My brother is a great cook.  He can whip up home-made bread or home-made sausage for that matter. Among my favorites of his specialties are his granola and healthy chocolate chip cookies.  While he was visiting us I had to add another one to my list of the favorites he creates:
Indian Butter Chicken
So I asked if he would share the recipe for the blog.
And here it is directly from the man himself:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. 

Add:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 white onion, chopped 
and saute until soft and translucent. 

Stir in:
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tsp minced garlic
1 teaspoon garam masala
Fenugreek leaves (not necessary but tasty
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
4″ of graded ginger root (my favorite part…that smell makes my mouth water)

Cook, stirring, for one minute.
Then add:
1 cup tomato puree (use some fresh tomatoes if you have them)

(Jo and Aja pureed their own in the vitamix):

Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Then add:


1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 cup half-and-half (or whatever milk you have)

Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. 


Season with a few pinches of salt and pepper


Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, chop up one pound of chicken into bite-size pieces.

 Jonah and Aja just grab a chicken out of their yard when they’re home.  I was glad we didn’t have any of those around πŸ™‚


Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. 
Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat, and season with 
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 pinch cayenne pepper

(We tripled this batch because there were so many of us…that’s why we had two pans.)

Stir in a few spoonfuls of sauce the sauce you have made, and simmer until liquid has reduced, and chicken is no longer pink. 

Stir cooked chicken into sauce.


Mix together 
1 tablespoon cornstarch1/4 cup water
then stir into the sauce. 


Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.
Serve with basmati rice and naan

Naan
(This is one of my favorite things we had when we were in India.  So fun to figure out how to make it ourselves.)

I loved how my nephew Camden was mostly in charge of this part, so automatically Claire was drawn in too.

In a small bowl, combine: 
2 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp sugar 
Β½ cup water 



Stir to dissolve then let sit for a few minutes or until it is frothy on top. 



Then stir in:
ΒΌ cup vegetable oil (coconut oil is better but either will work)
β…“ cup plain greek yogurt1 large egg 
until evenly combined.

In a medium sized bowl, combine 
1 cup flour 
1/2 tsp. salt


Add the bowl of wet ingredients to the flour/salt mixture and stir until well combined. 


Continue adding flour a half cup at a time until you can no longer stir it with a spoon (about 1 to 1 1/2 cups).

Put dough out onto a well floured counter top and knead for about 3 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. 


The dough should be smooth and very soft but not sticky so add flour as needed.

Loosely cover the dough and let it rise until double in size (about 45 minutes, but we didn’t let it rise that long). 


After it rises, gently flatten the dough and cut it into 8 equal pieces (we had a lot more dough than that because the recipe was tripled). 


Shape each piece into a small ball by stretching the dough back under itself until the top is smooth and round.

Aja and these little girls were in charge of that task.

Roll dough out 1/4 inch thick and about 6 inches in diameter.

Lucy, after being mad she had to help at first, stayed with us until the very end.  She thought this was all pretty darn cool.

Place the rolled out dough onto the hot skillet sprayed with non-stick spray and cook until the under side is golden brown and large bubbles have formed on the surface (400 degrees seems to do it, but watch carefully so it doesn’t burn) Flip the dough and cook the other side until golden brown as well. 

Camden did a great job with this.

…while Jonah stayed tutoring Lu on her job to get it done.

Serve plain or brushed with melted butter or put some garlic on there.


I LOVE cooking in the kitchen with people I love.


Serve up and enjoy together.


It’s good stuff.

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9 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing your favorite recipes! I have tried several and they are now some of our family favorites too! I would LOVE your granola and chocolate chip cookie recipe as well. πŸ™‚

  2. I was going to say the same things. He looks like your Dad in that picture and I would love the healthy chocolate chip cookies recipe…I love chocolate chip cookies!

  3. Totally jealous of your kitchen that can handle so many people and jealous of the kids all being so active in helping at the different stages of dinner prep.

  4. I can't wait to try all of this! Tell that sweet brother of yours to update their blog….they seem so interesting πŸ™‚ By the way, when I see Jonah all I think about is that video you posted of your dad explaining the rules to something (money system?) and Jonah coming in and out of the shot πŸ™‚

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