Balti Butter Chicken

My friend Jess (from Hawaii) gave me this recipe from her stay in India when she was stationed there. This is a yumm-o dish and kid friendly! Serve on top of rice.

150 ml/ ¼ pint/ 2/3 cup plain or Greek-style yogurt

50 g/2 oz/ ½ cup ground almonds

1 ½ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp crushed bay leaves

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ ground cinnamon

1 tsp garam masala

4 green cardamom pods (I omitted this b/c I couldn't find it)

1 tsp ginger pulp

1 tsp garlic pulp

400 g/14 oz/2 cups diced tomatoes (I used canned)

1 ¼ tsp salt

1 kg/2 lb/6 ½ cups chicken, skinned, boned and cubed

75 g/3oz/6 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp canola or corn oil

2 medium onions, chopped or sliced

2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

4 Tbsp single (light) or double (heavy) cream, to taste

1.     Put the yogurt, ground almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and salt into a mixing bowl and blend together thoroughly.

2.     Put the chicken into a large mixing bowl and pour over the yogurt mixture.  Set aside.

3.     Melt together the butter and oil in a medium karahi or deep round-bottomed skillet.  Add the onions and fry for about 3 minutes.

4.     Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry for 7-10 minutes.

5.     Stir in about half of the cilantro and mix well.

6.     Pour over the cream and stir in well.  Bring to a boil.  Serve garnished with the remaining chopped coriander.
Serves 4-6