MURGH MAKHANI -1

My favourite ingredient ever is 'BUTTER'! And that too Amul Butter! :D I'm sure many would agree this with me. I feel so incomplete if there is no butter at home.
Of late the main reason why I assist Amma in her grocery shopping to 'METRO HYPERMARKET' is just to lay my hands into the cold refrigerator and to pick blocks of butter! I usually buy those 100 g blocks but if its not in stock , I just grab a 500g one even if I need only 50 g!! :D I need butter at home!! I must shamefully admit that I feel very 'insecure' without butter! :D

And everytime my 'experiments' go waste, I only whine about wasting 'Butter' and nothing about my efforts going waste! :D This whining session finally made Amma decide upon finding a wholesale butter dealer for me :D because as we all know the price for my fav ingredient is rising day by day!!

Last thursday whenI was badly craving for a spoonful of 'Utterly Butterly Delicious' dish , I stumbled upon this recipe on one of my fav blogs .

MURGH MAKHANI / BUTTER CHICKEN

Ingredients:
Chicken – 600-700 gms (on the bone)
For the first marinade:
Lime Juice of 1 lime
Red chili powder – 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
For the second marinade:
Yogurt – ½ cup / thick
Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Ginger – 1 tbsps
Rock salt – 1 tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Kasoori methi – ½ tsp (these are a variety of dried fenugreek leaves often used in Indian cooking)
Oil – 1 tbspMethod:

• Make 2 deep incisions each in both breast pieces &s drumsticks. Mix all ingredients on the first marinade & rub well into chicken pieces. Keep aside for an hour.
• For the second marinade, mix all ingredients well & rub into chicken pieces till they are well coated. Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours. I usually leave this overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
• Place the chicken on the grill rack, with a tray underneath to collect the drippings. Grill for 8-10 minutes, brush with oil, turn the pieces, & grill for another 4-5 minutes until the chicken is tender. Keep aside.

For the makhani sauce
Gravy tomatoes – 800gms / chopped
Oil – 2 tbsp
Onion – 1 / chopped
Red Chili powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala _ 1 tsp
Cumin/Zeera powder – 1tsp
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Cashew paste – 2 tbsp (I ran a handful in my dry grinder in short bursts)
Bay leaf – 1
Green chili – 1-2 / finely chopped
Butter – 50 gms
Single Cream – 50 ml (original has 100 gm double cream)
Kasoori methi – 1 tsp
Green chilies, fresh coriander, cream for garnishing.Method:

• Heat the oil in a pan, add onion & sauté for a few seconds. Put in chopped tomatoes, bay leaf & salt & simmer, stirring occasionally, until the oil leaves the sides. Cool slightly & strain the sauce. (Do this the previous day to save time).
• Pour the sauce back into a pan over low heat. Add all the spices, followed by the tandoori chicken. Stir well & simmer for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the butter & stir in till it melts. Finally stir in the cream & take off heat.
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves, cream & green chilies, as desired.
• Serve hot with crisp garlic naan, & a salad of onion rings tossed in lime juice & salt.

Alterations I made:

• 400g of blanched and pureed tomatoes instead of 800 g of gravy tomatoes
• 400 g of onions slightly roasted on flame and pureed
• Since I din't have rock salt, I substituted it with common salt.

Verdict: As the title suggests it's the best ever Butter Chicken I have ever had ( esp. among the home made ones)

Hope you all liked this 'Buttery' post of mine :)

Thank a ton Deeba for sharing this recipe :)