Butter Chicken

This is one delicious recipe. I hit the jackpot. Thanks to Deeba of PassionateAboutbaking for the - original recipe. I tweaked mine a little to suit my taste. Do u remember ordering butter chicken in India??? Not all the places serve great butter chicken. Infact the taste varies from one place to other. And people get confused between the butter chicken and chicken tikka masala recipe. And to top it all, there are hundreds of butter chicken recipes floating around the internet, none of which suited my palate. But this, is definetly a keeper. Infact I , to date, have made it thrice in a short span of 3 months of finding this recipe. Each time it gets better and better. And yes, it does taste better with on bone chicken. But if you are out of it and are in a crunch, go ahead and use boneless breast, I wont tell. :)
Btw I am planning on using this recipe for paneer-veggie variation too. I like my butter chicken a little on the sweeter side and thats how I made it. I am waiting for my mom to get here so I can make this dish for her.

Recipe:
For the tandoori chicken
1 lb chicken on bone or boneless chicken breast
1 packet shaan masala
1/2 cup thick yogurt or ricotta cheese (it turns out creamier with cheese)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste - fresh is better
2 tsp oil for marinating

Preparation:
Marinate the chicken with the above ingredients and let it sit aside for atleast 1 hr. heat the oven to 350F and cook the chicken till tender for around 20mins. Donot overcook the chicken or else it will turn tough.

For the Gravy:
4 nice red tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 tsp oil for cookingr
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
handful of cashew powder
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp kasoori methi
Handful cilantro for garnishing
1/4 cup heavy cream add more if you like it creamy
2 tsp honey
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Heat the oil in a pan and when hot add onions to it. saute it for few minutes and let it cook. Then add the bayleaf and the tomatoes. Cook well till the oil seperates from the sides and the onion-tomatoes turn out to be one big mess. Let it cool. After sometime, discard the bayleaf and puree the tomato gravy mix. Return it to the pan. Add all the spices. Then add the tandoori chicken and let it simmer for 3-4 mins. Be sure that you have added cashew powder, kasuri methi and garam masla. These are very important ingredients (I nearly forgot to add them to my sauce - twice). Then add the butter. Stir in the heavy cream and mix well. cover and remove from heat. Garnish well with chopped cilantro and cream.
I served my Butter Chicken with whole wheat naan. It was totally out of this world.
Dipti