recipe no. 8: indian butter chicken

so it seems that indian butter chicken is kind of trendy right now - you can even watch matty matheson make his own version. alex and i both have a secret obsession with matty, so here's that video. i found the recipe that i made from feastingathome.com, which has tons of great ideas. i highly recommend her site. i had never had indian butter chicken, but i love butter and i love spices so i figured i'd try it. the reason that it's butter chicken is that it uses ghee, which is clarified butter. i made ours with roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes, chicken, and basmati rice.

what you'll need:

• 1.5-2 lbs chicken, depending on what else you're including, any cut you like

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

• 2 smallish sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

• 2 tablespoons ghee

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 jalapeno, split in half lengthwise with the top in tact

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger (i cheated and used ground ginger, i just generously sprinkled)

• 1/2 teaspoon cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

• 1 can tomato puree

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1 tablespoon garam masala

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1 13.5 oz can full-fat coconut milk

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon honey (optional, I didn't use but I'm sure it's great)

• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon

what you'll do:

• decide what you are serving this with, and start cooking it. basmati rice takes about 40 minutes to cook and fluff, so start this right away. also get your veggies ready to roast. you definitely want to start those sweet potatoes early, because they take at least half an hour and 400 degrees to soften. cauliflower will be done in about 20 minutes at this temperature.

• i cut my chicken breasts up into 1/2-inch pieces. do this, then season with salt, pepper, and a little garam masala.

• heat oil in a skillet and cook until golden. i cooked my chicken all the way through so that it was ready to be thrown in once the sauce was done, but you can finish cooking it in the sauce if you want.

• now grab your dutch oven or large skillet.

• heat ghee over medium heat.

• add onions, cinnamon stick, and jalapeño, and sautée until golden.

• add garlic and mustard seeds, and fresh ginger if you opted for that. cook for another three minutes.

• add the tomato puree and chicken stock.

• add the remaining spices (cumin, ground ginger if you didn't do fresh, paprika, chili powder, garam masala, salt)

• simmer this on low heat, uncovered, for ten minutes. it'll start to thicken. stir occasionally.

• stir in the coconut milk and simmer for ten more minutes.

• add your chicken to the sauce. if you're like me, i want everything mixed together. so you can add your roasted veggies and rice to the pan, too. mix it all together and serve it up with some buttery naan!