Red Butter Chicken + Garam Masala + Homemade Chapattis

Red Butter Chicken

Before making this our own, we learned this first from Sam Stern’s Real Food/Real Fast - a great cookbook by a British teen. The girls like the breezy language of the original and all the photos of Sam and his friends.  I like the emphasis on real cooking with real ingredients.  All of us love the results!  Unbelievably delicious!!

Melt in a large pan

6 Tablespoons butter

Add

1 medium onion, finely diced4 cloves garlic, crushedPinch of salt

and cook gently for 2 minutes.


Add

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 

½ teaspoon chili powder 

3 teaspoons paprika 

2 teaspoons garam masala 

2 teaspoons ground coriander 

1 cinnamon stick 

4 cardamom pods (or 1¼ teaspoons ground cardamom)

and cook until onions are soft.

Add

2 (15 oz) cans crushed tomatoes 

2 Tablespoons tomato paste 

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar 

1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger

and stir. Bring to a boil. Simmer on reduced heat for 10 minutes.

Add

4 chicken breasts, without skin, diced

and stir to coat.

Add

1 cup heavy cream 

2/3 cup plain yogurt

Reduce heat. Cook at a gentle simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, cook

2 cups rice

in

4 cups waterPinch of salt

Chop

fresh cilantro

and stir into chicken. Excellent served with warmed naan or warmed whole wheat tortillas or - even better - Homemade Chappatis (see below)


Garam Masala
We found this formula for a garam masala mix years ago in a children's book about India from the library. Now I see garam masala premixed in the grocery store, but this smells so wonderful roasting in the oven, it's worth taking time to make it when you can.

Preheat oven 200°.
Roast in an ungreased 9 x 13” pan on bottom oven rack

3 sticks cinnamon 

½ cup cardamom pods 

¼ cup whole cloves 

¼ cup cumin seeds 

2 Tablespoons coriander seeds 

¼ C black peppercorns

for 30 min. Stir often.

Let cool.

With fingers, break open cardamom pods: remove and keep seeds, discard pods. Crush cinnamon (rolling pin and 2 towels). Combine & mix well. Grind to fine powder (food processor or in short bursts in blender).
Add

1 Tablespoon ground ginger

Store in sealed jar up to 6 months.



Homemade Chapattis
These are easy enough, I don't know why we don't make them more frequently.  The recipe is from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook

Preheat oven to 325°. Mix in a medium-sized bowl

½ cup flour 

½ cup whole wheat flour

Add

½ cup water

and stir until combined. Knead dough on a clean, floured surface for a minute or two, adding more flour to combat stickiness.

Divide dough into 6 equal balls and roll each one into a very thin round – no thicker than 1/8 inch – using plenty of flour on rolling surface and rolling pin.

Oil tray and brush tops of chapattis with

olive oil

Bake for 10 minutes until very, very lightly browned.