College Cuisine: Butter Chicken

By Koby Parry

The first time I heard about butter chicken, I literally thought it was chicken cooked in butter, but I was incredibly wrong. It’s an Indian curry, and my friend, Neeraj, enlightened me one day by making it for me. I took as many notes as I could as he threw in a plethora of spices and ingredients to make one of the greatest dishes I’ve ever eaten. He didn’t measure anything, but from my experimentation, these measurements are the closest I’ve been able to manage.

Butter Chicken

• 1 large sliced Onion ~$0.78 each
• 4 quartered Roma tomatoes (roughly the same amount as your onions) ~$0.27 each
• 5 cloves chopped Garlic ~$0.73/bulb
• 3 oz chopped ginger (roughly the same amount as your garlic) ~$0.92 ($3.67/lb)
• ½ cup Raw cashews ~$8.98 ($0.64/oz)
• ½ cup Unsalted butter ~$3.98 ($0.25/oz)
• 2 tbsp Fennel ~$1.28
• 2 tbsp Anise seed ~$1.28
• ½ tbsp Ground cloves ~$1.28
• 1 tbsp Ground cardamom ~$10.00
• 4 tbsp Chili powder ~$1.28
• 1 tbsp Sugar ~$2.12 ($0.11/oz)
• 1 Cinnamon stick ~$8.00
• 2 Bay leaves ~$1.28
• ½ cup Heavy cream ~$3.37 ($0.21/fl oz)
• ½ lb Chicken thighs ~$4.45 ($2.18/lb)
• 1 cup Rice ~$5.97 ($0.08/oz)
• Salt to taste
• Naan (optional)

Grand total: ~$56.78

Recipe total: ~$13.75

(Prices are estimates based off of Walmart.com)

(The spice prices are from Coiners in downtown Buena Vista, VA)

Note:

I get all of my spices from Coiners in downtown Buena Vista. Spices are significantly cheaper there. The only expensive spices were cardamom and the cinnamon sticks, but everything else was just over a dollar or two. It’s also not important how you cut your onions or tomatoes since you will be blending them.

Photo Credit: Koby Parry

Butter Chicken

1. Add your onions and tomatoes to a large pot over medium heat, salt lightly, then stir to coat the onions and tomatoes in salt, then set heat to medium-high. This will help them reduce (get soft) faster.
2. Once softened (roughly 20 minutes), add the garlic, ginger, cashews, butter, and all of your spices (except for the chili powder, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves), then stir.
3. Transfer the contents to a blender, then blend until as smooth as possible, then add the curry back into the same pot over medium-low heat.
4. Stir in your chili powder, tasting as you go (adding more or less for preference), then add your cinnamon stick and bay leaves, bring to a low simmer, and let it sit for at least one hour.
5. While waiting, in a separate pan, cook your chicken thighs, chop them into bite-sized pieces, then add them to the curry.
6. Once the cinnamon sticks have opened (roughly 1–2 hours), remove them and the bay leaves, stir in your heavy cream until fully combined, and serve over rice.

Note:

The color of your butter chicken will vary drastically depending on the chili powder you get. The chili powder in Cambodia was bright red which made Neeraj’s butter chicken orange, almost red. When I made it at home, it was a light orange color, but with the chili powder I had available here, it was much darker, turning my curry a brown color. If your butter chicken does not look the same, that’s fine. Just make sure you get the chili powder that’s not super spicy because I did that while trying to figure out this recipe, and it was incredibly painful — delicious, but painful.

If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to check out the other ones we already have posted! Be sure to check back regularly for our new weekly recipes!