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–+ servings
One-Pot Butter Chicken in white bowl with side dishes
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One-Pot Butter Chicken 

Butter chicken is a savory and easy one-pot curry flavored with all my favorite spices. It's naturally gluten-free and can be dairy-free with coconut cream and vegan butter. This is a very easy version -- prepare it in about the same amount of time as it takes to make side dishes to go with it.
Course Main Dish, meat
Cuisine Indian
Keyword butter chicken, chicken curry, coconut milk curry, curry, dairy optional, Gluten-free, indian cuisine, indian spices, one-pot curry
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Author Beth Allingham

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter ghee or vegan butter
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger finely minced or grated see note
  • 2-3 cloves garlic finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 3 ounces one half of a small can tomato paste OR 2 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 ½ pounds about 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
  • 1 cup coconut milk or more, up to a whole 14-ounce can
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground

Instructions

  • Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the oil, butter or ghee, and onions and cook onions down slowly until lightly golden, about 8-10 minutes.
  • Add ginger and garlic and let cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. 
  • Stir in the spices until they coat the onions and are well mixed with the oil or butter.
  • Add the tomato paste or tomatoes and mix thoroughly. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the chicken chunks and cook gently until the chicken is mostly cooked through, about 5 minutes.
  • Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. We usually add more coconut milk, up to the whole can, because we enjoy the sauce. You also may find you need to add more coconut milk if you used tomato paste than if you added chopped tomatoes. 
  • Serve the butter chicken garnished with cilantro and accompanied by rice, saag, and some fresh sliced vegetables.

Notes

This recipe is adapted from this one, with additions from other sources and our fertile imaginations. 
Kitchen tip: We prepare a lot of ginger at once by finding a large piece with very few branches. We peel the ginger and pulse it in a food processor until it is like grated ginger. We then freeze it in tablespoonfuls in ice cube trays. We place the frozen ginger cubes, wrapped in freezer paper, inside large plastic seal bags, and remove what we need for a recipe.