Butter Chicken

I knew it.  While mixing the marinade, I knew this dish will be delish.  The smell of the  spices individually awakens the senses.  Mix all of them together, and you feel inspired.  Tomorrow seems so far away yet I kept my patience. Good things come to those who wait. So I waited and let it marinate overnight.   This dish has been on my cooking wishlist for a while now.  The list of ingredients intimidated me because it's quite lengthy.  I'm impatient that way, reading line by line.   But I want the dish so much that I tried reading it anyway.  Hmmm, it's not that difficult after all.  In fact, it's quite easy to prepare.   

Here's the recipe that I got again from Pioneer Woman.  I think this is also chicken tikka masala, but I'm really not sure.  I made some revisions to suit my family's taste. For the marinade, I used only 1/8 t of cayenne pepper, omitted cardamom just because I don't have it, and added paprika just because I want to.  I didn't have tomato sauce so I used tomato paste combined with equal portion of water, and at the last minute decided to add some sugar to balance the sourness of the tomato sauce. I threw in some button mushrooms for some dimension.   I also made some green beans with garlic separately and piled it  on the plate so we can have some greens.   Even if this was easy, I'm very pleased with the outcome.  

BUTTER CHICKEN:

4 pieces Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (cut Into Bite Sized Pieces)

5 cloves Garlic, Minced

1 teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoons Black Pepper

½ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper

¼ teaspoons Ground Coriander

¼ teaspoons Cumin

¼ teaspoons Cardamom

1 whole Lime, Juiced

1 whole Onion, Diced

¼ cups Butter

1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Tomato Sauce

1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Petite Diced Tomatoes

1 pint Whipping Cream

1 bunch Chopped Cilantro, to taste

2 cups Basmati Rice (or However Much You Want)

Combine first 9 ingredients and marinate overnight.

Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. Add the whipping cream (I have used light cream or half-and-half also) and cilantro just before serving over Basmati rice.

BASMATI RICE: (Just throw everything into the rice cooker)
2 cups Basmati Rice
4 cups Water
1 Tablespoon Ground Turmeric
1 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons Butter

We loved the dish.  I loved cooking it.  I love the colors- yellow, green and orange.  I can't get enough of the smell of my fingers after rubbing the chicken with those spices.  It's simple but bursting with flavors.  We're definitely having this again soon.