Butter Chicken

So, last night I made "Butter Chicken" based on some rave reviews by friends. Butter Chicken isn't what you really think. It does have butter in it, but it's really an Indian curry dish more than anything. I had all sorts of problems. My first trouble was at the grocery store. I asked for boneless skinless chicken thighs at the butcher counter. Looked like that's what they gave me, I mean, I was lookin' right at them. Got to the checkout and they were marked "Drumettes" and the price was wrong ($1/lb higher). Gal marked them down and sold them to me for the thigh price.

Got home, and I'll be danged if they weren't skinless 'drumettes' (not boneless though). Now I felt bad for dogging the store (unintentionally). So, whatever, I forged onward. This was a from-scratch recipe, so I followed all the directions carefully. Butter sauteed spanish onions, garam marsalla, cumin, curry powder, cayenne, crushed garlic, tomato paste, chicken stock and some cilantro. Oh, and the chicken. Cooked everything up for a while and served with some Jasmine rice.

It was just "okay". After all the prep I was hoping for much better. The chicken came out nice, but I thought the curry was lacking. I was bummed. The wife agreed it was just "okay", but not up to my usual curry standards.

The recipe and my friends all said the recipe is even better the next day. I tasted it and it was just "okay". So tonight, I added in some of my usual Indian curry ingredients and now it tastes much better! Glorious in fact.

Live and learn I guess.

ETA - Oh, and I forgot, fresh grated ginger too.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Last night, I ate chicken phall. Woke up in the morning, boy, sh#t just hit the fan!

a reply to: mekhanics

Well, okay then! LOL!

I went too light on the curry and there was too much cumin for my taste. Tonight I added some more curry and garam marsalla. It's actually fabulous tonight.

Chicken Phall is good too. I've had some REALLY hot versions of that before in SE Asia (like FIRE hot!!). I made the mistake of telling this one Indian chef to make it as hot as possible. He added like ghost peppers to it!! I almost came unscrewed from that one! Wife said she never saw me in tears before! It was HOT, like FLAME THROWER HOT!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
Are Saturdays made for chicken? I too had Greek spring chicken and lemon potatoes, with fried Feta cheese and a Greek salad.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

We try, we do what we can, we find out the food Gods don't like us that day...

Curry for me in a recipe is always a hard one because "curry" can actually mean anything really....

I mean, there are so many variants involved in what you are buying as "curry" it's not funny.

As for me, I had a hankering a few days ago to slip into a good old fashioned starch coma so smoked up some fusilli pasta in the smoker with a apple/pear wood blend and then made a 3 cheese sauce for it today and ate it with sourdough bread with a little Egyptian onion paste.

Ever smoked noodles?

I'd highly recommend it!

And lapsing into a starch nap in 3,2,1....

a reply to: PhilbertDezineck

I absolutely LOVE Greek food!!

The wife makes a mean Pastitsio and a wicked Spanikopita!! I could blow up eating that stuff!!

It's just that whiff of cinnamon in the Pastitsio...oh man!! And then the buttery filo in the Spanikopita with the cheese!

a reply to: Lumenari

You're exactly correct, "curry" is really anything...in India. All it really means is 'spice to make a sauce' and every family has their own version of "curry". Usually when I say "curry", I mean S&B curry, which has a nice flavor. I build from there.

S&B can be hard to find sometimes in the US, but it's common in Europe.

I love smoking things, so I'm going to have to try this smoked pasta you refer to! Sounds really good!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I love "Butter Chicken" sauce, except I buy Pataks brand in a jar that's hard to beat. Their Tikka Misala sauce is pretty good too. I've never tried to make either one myself. The only curries I like to make are the Thai ones. I love mixing red curry paste with coconut milk and garlic to make my own sauce.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: Lumenari

You're exactly correct, "curry" is really anything...in India. All it really means is 'spice to make a sauce' and every family has their own version of "curry". Usually when I say "curry", I mean S&B curry, which has a nice flavor. I build from there.

S&B can be hard to find sometimes in the US, but it's common in Europe.

I love smoking things, so I'm going to have to try this smoked pasta you refer to! Sounds really good!

You should... it's a pretty simple way to use a smoker for something else real fun that nobody does.

Also good for wowing guests...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Butter chicken is all about the 'gravy'.

