Easy Butter Chicken

I love butter chicken. No, that’s not quite right… I LOVE butter chicken. There are a lot of prepared store bought butter chicken sauces that aren’t bad, but once you realize how easy it is to make, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered to buy it. Don’t let the long list of ingredients intimidate you- it really is quite simple to pull off! With homemade, you also get the added benefit of being able to bump the spice level up or down, depending on your personal preference. You will need a spice grinder for this, but as we all know….. a well cleaned out coffee grinder works just as well.

Mix the diced chicken with the lime juice and marinade in fridge for 1 hour. in a dry pan, gently toast cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves and almonds. Let spices cool, add cardamom & lime leaves and grind to a fine powder. Mix spice powder, chili flakes, and yogurt, and set aside. Saute onions in oil until soft and then add garlic and ginger and cook for another minute. Add chicken & lime juice and cook until no longer pink. Add tomatoes, chicken stock & yogurt mix, and cook over medium heat until reduced by half. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Serve over rice and garnish with fresh cilantro. (Add a pinch of turmeric to the water when you cook your rice and it will turn out a beautiful shade of yellow.)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes (includes 1 hour of marinading in fridge)

Yield: 4 to 6 servings