No Butter Chicken
Guess what I came home to last night?
Andrew vacuuming the living room.
Hot, right?
Absolutely.
If you’ve seen this, you know what I’m talking about. [Thanks, Debbie!]
So last night I tried a curry of sorts. Of the Indian variety, not the Thai like we’re used to. It was really good once we knew what we were getting into. I always forget that Indian curries have a tendency to be sweeter. I’m not opposed to it in the slightest, but it’s just a bit surprising when you’re not expecting it. It’s a little bit labor intensive, too. I attempted to shred the onion in my food processor, but honestly, I wish I’d have just diced it up really small. The onion made way more of a mess than I really wanted to deal with, and it just cooks down in the end and creates a sweet base.
I made couscous and topped it with fresh baby spinach before ladling the chicken-y goodness on top.
And then I made cake. But that’s for later. Assuming there is actually still cake when I get home from work.
Inspiration: Kayotic Kitchen
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts [or one huge one], thawed and chopped into pieces
- 1 piece of fresh ginger, thumb sized, grated
- 2 small red onions [or one large], shredded or minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons chili flake [or to taste]
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1/2 cup yogurt [soy!]
- 3/4 cup water
- salt and pepper
- oil for your pan [I used olive]
Preparation
- Heat a large pan [or a wok!] on high heat and cook the onion and ginger for a few minutes until fragrant.
- Add the cumin, chili flakes, curry, turmeric, and salt.
- Once the onion is soft, add the tomato paste.
- Now it should smell awesome. Add your chicken.
- Coat the chicken with the onion mixture and top with pepper.
- Allow to cook 5-7 minutes.
- Add the sugar and the yogurt.
- Mix thoroughly coating everything with the yogurt.
- Add the water and bring it to a boil.
- Allow the sauce to cook down to desired consistency. Mine took about 8-10 minutes.
- Serve with couscous, rice, spinach, or whatever your heart desires.