Butter Chicken

The poster child for Indian food, for good reason.

Sharing my parent’s recipe - thank you, parents!

Per 4 servings:

For the sauce:

1 medium white onion
4 medium Roma tomatoes or 6 small
1/4 cup tomato puree
1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder (substitute with 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder, if needed)
2 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
4 green cardamom
3 tablespoons broken cashews
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon honey (substitute with sugar, if desired)
2 green chilies, split in half
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided into two equal parts
Salt, to taste
1 teaspoon garam masala, as garnish
1 tablespoon kasuri methi, as garnish
2 tablespoons heavy cream, as garnish
Handful of cilantro, chopped, as garnish

For the chicken:

1 serving of chicken tikka (1/2 recipe), preferably grilled. Recipe link available here

In a medium saucepan, add all of the ingredients for the sauce except 2 tablespoons of butter and all of the garnishments. Saute it for a few minutes on medium flame, and then add 1 cup water and mix. Cover and let it simmer on medium-low flame for 8-10 minutes, stirring every minute or so. If the sauce is thicker than desired, add more water. Cashews should be softened in the end.
Take the sauce off the flame and set aside to cool for ~30 minutes.
Using a hand blender or food processor, blend the sauce to make a smooth consistency. Add more water, if needed.
Finally, strain the sauce using a fine sieve.
If the sauce is still too thick, add more water and strain again.
Move the sauce back to the saucepan on medium-low heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Let it simmer for a minute or two.

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Crush the kasuri methi in your palm (my mom asked me to mention that this is very important) and add it to the sauce. Add the garam masala and the cooked chicken tikka. Simmer for a minute or two, and remove from heat.

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