Authentic Indian Butter Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken (breasts or thighs)

Marinade:

• 1 cup plain yoghurt
• 4 cloves crushed garlic or 2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp ginger root, grated (or 1 tsp powdered ginger)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp cayenne or chili powder
• 1/2 tsp whole black cumin seeds (you can find this at indian or some asian grocery stores)
• a pinch of red food colouring (optional, I don't use this but it's more authentic, surprisingly)

Cooking Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 medium sized onions, diced
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cayenne or chili powder
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1L whipping cream

Directions

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Cut it into 1/2 inch thick strips. Put it in a large zip-lock bag, dump all the marinade ingredients in the bag, seal it removing all the air, and thoroughly squish it around. Put the bag in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours (the longer the better).

Heat the oven to 500 degrees fahrenheit. Drain out the extra marinade from the bag, and spread out the chicken on a cookie sheet or baking dish in a single layer. Cook the chicken for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside for later. (This is the exact same recipe as for tandoori chicken, but substitute bone-in skinless chicken, cook for 5 minutes longer, and there you have finished tandoori chicken!)

Heat butter in a large frying pan or pot on medium heat. Saute onions until golden brown. Add lemon juice, garam masala, salt, and cayenne. Continue frying for about 2 minutes, then add the chicken, and get it nice and coated in the spices. After another 2 minutes, add the crushed tomatoes and sugar. Mix around and fry for 1 more minute, then add the whipping cream.

Reduce heat to a gentle simmer, cook some basmati rice, and when the rice is done, so is the butter chicken, about 20-25 minutes. Serve over rice.