Butter Chicken (Chicken Makhani)

I cannot believe it's almost 4 days since my last post. I apologize dear readers, I've been really caught up with work. But I am back now so let me pick up where I left off.

As i wrote in my previous post Weekend Cookout, I cooked up a storm with Indian Inspired meals. One of the dished I prepared was Butter Chicken. This chicken curry dish is a very versatile one as you can adjust the spiciness level to your liking. My butter chicken was a very mild one because my guest did not have the tongue for spicy food, unfortunately. It was still a very flavorful curry that packs the punch in the amount of spice.

Here's the recipe:
4 whole chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons of yogurt

Spices:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 onion, minced
4 garlic, chopped finely
1 inch of ginger, minced
2 small cans of tomato puree
1 tablespoon chili powder (decrease/increase the amount to your preference)
approx. 1 tablespoon salt to taste
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup of grounded almonds
1/2 cup of yogurt
1/2 cup water

Method:
1. Marinate chicken with paprika, salt, pepper and yogurt for 2-3 hours.
2. After 2-3 hours, heat a deep pan with some oil and pan fried the chicken until all sides are browned. Take it off the stove for later use.
3. Use the same pan and the butter. Saute the onions, garlic and ginger until fragrant, approx. 5-8 minutes.
4. Add your garam masala and cumin powder, saute until the powder is well incorporated into a mixture.
5. Now, add the rest of the ingredients in and let the sauce come to a simmer. Stir well and let it cook for about 8 more minutes before adding the chicken pieces in.
6. Let the chicken cook in the butter sauce under a lower simmer for about 30-40 minutes.
7. Serve warm.

The butter chicken goes very well with rice, roti and naans :)

Craving for Vadai

Vadai

I loooooove Indian food and I love the vadai sold at the corner stall between the Telawi Streets of Bangsar. Even my partner loves Vadai; the occassional times of biting into a hot, green chili hasn't deterred his caucasian tongue one bit. Such is his love for them and only the ones in Bangsar. Since we came back to Canada, we have been craving for things like roti canai, vadai, idli, dhall, coconut chutney.....So last week, in the midst of craziness, I made Vadai, Dhall and Coconut Chutney! I'll probably post about the Dhall and Coconut Chutney another day but today...today is all about the Vadai!

The recipe calls for Urad Dhall. Now, urad dhall is naturally a black bean like lentil with a creamy white interior. Buy the white peeled urad dhall. Don't make the mistake of buying the black unpeeled urad dhall like me. My vadai as you can see in the picture is darker than the usual vadai because I used unpeeled urad dhall. The taste is not compromised however, thankfully!

So I got my vadai recipe from Recipezaar.

Ingredients:

1	cup Urad Dal (See!! they didn't mention whether I should buy the peeled or unpeeled!)
3	chopped green chilies
1	teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1	teaspoon salt
1-2	sprig curry leaves
	oil (for frying)

1 Onion, finely sliced


Method:

1. Soak 1 cup urud dal in sufficient amount of water for 2-4 hours (or 4 hours + if you bought unpeeled urad dhal) and grind into a thick fine flour. I used my blender, it was hell, i wish i had a kitchenaid food processer :(
   
2. Add 1 tsp salt, 2-3 chopped green chillies, 1 tsp whole black peppers, onions, the curry leaves and mix well.
3. Wet your hands and take a ball of thick paste (it should be a cross between play dough and mud) and shape it into a donut of about 6-7 cm diameter wide.
   
4. Deep fry this in oil and turn over until the vadai turns golden brown.

It's pretty simple actually, the hardest part for me was the blending. But it was alllllll worth it in the end!

every bite was slathered with dhall and coconut chutney!