Butter Chicken and Kachumbar Salad

Ready in under 30 minutes, this simplified version of Butter Chicken can be made in less time than it takes to get a takeaway and for a fraction of the price. Serve this delicious chicken curry with basmati rice and a simple salad for an easy peasy midweek supper.

A few weeks ago I shared with you my review of The Spicery. The Spicery offers a wonderful service, delivering ready mixed spice blends directly to your door. All you have to do is obtain a few basic ingredients and follow the simple recipe cards and you will produce delicious, authentic meals easily and quickly. If you haven’t tried them before, I really recommend that you do!

We tried 4 of their recipes and our favourite was the Butter Chicken, which they describe as a more authentic and sophisticated version of Chicken Tikka Masala. We so enjoyed this recipe that I really wanted to recreate this dish for my blog.

My version is really very easy, first you mix up a quick and simple marinade for the chicken out of yogurt and tikka curry powder (you can easily get this at the supermarket – I used Tesco Medium Tikka Curry Powder). While the chicken is marinating, you make a simple salad out of tomatoes, cucumber, red onions, cumin seeds and lemon juice. Next you fry onion, garlic and ginger in butter, before adding in the chicken and marinade. Finally add chopped fresh tomatoes and some tomato puree to the curry and finish with fresh coriander and a dash of cream.

With butter, full fat yogurt and cream, this curry is definitely a little decadent. If you want a delicious meal without quite so many calories and saturated fat, you could use olive oil to fry your chicken and miss out on the cream. You could try this with low fat yogurt too, but I haven’t tested that version so I can’t promise that it works. Let me know what happens if you do try it with low fat yogurt!

This simple chicken curry is perfect served with basmati rice and the delicious kachumbar salad or why not try it with my Easy Peasy Pilau Rice? My husband likes to drink beer with this dish, but I prefer to drink an oaked Chilean or Southern French Chardonnay.

5 from 1 vote

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Butter Chicken and Kachumbar Salad

Recipe Type Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Serves 4

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

Butter Chicken

• 300 g full fat natural yogurt
• 4 tablespoons medium tikka curry powder
• 800 g chicken thigh diced (you can use chicken breast if you prefer)
• 25 g butter
• 1 large brown onion sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic crushed or grated
• 2 cm ginger grated
• 3 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 2 tablespoons fresh coriander roughly chopped (plus extra for garnish)
• 50 ml single cream optional

Kachumbar Salad

• 1 red onion
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds ground
• ½ a cucumber diced
• 3 medium tomatoes roughly chopped

To serve

• Basmati rice and/or naan bread

Method

1. In a large bowl, make a simple marinade of the yogurt and curry powder. Add the diced chicken and stir everything together thoroughly. If you have time, put in the fridge to marinade for up to 1 hour and then continue with the recipe below.
2. To make the salad, place the sliced red onions, salt, and lemon juice in a bowl and mix thoroughly. This will help soften the onions and make the flavour less harsh. The onions will also flavour the dressing beautifully. Add the cumin, diced cucumber and tomatoes and stir everything together. Leave to sit, while you make the curry to allow the flavours to mix and mingle.
3. As soon as you have made your salad, melt 25g butter in a frying pan and add the sliced brown onion, fry over a low heat with the lid on until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes, then add the chicken and all of the marinade and stir together.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree and cook on a low heat, with the lid on for 15 minutes.
5. Use this time to make your basmati rice according to packet instructions / your own preferences.
6. After 15 minutes, add the fresh coriander, and cream to the curry. Stir together and remove from the heat. Serve with the kachumbar salad and basmati rice and/or naan bread and a glass of oaked chardonnay.

Love chicken? Check out my collection of Easy Peasy Chicken Recipes…

Love curry? Find lots of Easy Peasy Curry Recipes here…

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