I love Indian food! It's such a veggie friendly cuisine! Unlike many cuisines, there are so many fantastic veggie Indian dishes that I'm spoilt for a choice in an Indian restaurant (ahh remember restaurants?). That being said, I still feel like I'm missing out sometimes when it comes to dishes like Old Delhi-Style Butter Chicken. It looks and smells so good! Give me something buttery any day... So, I wanted to find a veggie alternative that works well, so I can enjoy the lovely buttery sauce and tasty spices, without missing out on the texture and filling element. For this chicken recipe I've used the BBC Good Food recipe by Vivek Singh, and pretty much followed it to a T (with the exception of using tinned tomatoes, rather than fresh). The new introduction on my part is using jackfruit for the veggie alternative - it works perfectly for this dish! You don't have to amend anything, other than substituting the chicken thighs for the same weight of jackfruit. Recipe for both below, but I take no credit for the chicken! I've simplified it in a couple of parts and not included the spiced butter that's in the original recipe, as I don't feel like it's needed and I didn't have half the spices required.
Ingredients
800g chicken thigh fillets, cut into pieces OR 800g tinned jackfruit
basmati rice, naan bread and chutney to serve
For the marinade:
120g Greek yoghurt
thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lemon, juiced
3 tbsp mild chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
For the sauce:
1kg tinned tomatoes
thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 green cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1-2 tsp chilli powder
80g butter, diced
2 green chillis, cut lengthways
75ml single cream
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp sugar
Method
1. Mix all marinade ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add the chicken pieces or jackfruit and mix until coated. Cover the bowl and marinate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 220C and bake the chicken or jackfruit for 10-15 minutes, turning once to cook evenly.
3. For the sauce, add the tomatoes, half the grated ginger, garlic, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf to a pan. Simmer for about 20 minutes, then remove the whole spices before blending with a stick blender and passing through a sieve to create a smooth puree. Return to a clean pan, add the chilli powder and simmer for 12-15 minutes. The sauce will thicken and turn glossy, then add the chicken / jackfruit and any roasting juices. Gradually stir in the butter, simmering for 6-8 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add the remaining ginger, green chillis and cream, then simmer for a minute or two, taking care that the sauce doesn't split. Stir in 1 tsp salt and garam masala, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
4. Serve with basmati rice, naan breads and chutney. Drizzle with more cream if using.
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