It's been a little longer than usual since the last recipe post as up until last weekend I had been enjoying lovely holidays with hubby and the kiddos. Two weeks away in our campervan driving through scorching hot Europe, camping in Polish Lake District (Mazury) and visiting family was pretty intense and there was definitely no time for blogging 😉 . I made this delicious Easy Butter Chicken Curry before we set off on our adventure but as pre-holiday time was pretty full-on it has never left the draft folder, until now!
I do love a good curry but we tend to have take away only once in a blue moon as it's (let's face it) not cheap! Instead, I really enjoy getting in the kitchen and making my own at a fraction of the cost but definitely not less delicious. Try my Jamie Oliver's Inspired Chicken Tikka Masala, Easy Cauliflower & Lentil Curry or Tarka Dhal with Spinach (Vegan) which also prove that good curry can be easily prepared at home.
Recently, I started using chicken thighs in my curries instead of breast as they are so much more forgiving and much more difficult to overcook. I kept my Easy Butter Chicken Curry family friendly hence the amount of chilli powder is rather on the modest side to suit my kids but, by no means, feel free to adjust it per your liking. This curry both reheats and freezes beautifully so you can make bigger batch for next time if you fancy.
We like to eat our curry with generous amount of my Easy Indian Spiced Basmati Rice or Easy Turmeric Rice and my delicious Easy Naan Bread or Easy Flatbread (both without yeast)! Add my homemade Cucumber Raita and your feast will be complete!
Easy Butter Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 500-750 g skinless & boneless chicken thighs cut into chunks
- 30 g ghee (clarified butter) or unsalted butter
- 1 onion peeled
- 3-4 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 thumb size piece of fresh ginger peeled
- 0.5 teaspoon sugar
- 0.25-0.5 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 500g carton passata
- 1 tablespoon Garam Masala
- 1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander
- 150 ml fresh double cream
- 1 lime
- 0.5 small bunch fresh coriander
Instructions
- Put chicken thighs cut into chunks into a bowl and sprinkle with lime juice squeezed out of half a lime. Season with salt and pepper and set aside while you get on with your curry.
- Put your onion, garlic cloves, ginger, sugar and chilli powder in the food processor/blender and whizz together until you have almost paste like consistency. You can also chop the onion really finely and grate garlic and ginger using very fine grater if you don't have a food processor.
- Heat up half the butter (ghee) in a heavy, cast iron type pan with the lid and add your chicken pieces. Fry them for approx. 5 min until browned (you might want to do it in batches). Take chicken pieces out onto a plate using a slotted spoon.
- Melt another half of butter and add your onion mixture. Let it fry for a couple of minutes at which point you add your passata followed by remaining spices (garam masala, cumin and ground coriander) and couple of glugs of water. Give it a good stir and let it come back to simmer.
- Add chicken pieces, stir well, cover the pan with the lid and simmer for 10 min. Make sure you check on it and give it a stir/add a bit of water if sauce is getting too thick.
- Turn off the heat, adjust the seasoning (salt, pepper) and slowly mix in double cream, mixing at all times as you're adding it. Add the juice of another half a lime, garnish with freshly chopped coriander and enjoy with rice and some naan bread!
Notes
- Calories per portion of curry (no rice or bread included)
- Feel free to adjust the amount of chilli powder to your liking. The amount suggested in this recipe is to suit family with kids.
Nutrition
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I’m linking my Easy Butter Chicken Curry recipe with the following pages:
Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Midge at The Peachicks Bakery
Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Corina at Searching for Spice
Brilliant Blog Posts hosted by Vicki at Honest Mum Blog
Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie and this week's co-hosts Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Diann @ Of Goats and Greens
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Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
Looks like a delicious meal - Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party - have a fabulous week!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Helen! It's a pleasure to join in! I thought I would link up curry together with naan as they do go so hand in hand. 🙂
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
This looks absolutely delicious! It looks so rich and tasty, I've pinned it to make it soon!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks so much Cat! 🙂 x
Angie | Fiesta Friday says
Love butter chicken! First thing we order every time we go to an Indian restaurant, just a must! Love your easy version!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Angie! 🙂 Butter Chicken is lovely isn't it? That's why I thought having an easy to make at home version of it would be just the ticket! 🙂
Tyler Heal says
Thanks Jo! This was an awesome recipe and very easy to follow. I switched out the thighs for breasts though (just my preference) and loved it. Looking forward to the homemade naan bread, I haven't attempted bread before, what could go wrong!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Tyler! I'm so pleased you've tried it and loved it! As for the naan bread honestly not much can go wrong here 🙂 super straightforward even for bread making newbies 🙂
Balvinder says
This looks divine, Jo! You reminded me to make it this weekend.
P.S Did you make the naan, too?
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you so much 🙂 Yes, homemade naan bread as well and recipe will be on the blog very soon! 🙂
Of Goats and Greens says
Thanks! The closest Indian take out is a bit further away than I would want to drive -- so having Indian recipes I can cook at home are worthwhile for me to collect. This one looks really tasty! Thanks for sharing over at Fiesta Friday!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Diann 🙂 We all like it as our take out alternative as cooking my own means that we can have it more often as it doesn't cost the Earth. Thanks for co-hosting this week! 🙂
Corina Blum says
This looks super tasty Jo and definitely a great alternative to a takeaway! We have a curry at least once a week but I haven't made butter chicken for ages - I'll have to make it again as the kids love curries too! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Corina! 🙂 We have it much more often now I've started making my homemade versions and it's definitely "all plates clean" type of dinner which is always welcome 🙂 x
Jhuls | The Not So Creative Cook says
I have just enjoyed my take away butter chciken, but this sounds more tasty! I haven’t tried making my own and this looks like a good recipe to follow. I love that you used chicken thighs! Yum! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday party, Jo! Have a lovely weekend!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks so much Jhuls! 🙂 With recipe as easy as this one there is no excuse lol. I'm complete convert to chicken thighs rather than breast in stews and curries now, so much more forgiving and tastier too. Thanks for co-hosting! 🙂
[email protected] www.delia-in-a-nutshell.com says
I've discovered Indian food not too long ago and it kind of took a while until I learned to love it.But now I'm definitely a big fan and I would have naan, curry and rice at least a couple days a week if I could. I don't cook it that much at home because it always seemed to me like it takes too long but your recipe breaks it down nicely . Thank you for the inspiration!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks so much for stopping by Delia and I'm really pleased this recipe caught your eye. It really is a nice and easy curry, quick enough to make mid week or as a weekend feast with homemade spiced rice and naan bread.
Midge @ Peachicks' Bakery says
YUM! We love a curry in this house and this sounds delicious! This would be easy to make Peachick safe - saved for later! Thanks for sharing with #CookBlogShare
joskitchenlarder says
Aw thanks Midge! 🙂 We do love curries too and even the kids started to enjoy a bit more spice in them of late although I did keep this particular recipe pretty mild. I'm glad to hear that this one would be easy to adapt for the Peachicks 🙂 x