butter chicken – Simple Meal Plans

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prepare ahead?

Curry tends to improve with a day or two in the fridge. So feel free to make in advance and gently reheat before serving.

variations for fun

dairy-free – Replace cream with coconut milk. vegan – Replace chicken with tofu, or a drained can of chickpeas or 1/2 head of cauliflower and replace cream with coconut milk.

vegetarian – Replace chicken with tofu, or a drained can of chickpeas, lentils, 1/2 head of cauliflower, or even some button mushrooms.

change the spicing – Garam marsala is lovely here but for a different take, try a different curry powder or think about making your own spice blend.

try real butter – I like the slight milkiness that cream brings, but you could always do super decadent and use butter instead.

ditch the cream – Actually, sometimes it’s nice to go for the more straightforward tomato flavours.

add onions – A lot of currys have onions as a base – this curry would be delicious with a few sweated onions.

change the protein – Apart from the vegetarian options above, you could mix it up with lamb, pork, beef or even duck.

try meat on the bone – A lamb shank curry simmered for a few hours would be a completely decadent curry experience.

troubleshooting guide

too hot – Next time use less chilli, but for now, increase the cream to tame the heat.

grainy sauce texture – I had a comment on stonesoup when I posted about butter chickpeas, that the texture of the sauce was really grainy. I personally haven’t experienced that, so I suspect it’s to do with the quality of the garam marsala spice blend and how fine it is ground. Simmering the sauce for longer could help soften the texture, or you could use less garam marsala (but the flavour would also be a lot milder). The best solution is to find a good source of spices or to grind your grainy garam marsala in a coffee grinder.

tough chicken – With currys and other sauce based dishes, there are 2 approaches to getting tender meat:

Use higher quality cuts such as breast. Chop them into small pieces, cook them quickly over a high heat until just cooked through, add the sauce and only cook at a gentle simmer so the sauce cooks but the meat doesn’t overcook.
Go for the long slow simmer for an hour or so to cook the meat until it is almost falling apart. This is better suited to heaper cuts like chuck steak or lamb shanks

too bland – Spices loose their flavour intensity as they age. Time to buy some fresh garam marsala for next time. But for now you could add a little more spice.