1/2 Coconut Oil to keep it dairy free)
A dash of Olive Oil
2-3 teaspoons Crushed Garlic (to your preference)
400ml Can of Coconut Cream (can use dairy cream or your favourite plant based alternative)
2/3 cup Tomato Paste
2 tablespoons Tomato Sauce (ketchup)
2 teaspoons each of Nutmeg, Turmeric, Ground Cumin, Garam Masala
1 tablespoon Chicken Stock Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/3-2/3 cup Water (for deglazing)
Method:
1. Toss your diced chicken with the spices and chicken stock.
2. Add your butter to a pan with a dash of olive oil, allow to heat up then add your chicken scraping in as many of the spices as possible. Cook until aromatic then add the diced onion and garlic.
3. Cook until the chicken is just browned and the onion is translucent, if you find it sticking to the pan you can add some water to deglaze the pan. The chicken doesn't need to be cooked all the way through at this point.
4. Add the tomato paste and tomato sauce and stir at a medium heat for a few minutes until the chicken is coated.
5. Pour in the coconut cream and stir to thoroughly combine, add salt. Bring to a simmer.*
6. Simmer the sauce until the chicken is cooked and the sauce thickens.**
7. Once cooked you can serve with your choice of sides. We like to have this simply on rice with homemade flatbreads for dipping (trying to recreate the NZ Food Court experience here in Australia!!!)
*If you wish to add cauliflower or other vegetables I recommend adding at the cream stage, for vegetables that generally take a little longer to cook (carrots, sweet potato or pumpkin) I recommend adding at the same time as the onion.
**To help gain a thicker sauce I sometimes add 1 tablespoon of Cornflour to the chicken with the spices but it is not necessary. The sauce will be much thicker if you are using dairy based ingredients, you can make adjustments by adding a little water during the simmer stage if your sauce is becoming too thick.
I love making this Butter Chicken at home, it reminds me of going to the Food Court in NZ (if you know - you know!) and whilst I do love a delicious authentic Butter Chicken, this recipe is super yummy for at home and is ready in less time it would take to order take out!!!
