Indian Butter Chicken has a rich and creamy yogurt sauce which makes this curry milder than other Indian curries, whilst still providing that aromantic flavour. The spices deepen, as the curry simmers with the cream and yogurt. This is my favourite butter chicken, even better than a takeaway dish! We have this dish regularly with Indian Rice.
I use both passata and chopped tomatoes, but either type of tomato sauce is fine to use in this recipe. The curry is smoother by just using passata. There is the option to buy ready-made butter chicken from the shop, but this recipe is so easy, it tastes far better to use the tomatoes and spices yourself. I have also found the ready-made sauces to have more salt in them than I would use at home.
The chicken is cooked first in the pan to ensure it is cooked fully. It is then removed to a separate bowl, so the other ingredients can cook whilst not overcooking the chicken.
While the chicken is cooking, I like to prepare my other ingredients, so it’s easy to pour everything in. I measure out the spices into a small bowl. Have you ever spent time looking through all your spices to find the right one? Then to find your teaspoon doesn’t even fit in the jar to measure? If I have time, I find putting all the spices in one bowl is easier when it comes to mixing them into the pan.
I like to batch cook Indian Butter Chicken and freeze it for another evening to save time. Chopping up and cooking the chicken does take longer when making more, so remember to factor that into the cooking time. I use the same method of preparing the other ingredients while the chicken is cooking. The other timings are about the same. It is an easy meal to defrost and reheat for dinner, with only the rice to cook separately. The sauce does thicken in the freezer, so I add a little water while defrosting.