Chicken Recipes

~ Chicken Makhani!!

/ raindropstosunshine / Leave a comment

Chicken makhani is a slightly sweet creamy dish of Chicken. The makhani gravy or sauce is usually made up of pureed tomatoes, ginger and garlic paste, red chili powder and cream. It is very similar to the sauce used for Butter Chicken (both of which have an additional ingredient of butter, as their name suggests), infact sometimes the names can be used inter-changeably.

In my recipe, the flavors of this dish are more in line with home style than restaurant style recipe as I have made it healthy by skipping the cream and using milk instead as well as skipping cashew nuts. If making for a party, or otherwise, feel free to use cream and cashew nuts if you are up for the additional calories! Over the years, I have consulted various websites and compiled a recipe which works best for me, so here goes:

 Ingredients:

  • Oil 4 tablespoons (to make it healthy, I use Olive Oil)
  • 1.5 pounds chicken breast cut into medium sized cubes
  • 4 Green Cardamoms
  • 6 Cloves
  • 2 inch Cinnamon Stick
  • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
  • 2 medium size Green Chilies – chopped
  • 4 medium sized ripe red Tomatoes – pureed
  • 4 teaspoons canned Tomato Puree
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric (Haldi)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Coriander Powder (Dhaniya powder)
  • 2 teaspoons Dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori methi)
  • 3 teaspoons Honey
  • Skimmed milk 2 cups, for a creamier yet healthy version, use full cream milk
  • Fresh coriander leaves chopped for garnish

Method:

  1. Cut the chicken into medium sized cubes.
  2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add green cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, garlic and ginger, and sauté till fragrant.
  3. Add green chillies and continue to sauté.
  4. Add the tomato puree (both fresh puree and canned puree together) with little salt to the ginger-garlic masala and continue cooking till it reduces slightly.
  5. Add salt, red chili powder, garam masala powder, haldi, dhaniya powder along with kasoori methi, honey, milk and mix well.
  6. Now add the chicken pieces.
  7. Cook on high flame for 5 minutes and then simmer for about 20-25 minutes to let all the juices seep into the chicken. Cook until the chicken is fully cooked, but be careful not to overlook as that can dry out the chicken.
  8. Garnish with coriander leaves and your dish is ready to serve!

This dish is best served with Roti, Naan, Onion Kulcha or Parathas, as well as Simple Basmati Rice or Jeera (cumin) Rice. Enjoy and do let me know how you liked it 🙂 I would love to hear!!

For my vegetarian readers, here’s Paneer Makhani!!

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~ Chicken Tikka Masala…

/ raindropstosunshine / 1 Comment

If you asked me to define it, I would say Chicken Tikka Masala is heaven! LOL!! But Wikipedia does a better job in explaining what this dish is so here goes “Chicken tikka masala is a dish of chunks of roasted marinated chicken (Chicken Tikka) in a spiced curry sauce. The sauce is usually creamy and orange-colored.”

As promised, I am sharing my recipe for this yummy dish. It has a lot of variations, this is my take on it.

I have divided this recipe into 2 parts, the 1st being for making the Chicken Tikka and the 2nd one being the entire dish – Chicken Tikka Masala.

You can stop at Part 1 for a mouth watering appetizer, Chicken Tikka.

Part 1 – for the Chicken Tikka:

Ingredients:

– 2 lbs. boneless chicken breast, trimmed

– 1/2 cup yogurt

– 3 tsp ginger garlic paste

– 1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder

– 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder

– 1/4 tsp red chili powder

– 1/4 tsp turmeric

– 3 tbsp lemon juice

– 4 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

– Whisk all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the chicken breast after cutting into 2 inch cubes.

– Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

– Preheat oven to 350º F. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray oil. Bake the chicken for 8-10 minutes ensuring not to overlook as that makes the chicken dry.

Part 2: Chicken Tikka Masala Gravy/Curry

Ingredients:

– 4 big tomatoes, pulsed

– 2 tbsp tomato puree

– 3 big tomatoes, chopped

– 2 tsp ginger garlic paste

– 2 medium green chillies chopped

– 1 tbsp red chili powder

– 6 cloves

– 8 green cardamoms

– 1 big bay leaf

– 1/2 inch cinnamon stick

– 3 tbsp butter (optional)

– 2/3 cup cream or use milk or even yogurt is fine, if you want to make a healthier version

– 1 tsp crushed dried fenugreek

– Salt and sugar to taste

– 1 cup green coriander for garnish

Method:

– While the baking of Part 1 is happening, make the sauce in Part 2. Add chopped green chillies to heated Olive oil and then add the tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato puree and add 5 cups of water.

– Now add the ginger- garlic paste, red chili powder, cloves, cardamoms, and salt to the mixture and cool on low heat until reduced to a thick sauce. Bring to boil. Now strain through a strainer if you don’t want the whole spices to be in the dish. Now add butter and cream/milk/yogurt and stir.

– If the chicken tikka masala sauce tastes sour, due to the spices, add sugar to taste. Add dried crushed fenugreek, stir, and add the baked chicken tikkas. Mix well.

– Serve hot with a garnish of chopped green coriander. Best served with hot Rotis, Naans or Basmati Rice!

Enjoy!!!!