Back in Canada, butter chicken is my favourite go-to Indian dish, so I was on a mission to not only eat as much as I could, but learn how to make it myself. So, in a tiny kitchen raging with the heat from the always-on stoves at a little place called Little Paradise on Kudle Beach in Gokarna, Karnataka, we witnessed the amount of work that goes into our favourite dish: chicken makhani (or as we affectionately call it, butter chicken). Here’s the recipe:

Marinate chunks of chicken in curd (yogurt) mixed with correander, kitchen king, chicken masala, mustard oil, red food colour (though this last one I might give a miss to)

Next, cook the chicken half way (they cooked it in a tandoori oven, then then told us to deep fry it, so I’m thinking one can experiment with how to get the chicken half cooked)

After the chicken is done, heat oil in a pan over a high heat.

Add a deliciously large spoonful of chopped garlic.

Once the garlic starts turning a light brown, ladle in 3 cooking spoonfuls of tomato puree (recipe for this below) and stir.

Add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp fresh cream, stir then add chicken to finish cooking.

Now for the medley of spices, add:

• 1 tbsp coconut powder
• a pinch of kasturi (aka mathi)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp chicken masala
• 1/2 tsp kitchen king
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp correander
• chili to taste

Mix this all together, ensure chicken has cooked through, then serve hot with rice and naan.

Tomato puree:

Take a fresh tomato and boil so it’s easy to remove the skin. Then remove the skin and chop into 6 or 7 pieces. Add cashew nuts and white watermelon seeds (aka maguj) and and blend into a paste.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil on a pan over high heat.

Add ginger and garlic paste.

Then add 1 piece of cinnamon bark, 2 pieces of cardammon, 1 bay leaf, 1 jaffle, 2 java tree, and cloves. Be sure to put everything in whole, do not crush.

Add tomato paste to pan, mix and cook for 4 to 5 min – when the sauce is hot, that’s when you’ll know it’s done.

If you try it at home, let us know how it goes 🙂