A healthier butter chicken
22 Feb
On Family Day, I had the opportunity to cook for my family — a rare occasion, considering we live in different cities. I wanted to make something comforting, delicious and relatively healthy. Enter Mary Sue Waisman’s butter chicken.
Mary Sue is a Canadian dietitian whose cookbook, Flavour First, landed on my desk at the Calgary Herald when I was writing about health. I’ve put it to good use ever since. (You know the look of a well-used cookbook: some of its pages are falling out, many are stained.)
I love her recipes because they’re healthy, full of flavour and uncomplicated. And her butter chicken is no different. Though it looks like there are many ingredients and the recipe might be fussy, don’t worry — you probably have all of these spices already and the actual cooking process takes no time at all.
The finished product received solid thumbs up from everyone in my family. Success!
Just a ‘Bit o’ Butter’ Chicken
Chicken and Marinade:
- 2 pounds (1 kg) boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) ground turmeric
- 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp (5 mL) ground paprika
- 1 tsp (5 mL) ground coriander
- 1 1/2 tsp (7.5 mL) ground cumin
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- 2 tsp (10 mL) minced fresh ginger root
- 2 tsp (10 mL) minced garlic
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) salt
- 1 tsp (5 mL) cayenne pepper
- 1 cup (250 mL) canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups (500 mL) 2% milk
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) cereal cream
- white granulated sugar (if needed, to reduce acidic taste)
- Combine all marinade ingredients in a re-seleable plastic bag. Be sure all chicken pieces are well coated with marinade. Marinate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- After chicken has marinated, remove from marinade and transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper; discard marinade. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter and add flour. Stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. Add salt, cayenne pepper, and tomatoes, and stir well. Add milk and stir until mixture begins to thicken. Bring to a low boil. Immediately reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until mixture thickens more. Add cream and stir to form a smooth sauce. Do not allow the sauce to fully boil or it may separate.
- Taste sauce. If the flavour is quite acidic, begin to add white granulated sugar in 1 tbsp (15 mL) increments until acidity is reduced.
- Add cooked chicken to sauce. Bring to a simmer once again and cook for 10 minutes to ensure flavours blend. Serve with steamed basmati rice.
~Michelle
