Butter Chicken (Doctor Frankenstein's)

**Doctor Frankenstein’s Butter Chicken**

**Serves like. A lot of people. Probably seven full bowls, but enough for a lot of leftovers with 3 or so people**

**Ingredients**

* ▢ Ghee, about half (6oz) of a 12oz container (you can make this at home if you want)
* ▢ 2 Tbsp. curry powder
* ▢ 4 Tbsp. garam masala (find in Walmart in exotic spices aisle or amazon)
* ▢ 4.5-6 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
* ▢ 1 cup diced yellow onion (two yellow onions)
* ▢ a bulb or two of minced garlic (Be brave)
* ▢ A fingerlength ginger, minced
* ▢ two 8oz cans tomato paste
* ▢ 2 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
* ▢ 2 15-oz cans of Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce (can find at aldi's, can be skipped, just add one more can of Crushed Tomatoes if so)
* ▢ a larger container of heavy cream or coconut milk (Add until color looks right)
* ▢ 1 tsp salt
* ▢ 2 Tbsp. lime juice ( I don’t like this, mom might)
* ▢ Rice, chopped roasted cashews (Sides. I don’t use cashews because only I like them in my home, but man they would be so good in this dish, like buttery explosions. Also, naan is good, and pretty easy to make a lot of.)
* Rice is ideally basmati, which is indian, but all rice is good. I’ve found boiling it like noodles works well. Just don’t put boiling water in your mouth to test the softness of the rice. Bad idea

**Instructions**

**Before you start, you have two options:**

**Smooth or Chunky. What I made is Smooth (technically it’s Super Smooth), it entails (if you’re smart) cooking the chicken separately, then adding it to the curry later. Chunky is where you leave the chicken and the veggies all in, and cook it until they’re all soft. You will** ***never* get the veggies as smooth soft as they should be. I’ve tried. I’ve cooked it for hours. Ginger gonna be fibrous as hell and some bites will just be a bit munchy. Which IDM, really.**

**Prep:**

**1.**Cut onions ginger and garlic first.

**2.**Also cut chicken into thickish squares. Thighs are tricky, try and shear the fat off best you can, and then square it. Also make sure to let it THAW. It’s a pain to cut frozen chicken (I am an idiot)

**3.**Use spoon to get fibrous skin off ginger. Or skip it. It adds to the meal, but it s a hassle. Dice real well once peeled. Wait, maybe just use a peeler? I haven’t tried that. Ginger is finicky and hard to peel without snapping, so maybe not.

**4.**If you want to throw all this shit in a blender… I mean do it, it’s going to be cooked down into mush mostly anyway. If you go the Smooth route, all you’re getting from these veggies is flavor, so Slapchop away my friend.

Cooking:

1.                 Heat ghee in a Dutch oven (BIG POT) over medium heat. If solid, wait to melt.

1. Stir in curry and garam masala; stir and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Roasting the spices is where a lot of the taste comes from. It yummy.
2. Add chicken; stir to coat in spices and butter. Wait until chicken is a little cooked, then if Smooth mode take it out, and keep it in a different pot or glass bowl.
3. Add onion, garlic, and ginger to skillet, let it
4. Cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is slightly browned, about 5 minutes, if you didn’t take it out that is
5. Stir in tomato paste until combined.
6. Stir in tomatoes and cream until combined. (I usually wait to add cream until later, because it gets darker as it cooks. I wait to add cream until the plate is finished)
7. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
8. Smooth Mode: use immersion blender I will lend you to smooth out all the veggies. Optional Super Smooth Mode: Sieve all of this through a sieve into another glass bowl, then pour it back into the pot after discarding all the veggie mass. I don’t mind veggies, Elliot does. It is a fucking hassle.)
9. Re add chicken, let cook all the way through. Taste here, season accordingly. Add more sugar if you want, but there is sugar in the cream, so maybe add more of that if your heart feels its right
10. Here it’s safe to make rice or naan. It will be happy to simmer on the side, but make sure to stir occasionally.
11. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice. (Do this if you want, I found it curdles the cream unpleasantly)
12. To serve, spoon chicken mixture over rice; top with cashews and coconut flakes, if desired.
13. Serve with lime wedges.

**Notes:**

* Blooming spices in butter or oil helps release their flavorful oils, resulting in a richer-tasting curry dish.
* Garam masala is a blend of spices that usually includes coriander, pepper, cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon. Whereas curry powder can be spicy (hot), garam masala is typically not.
* You’re not trying to cook the chicken all the way through at first; just cook until it takes on a little color. It will finish cooking when it simmers.
* Be sure to shake the can of coconut milk before using to allow the coconut milk solids to recombine. Also cream.