A thick sauce to begin with, and then you add a crap ton of butter to give it a ridiculous richness.

Bit of a dated video, but this is where I learned some of the basics of butter chicken.



This guy is still making videos on curries, etc. worth a browse in his channel.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
So, last night I made "Butter Chicken" based on some rave reviews by friends. Butter Chicken isn't what you really think. It does have butter in it, but it's really an Indian curry dish more than anything. I had all sorts of problems. My first trouble was at the grocery store. I asked for boneless skinless chicken thighs at the butcher counter. Looked like that's what they gave me, I mean, I was lookin' right at them. Got to the checkout and they were marked "Drumettes" and the price was wrong ($1/lb higher). Gal marked them down and sold them to me for the thigh price.

Got home, and I'll be danged if they weren't skinless 'drumettes' (not boneless though). Now I felt bad for dogging the store (unintentionally). So, whatever, I forged onward. This was a from-scratch recipe, so I followed all the directions carefully. Butter sauteed spanish onions, garam marsalla, cumin, curry powder, cayenne, crushed garlic, tomato paste, chicken stock and some cilantro. Oh, and the chicken. Cooked everything up for a while and served with some Jasmine rice.

It was just "okay". After all the prep I was hoping for much better. The chicken came out nice, but I thought the curry was lacking. I was bummed. The wife agreed it was just "okay", but not up to my usual curry standards.

The recipe and my friends all said the recipe is even better the next day. I tasted it and it was just "okay". So tonight, I added in some of my usual Indian curry ingredients and now it tastes much better! Glorious in fact.

Live and learn I guess.

ETA - Oh, and I forgot, fresh grated ginger too.

I’m getting the distinct impression that you are a “scratch” chef—you like creating everything in the recipe fresh, from scratch. So am I, 9 out of 10 times. However, over the years I’ve come to the realization that some parts of a recipe are actually better if they are purchased pre-prepared by specialists. IHMO, Indian sauces are definitely in that category. Most of the large chain grocery stores these days carry an assortment of pre-prepared Indian sauces either in foil pouches or in glass jars. “Kitchens of India” and “Indian Essentials” are two common brands. If you can’t find them locally, you can get them on Amazon.

Sauté the chicken in Ghee (clarified butter) and add some of the simmer sauce and in 20 minutes (after the rice has cooked and the Dal has warmed up) you’ve got a meal that will blow your taste buds away.

OOPS...and I forgot...I added coconut milk also (thanks, Deetermined!) It was part of the recipe.

I think my mistake was I crushed up cumin seeds, and it went way over the top with cumin flavor. Last night's version I could have served on tacos I think (just kidding, but there really was a lot of cumin). I lost the coconut milk flavor and the curry spices got buried. Tonight was much better.

I just bought two tyson whole chickens at the store for .66 a pound, the six pound chicken was a little over four bucks. Not as good tasting as Gerber or the other Ahmish birds, but it says it is all natural, and a buck less a pound. Cooking in the cast iron Dutch oven on the wood fire makes anything taste good. Throw the chicken in there with some salt, pepper, garlic salt, and onions for about an hour and a half, then toss in baby reds, chunks of carrots, and some celery and a quarter pound of butter and some more salt and pepper and some garlic cloves and cook another hour. Then some good fresh yellow and green beans and another twenty minutes and everything is done.

We did some yesterday, but instead of a whole chicken I deboned it and made some broth with the bones to make egg drop soup with. I have about two fifty five gallon drums full of small hardwood clippings from the flooring mill, that makes great coals.

a reply to: rickymouse

Sounds GREAT!

Mention cast iron, and just about anything that follows it for ingredients is fabulous! I LOVE my cast iron!!

I'm a big Le Crueset and Lodge fan. Lodge for the outdoor stuff, and Le Crueset for the inside stuff. Just don't get any better than cast iron for cooking!! I don't care what dish you make, if you make it in cast iron it will be 2x as good!!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: rickymouse

Sounds GREAT!

Mention cast iron, and just about anything that follows it for ingredients is fabulous! I LOVE my cast iron!!

I'm a big Le Crueset and Lodge fan. Lodge for the outdoor stuff, and Le Crueset for the inside stuff. Just don't get any better than cast iron for cooking!! I don't care what dish you make, if you make it in cast iron it will be 2x as good!!

