Love for Food

After making the Asian Sticky Wings last week, I saw another recipe on the Budget Bytes blog I wanted to give a try. The recipe was for (not) Butter Chicken. I love Indian food but am always a little afraid to try to cook it myself. I use to live in Murry Hill aka Curry Hill, where Indian restaurants were in abundance. Now that I live uptown, good Indian food is harder to come by. When I saw how easy this looked, I gave it a go. I called this dish Indian Spice Chicken because I'm not sure how far off it diverts from the original. I've never heard of it before and relied on Wikipedia for insight. (Click on the link for more info on Butter Chicken.)

I was pleased the results. The chicken had a lot of flavor and it was easy to make. The only thing you need to watch out for is time. When I first skimmed the recipe I did not see the part that the chicken had to simmer for over an hour. When I first tasted the sauce, it had no flavor and was a bit too tart. After it cooked down for a bit the bitterness of the tomatoes went away. Yum! Leftovers heat up well, so plan to make this in advance and heat it up for a quick dinner.
Ingredients: Serves Six
1.25 lbs. (2 lg) chicken breasts3 Tbsp butter3 cloves garlic1 med onion1 inch fresh ginger1 Tbsp garam masala1/4 tsp cayenne pepper1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes1/2 cup plain yogurt1.5 cups jasmine or basmati rice**I did not include the rice in the calorie or points calculations.

Method:

• Trim the fat from the chicken breasts and cut them into small chunks. Set chicken aside. Dice the onion and mince the garlic and ginger.
• In a large pot, melt the butter over medium/high heat. When the butter is nice and hot (careful not to burn it) add the chicken chunks and brown them on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside. It's okay if it isn't cooked through because it will simmer in the sauce later.
• Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions, garlic and ginger. Saute the mix for 2-3 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add the garam masala and cayenne pepper. Continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes more.
• Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Stir until everything is evenly combined. Add the chicken back in, place a lid on top and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the mixture to simmer for one hour or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
• While the pot is simmering, begin to cook the rice. Combine 1.5 cups of rice and 2.25 cups of water in a medium pot. Place a lid on top and heat over a high flame until boiling. Once it comes to a full boil, immediately reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and keep the lid in place until ready to serve.
• After the chicken and tomato mixture has simmered, break the chicken into smaller pieces if desired (the chicken should be soft and easily broken apart). Stir in the plain yogurt. Serve the chicken mixture over a bed of rice. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Weight Watcher Points +: 5 points per serving