Butter Chicken

You know we love to cook all kinds of things. A lot of the recipes we share on here can tend to be a little involved; but recently, we got a slow cooker and have been trying to find some good recipes to make in it. It's great, because we can still have a daily home-cooked meal without having a lot of active time in the kitchen every day. Lately, we've been preparing a dish the night before, letting it cook overnight, and then having lunch for the next day! P has done a Italian Meatloaf a few times, and I've made Butter Chicken twice now.

I had the Butter Chicken for lunch today, and everyone in the office commented on how good it smelled. It also tasted great! The recipe for it is below.

Butter Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1.5 lbs large skinless, boneless chicken breasts and/or thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon curry paste
• 2 teaspoons tandoori masala
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 15 green cardamom pods (optionally, you can string these together for easy removal)
• 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk, shaken well before opening (NOT sweetened cream of coconut)
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup raisins (either black or golden)
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds

Directions

1. Add the cut-up chicken to the slow cooker.
   
2. In a separate large skillet, melt the butter and vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the dry spices and let them bloom for a few minutes in the hot fat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in the curry paste and tomato paste until no lumps of tomato paste remain. Next, pour in the coconut milk and use it to deglaze the pan if anything has begun to stick. Season to taste with salt. Pour into the slow cooker with the chicken and stir in the cardamom pods and yogurt.
   
3. Cook on High 4 to 6 hours, or on Low 6 to 8 hours until the chicken is tender and the sauce has reduced to your desired consistency. Correct seasoning. Remove and discard the cardamom pods before serving--or at least tell your guests not to eat them! ;-)
   
4. Serve with basmati rice or naan/chapati