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Vrghr's Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
 Moderated by: Vargr, shadowcat-x, boojum
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 Posted: Thu Mar 5th, 2015 03:35 pm
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Vargr
Vargr


Joined: Tue Jun 7th, 2005
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
Posts: 5009
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Mana: 
Well, the snow's flying again, temperature plunging, and wuff was in the mood for something warm, rich, and comforting. Since Vrghr has been on a bit of an Indian Food kick, wuff thought he'd turn to one of his comfort foods from that area: Murgh Makhani or Butter Chicken!

Wuff had tasted it before, but never tried making it. And it turned out wonderfully rich, complex, and tasty, with chicken so tender wuffy could cut them with his spoon!

The nice thing about this, is if you just stop with the gravy part (the Makhani gravy), you can go in MANY different directions for the final dish! Serve it with cauliflower, or black lentils (dal) and kidney beans for Makhani Dal, or with paneer cheese. Have fun with it!

This dish shares a lot of similar flavors and ingredients to the Keema Matar wuffy made earlier. But, as with the differences between Massaman and Panang curries, there are definitely differences of the final product, even if there are similarities in some of the flavors.

With all the coconut cream and butter, this is definitely a rather rich dish, so not for every night. But it sure hit the spot on this cold and blustery evening!

Ingredients:
For the Marinade:
2 (6 oz) containers Plain Greek Yogurt
1 ½ tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp ground Fenugreek Seeds
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Ceylon Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg

For the Makhani Gravy:
3 Tbs Ghee
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 Jalapeno Pepper, minced (seeds and core removed)
2 Tbs Ginger Garlic Paste
(To make Ginger Garlic Paste, process 2-3 inches pealed Ginger Root and 10 cloves Garlic with ¼ tsp salt and ½ tsp lemon juice in a small food processor or Mortar & Pestle until smooth)
12 almonds, soaked and processed to paste (see below)
1 Tbs Fenugreek Leaves
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cinnamon Stick (¼ tsp ground cinnamon)
1 Tbs Cumin Seeds
5 cloves
6 green Cardamom Pods, bruised
1 black Cardamom Pod, bruised
3 tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
2 tsp Tomato Paste
2 tsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Sweet Paprika
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp ground Coriander
¼ tsp ground Cloves
¼ tsp Nutmeg

1 Can Stewed Tomatoes, crushed
1 C Coconut Cream
½ C Cream or Half & Half

¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper (optional or to taste)
Salt & Pepper to taste

6 boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs

Directions:
Marinate the Chicken
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the Marinade.
Rinse and pat dry the Chicken Thighs. Place in a 1 Gal zip-top bag. Add the Marinade. Massage and squeeze until every bit of the chicken is covered in marinade. Refrigerate for 4+ hours.

Make the Cashew Paste/Cream
Place the cashews (raw or toasted, but not salted) into a small container. Cover with hot water. If using toasted/roasted cashews, microwave for about 1 minute to get the water very hot (roasted cashews soften more slowly). Allow to rest and soften about an hour. Put the cashews and a bit of the water in a blender or mortar and pestle, and process into creamy paste. Reserve the water they softened in, and add to the Makhani Gravy to thin it, if desired (brings nice, sweet flavor).

Grill or Broil the Chicken
Remove from marinade but don't wipe the marinade off.
Grill on a hot BBQ grill (or in a broiler on a foil-lined sheet pan 3-4 inches from the heat) for ~3-4 minutes per side. Just enough to char and brown the surface but not to cook through.
(It will finish cooking in the sauce. If you cook it completely now, it will over-cook in the sauce.)
Wrap in foil to hold.

Make the Makhani Gravy
Heat the Ghee in a large skillet/wok. Add the bay leaves, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Cook until fragrant (3-4 minutes).
Add the onions and jalapeños. Sauté until the onions are translucent.
Add the chili powder, garlic-ginger paste, and tomato paste. Continue sautéing until onions are lightly browned. (4-5 minutes)
Add the stewed tomatoes, crushing them by hand, and their juice. Add the sweet paprika, ground coriander, fenugreek leaves, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Stir everything together and cook until the tomatoes have given up most of their moisture (about 6-8 minutes).

Add the cashew paste and about ½ of the can of coconut milk. Stir together.
Remove the bay leaves and the black cardamom pods. Process in a blender or pour into a deep bowl and process with an immersion blender until very smooth.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve back into the skillet, pressing to get all the liquids and pulp. You should only have some skins and seeds in the sieve.
Add the rest of the coconut milk, any remaining yogurt marinade from the bag, the lemon juice, and ¼-1/2 tsp of Garam Marsala.

Finish the dish:
Remove the Chicken Thighs from the foil. Pour any juices into the skillet.
On a plate (to capture the juices) slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to skillet with the juices.
Stir everything together, making sure the chicken is completely covered.

Cover, and cook over medium low heat, simmering, until the chicken is cooked through (about 15 -18 minutes).

Serve with Basmati rice. Garnish with a pat of butter sliced into chunks, and a drizzle of heavy cream.

Attachment: vrghr_s_butter_chicken_2.jpg (Downloaded 5 times)



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