North Indian
Butter Chicken
Butter Chicken is North Indian home cooking, eaten at dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 4 tbsp butter
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup raw cashews
- 1 onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 4 cups cooked basmati rice
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Toss the chicken with the yogurt, half the garam masala, and half the salt and let it sit 15 minutes while you prep.
- Soak the cashews in hot water for 10 minutes, then blend them smooth with a splash of the soaking water.
- Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat and brown the marinated chicken in batches, then set it aside.
- In the same pan cook the onion, garlic, and ginger until soft, about 6 minutes, then stir in the cumin, paprika, and remaining garam masala.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes, then blend the sauce smooth and return it to the pan.
- Stir in the cashew cream, heavy cream, and remaining butter, return the chicken with its juices, and simmer until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
- Season with the remaining salt and serve over the basmati rice.
Serve it with
A North Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Butter Chicken, read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Butter Chicken carries tree nuts and dairy. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | Yes | Masala Omelette |
| Dairy | Yes | Masala Omelette |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Hearty
- Protein
- High
- Protein quality
- Complete
- Food groups it covers
- Grains, Vegetables, Dairy, Meat or fish, and Nuts and seeds
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Butter Chicken takes about 45 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on chicken, tomato, cream, and cashew.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from the United States and North India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.