Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)

This is a completely new type of food for our household, but my dad swears it is really good.  He said it is one of his favorite Indian dishes so I figured why not???  This is a crock pot meal so that makes it worth trying in my book.  I love my crock pot and anything I can use it for makes me happy.  I found this recipe on A Year of Slow Cooking.  I made a couple slight modifications using what I had on hand for the recipe. 

I must say my dad did not fail me.  This was AMAZING!  Everyone loved it and there were not any leftovers.  Even my picky three old who thinks he can only eat chicken nuggets and hot dogs enjoyed it.  That says a lot to me.  With the amount of sauce I could have really added four more chicken breasts and doubled the rice to have some leftovers.  Next time I make it I will have to do that so we have some for lunch the next day.  I love how this was so easy to make, but has so much depth of flavors.  I am just sad that it took me almost 30 years to make this let alone try it...YUM!

Chicken Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Onion, sliced
3 tsp Minced Garlic (or 6 cloves minced)
4 TBS Butter
1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom
2 tsp Curry Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1 Can of Coconut Milk
1 Can Tomato Paste (6 oz)
2 TBS Lemon Juice
1 Cup Plain Yogurt

1. Put chicken in crock pot and then layer onions, garlic, and dry spices on top of chicken
2. Add butter and tomato paste by dropping in various sections (I placed 1 TBS butter and 2 spoonfuls of tomato paste on each piece of chicken)
3. Add lemon juice and coconut milk.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours until chicken is cooked and tender.  About an hour or so into cooking give it a quick mix to blend all the ingredients
4. Add 1 cup plain yogurt when done cooking.  Mix well and serve over basmati rice. 

Basmati Rice
1 Cup Basmati Rice
1-1/2 Cups Water
1/4 tsp Salt
Couple drops of oil

1. Rinse the rice 3-5 times by filling a bowl with clean, cold water.  Swirl your finger around the bowl to help rinse the rice.
2. Soak the rice for 15-20 minutes in clean, cold water.
3. Bring 1-1/2 cups water to a boil
4. Add salt, oil, and rice bring back to a boil.  Cover reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes DO NOT remove the cover!  When done cooking fluff with a fork.  You can add any additional spices if you wish right before serving.

We served ours over basmati rice with a side of creamy cucumbers.  The cucumbers were made with 1 cucumber peeled and sliced, 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 thin sliced small onion,  1 tsp dill, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 TBS cider vinegar mixed together and set in the fridge to chill and blend flavors.  Super simple and a great compliment to the dish.  There is an Indian dish called Raita which looked similar so I made my good ole' American standby.  I can guarantee that I will be making some sort of Raita in the future. 

I love having successful dinners like tonight.  I hope there are many more to come as we broaden our horizons and begin to try different types of foods.  :)   

Come check out all the recipes or link up your own.  This is a great way to swap recipes and this months theme is slow cookers.  So every Thursday head over to find what great recipes you can find using your slow cooker!