As you know I dabble with spices in many of my recipes I don't just confine them to Asian dishes. Spices don't just excite our taste buds, they have been used for centuries for their healing and health promoting properties, composed of an impressive list of nutrients, essential oils, antioxidants, minerals and vitamins.
Yet many British people shy away from using spices and our favoured Indian dish, chicken tikka massala, isn't even authentic, it was created to satisfy the British palette.
I'm always at risk of losing a large chunk of my audience when I post a recipe which includes too many spices, this next recipe is by no means 'spicy hot' although you can add chilli, as I do, but this is completely optional.
As a child Indian cuisine wasn't something I experienced, back in the sixties Indian restaurants were few and far between and were somehow too exotic for the average working class family. By the seventies Indian restaurants became more common place and when I was fourteen I went for my first ever Indian meal. My best friend, her parents and I went to a little restaurant on Sydenham high street, it was a whole new experience for me, the flock wallpaper, the little booths, the Indian music and the aromas, I was instantly hooked!
I remember as if it were yesterday the waiter placing the hotplates on the table, and for some bizarre reason I placed my hand on one. I didn't utter a word of pain in spite of my hand throbbing like something out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon, I was so embarrassed! We went on to share a selection of different dishes and one of them was butter chicken, a mild, creamy dish which I loved. These days I go for hotter dishes, Dhansak or Gujeratie for example, however, as I was having friends round for supper I made this dish and it was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.
Butter chicken
Recipe
Serves 4
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
Salt to taste
Apply the above mixture to chicken breasts and chill for 30 minutes
Peel and chop 2 onions, heat a knob of butter in a pan, sauté onions for 5 minutes
Add chicken and seal on both sides
Remove from heat and allow to cool
Marinade
1/2 cup of plain yoghurt
2 teaspoons ginger paste or powder
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon tomato puree
Combine in a blender
When chicken and onions have cooled, combine with marinade, cover and chill for at least 1 hour
Gravy
1 piece cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon ginger paste or powder
2 cardamoms, crushed, use seeds only
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup double cream
In a large pan heat butter, add cardamom seeds, garlic, ginger, marinated chicken and cinnamon, top up with 1/2 cup of water, reduce heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally and adding more water if necessary
At this stage I added a can of white beans and some dried sultanas, lentils or chickpeas would also work well if you want to bulk the ingredients out
Simmer gently for 30 minutes, add cream and stir, heat for a further 5 minutes
You can serve the breasts whole or as in my case because I was serving 6 people, you can cut the chicken into bite sized pieces
Serve with basmati rice or naan bread (see post: naan bread)
'Incidentally, the long held idea that spices were used to mask rotting food doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. The only people who could afford spices were the ones least likely to have had bad meat, and anyway spices were too valuable to be used as a mask.'
-Bill Bryson
Love Donna xxxxx
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