I’m on a cumin kick right now.
I used to think it was exclusively a White Chicken Chili seasoning {smashing recipe to come as the temperate drops}, and just didn’t realize how much I loved it until a friend suggested I toss some in my hummus. Woah nelly.
I’m sold. I’m hooked. I’m slowly cumin to my senses.
So starry-eyed am I by this Mediterranean/East Indian herb, that spotting it in a recipe instantly woos me. So when I stumbled across this Indian inspired recipe for Butter Chicken, I decided to run out and purchase all the other herbs and spices it called for {cardamom and coriander}. So yum!
You should know, I’m usually intimidated by recipes with more than 5 ingredients. Okay fine, 3. But I am working on getting over this little issue, stepping out of my comfort zone more, and I must admit…sharing my random successes with you helps. I aspire to be more of the culinary goddess my older sister is in the kitchen. She blows my mind with the spectacular, exotic dishes she whips up, without breaking a sweat. While I burn lunch and get excited about cake on a stick.
That’s why Thanksgiving is at her house. And why I’m so thrilled about that fact.
So don’t be overwhelmed by the list of ingredients, it’s all those delicious herbs and spices making it look more daunting than it is. It’s fantastically fool-proof and surprisingly simple.
Enough banter…time to break out the butter…
Butter Chicken
Ingredients:
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4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts {cut into bite-size pieces}
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5 cloves of garlic, minced
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1 teaspoon of salt
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1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
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1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
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1/4 teaspoon of ground coriander
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1/4 teaspoon of cumin
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1/4 teaspoon of cardamom
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1 whole lime, juiced
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1 whole onion, diced
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1/4 cup of butter
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1 can {14.5 oz} of petite diced tomatoes
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1 can {14.5 oz} of tomato sauce {I substituted a 6 oz can of tomato paste, mixed with water to make roughly 14 oz}
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2 cups of whole milk {or be extravagant and use cream or half-and-half}
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1 small bunch of cilantro, to taste
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2 cups of rice {preferably basmati}
Directions:
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Combine first 9 ingredients {through lime juice} and marinade as little as an hour, or as long as overnight
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Sauté the onion in the butter over medium-high heat until tender
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Add marinated chicken and cook 8-10 minutes
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Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, drop heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes with lid on
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Meanwhile, prepare your rice
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Add the cream/milk to chicken and heat through
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Serve over rice, add cilantro to garnish
Recipe tweaked from The Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen
This chicken is astonishingly delicious, rich with flavor, as creamy as all get out, and as hot as you’d like it to be {simply add more cayenne pepper/chili to intensify}.
Give it a whirl…you won’t regret it!
{If you do, I can pray for you. I believe in miracles!}