We use cast iron pans and pots quite a bit. Food seems to taste better when cooked in cast iron. I don't mind those copper pans for eggs, but they don't last long. Menards usually puts them on sale for five bucks after rebate, and they last about a year and a half before stuff starts sticking, better than paying twenty five bucks and still only last a year and a half. We have two in reserve.

We like doing breakfast on the firepit too, it has a two foot by four foot stainless steel grate from the mine for cooking on. there is about an eighth inch between the stainless steel quarter inch by half inch solid stainless steel bars on top. Great for cooking on, but it weighs about a hundred pounds. I got four more of them to clean the rocks out of for the kids to make something out of.

Next thing I need to make is a big out door brick oven for summer to cook things in. Mostly pizzas and breads, maybe some pies and pasties too. It gets hot in the middle of the summer when you want to cook in our house, we would probably use it five times a summer. We have plenty of rocks here, the Indians collected them and put them in rows, they are about six inches under the ground. I could display the flat ground stones that way. I don't have to dig anymore of the trail liners up, I got piles of them around the garden. I wish I would have realized earlier what they were. Oh well, might as well put them to good use.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: rickymouse

Sounds GREAT!

Mention cast iron, and just about anything that follows it for ingredients is fabulous! I LOVE my cast iron!!

I'm a big Le Crueset and Lodge fan. Lodge for the outdoor stuff, and Le Crueset for the inside stuff. Just don't get any better than cast iron for cooking!! I don't care what dish you make, if you make it in cast iron it will be 2x as good!!

Just shootin the breeze... Ive always used cast iron for certain things adn you are correct it will be better in cast iron. Funny thing I discovered was that things I cooked in my "new" cast iron ( cast iron purchased by myself new over the years) versus cast iron Ive inherited from my great grandmother, grandmother and mother actually make the food taste even more different. I dont have any idea if its the aging process of the cast iron or perhaps what was cooked in it over the years.. but there is a VERY DISTINCT difference.

Butter chicken : I use a base for the sauce/gravy that I use heavy whipping cream, sweet salted butter, and fresh tomatoes... among other ingredients.

Ooooo! I made that a few nights ago in my pressure cooker. It was pretty good. My kids even liked it. I would have liked to make it a little bit more spicy, but kids.
I also made my garam masala blend, because I didn’t want to pay $5 when I had all the individual spices at home to make it myself. Plus, I can control the cinnamon, which is apparently a big deal to my kids. I also didn’t toast my spice blend. Next time I hope to allow more time for prep so that I give that a try.

originally posted by: Advantage

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: rickymouse

Sounds GREAT!

Mention cast iron, and just about anything that follows it for ingredients is fabulous! I LOVE my cast iron!!

I'm a big Le Crueset and Lodge fan. Lodge for the outdoor stuff, and Le Crueset for the inside stuff. Just don't get any better than cast iron for cooking!! I don't care what dish you make, if you make it in cast iron it will be 2x as good!!

Just shootin the breeze... Ive always used cast iron for certain things adn you are correct it will be better in cast iron. Funny thing I discovered was that things I cooked in my "new" cast iron ( cast iron purchased by myself new over the years) versus cast iron Ive inherited from my great grandmother, grandmother and mother actually make the food taste even more different. I dont have any idea if its the aging process of the cast iron or perhaps what was cooked in it over the years.. but there is a VERY DISTINCT difference.

Butter chicken : I use a base for the sauce/gravy that I use heavy whipping cream, sweet salted butter, and fresh tomatoes... among other ingredients.

There are differences in the cast irons. They still make some good cast Iron pans and pots, Lodge usually has good quality ones. It is a difference in the metal structure I think, you can even feel if a pan is good or bad if you are used to cooking with them. I have been frying in cast iron for over fifty years.I went out and bought my own twelve inch cast iron pan back when I was fourteen years old, I wanted my own so I could use it on fires. My parents did not like to use the cast iron frying pan we used inside to get all black and dirty the house, I still have seperate cast iron for inside and outside.

Now that you tried your own, you probably have a good idea of what’s missing. Do it again, your way.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


Do you toast and grind your own spices? When I make curries this is the route i go which i learnred from my childhood friend's mom.