Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

I only made this for the first time last weekend, and I never normally post recipes until I've tried them a few times, but this was an absolute triumph with all of the family.

It is an ideal Indian fake-away meal; it's mild enough to appeal to the younger family members but so delicious; I would usually go for something much spicier such as a Dhansak, madras or jalfrezi, but this was so nice, I genuinely didn't miss the chilli heat. 

Making it in the slow cooker is a double bonus - one is that the slow cooker does all the hard work for you (thank you Crockpot) two is that the house will smell incredible all day as this cooks.

The below serves four and we had with these quick and easy BBC Good Food Naan Breads  which were brushed with a drop of melted butter with minced garlic and coriander and some rice. 

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Here's how:

• 4-5 large skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3cm piece of ginger
• 1/2 jar of Korma paste (I just used one from Lidl)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tbsp garam masala
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 6 cardamom pods
• 1 tin of coconut milk
• 2 tbsp fat free or low fat natural yoghurt (you can use full fat this is just quite a calorie-laden dish)
• 2 tbsp butter or ghee
• 1 lime

Firstly make the base. Peel the onion and slice it, or if you have fussy little ones, dice it and add to the slow cooker. Peel and mince the garlic and do the same. Peel and slice the ginger and add to the slow cooker.

Now chop the chicken thighs into large chunks - don't go too small as you don't want the meat to dry out; and add to the slow cooker.

Now add the fats; the butter or ghee, the natural yoghurt and the coconut milk.

Finally it's time to layer the flavours. Spoon in half a jar or 3 heaped tablespoons of Korma paste.  Add the tomato puree and then the garam masala, paprika, cinnamon stick, cayenne pepper, cumin, turmeric and cardamom pods. 

Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

Now give the mix a good stir, place the lid on and cook for a solid 4 hours on the lower setting. Try not to open the lid for the first hour to allow the heat to build up. After that, you can give it a stir every 30-60 minutes of cooking time if you like, but it will be fine if left to it's own devices too. 

When the butter chicken is cooked and you have dished it up, squeeze over the juice of the lime for a final flavour hit. Enjoy!

If you want some other Indian fake-away inspiration here a few other ideas:
Chicken Biryani
Sag Paneer
Chicken Dhansak
Beef and Lentil Curry
Chicken Tikka with Lentil Dal

Chicken Biryani

If like us, you’re craving an Indian takeaway, but aren’t keen to order in at the moment until Covid-19 is a little more under control, then why not try this stunning Chicken Biryani fake-away at home?

It’s an Indian-takeaway favourite and has become a staple meal at our house since I started cooking it last year.

It’s not a difficult dish at all and if you want some tasty dishes to run alongside it to make it like a real takeaway, try this Chicken Dhansak, Sag Paneer or Chicken Tikka with Lentil Daal, but rest assured the below serves 4-5 comfortably as a main dish. 

Chicken Biryani

Here’s how:

• 350g basmati rice
• 300-400g chicken thighs  
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 large white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3cm piece of fresh ginger
• Handful cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 3 heaped tbsp Korma Paste (I use Patak’s)
• 1.5 pints chicken stock
• 2 tbsp frozen peas
• 2 tbsp raisins
• 1-2 heaped tbsp crème fraiche
• Handful fresh coriander leaves
• Drizzle olive or vegetable oil

Firstly rinse the basmati rice in cold water in a sieve until the water runs completely clear – this will avoid it becoming starchy and gloopy and is really important.

Now in a sturdy bottomed pan (preferably one which has a lid) add the knob of butter.

Cut the onion in half, and then dice one half and slice the other half. Set the sliced onions aside for now. Add the diced onion to the pan.

Mince the garlic and either finely chop or grate the ginger and add both to the pan to gently soften with the onion.

Now add in the spicing by adding the turmeric, garam masala, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods to the pan. Mix gently and allow the spices to cook out for a minute or two.

Now chop the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and add to the pan to sear. Move the chicken around to ensure all pieces get seared on each side.

At this point add the Korma paste to the pan, stir and then the rice. Allow the rice to cook in the pan for a minute or two, stirring to get a good coating in all the flavours in the pan. Add the frozen peas and raisins and then cover with the chicken stock, season with salt and black pepper and pop the lid on.

Bring this up to the boil and then cook for about 9 minutes, until almost all the water has been absorbed by the rice. Stir gently and then remove from the heat and leave to stand for ten minutes with the lid on, where the rice will continue to cook and absorb any remaining water.

In the meantime, heat the oil in another sauce pan on a really high heat and fry the onions until really dark and charred; these will work as a garnish for your Chicken Biryani. Once darkened, place onto a plate on top of some kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.

Now remove the lid from the Chicken Biryani and scatter over the fried onions, add the crème fraiche, either in little flourishes or one mound in the middle, and scatter over the coriander leaves and you’re ready to serve at the table. Enjoy!

Sag Paneer

This is a lovely vegetarian Indian dish that works as a stand-alone main course or to go alongside a curry dish such as Chicken Dhansak or Beef and Lentil Curry perhaps.

Paneer is a lovely cheese that really absorbs flavour like a sponge and this is a delicious dish - although it took me a few goes to find the right spicing and I pinched from BBC Good Food, Jamie Oliver and The Guardian to make this plus some of my own experimentation.

Sag Paneer

Here’s how:

• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Thumb sized piece of ginger
• 1 large green chilli
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 500g spinach
• 400g paneer
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp ghee (butter will do just as well if you don’t have ghee)

Firstly melt the ghee or butter in a bowl and mix in the turmeric and chilli powder.

In the meantime cut the paneer into cubes and then toss into the melted butter and spice mixture. Ensure they are coated all over.

Place the spinach into a colander and pour over freshly boiled water. Allow to drain off and then place the spinach into a clean tea towel or muslin and squeeze off the excess water. Chop roughly.

Chop the tomatoes and set aside for the minute.

Make a paste by roughly chopping the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli and adding to a blender or Nutribullet and blitzing.

Now add the paneer to a hot frying pan and allow to cook on all sides, getting colouration on each side. Cook for 7-8 minutes and then remove from the pan but leave the pan on the heat.

Add the cumin seeds to the pan and allow to cook for a minute before ading the onion mixture and them allow this to cook for ten minutes until the onions are beginning to caramelise.

Now add the chopped tomato and garam masala and cook for a further three minutes or so to allow the spice to cook out.

Now add the spinach to the pan seasoning generously with salt and white pepper at this stage. This will cook in a minute or so and now it will be time to add about 3 tablespoons of water to unleash all the delicious flavours from the bottom of the pan.

Add the paneer at this stage, and squeeze over the lemon juice and cook for a further 3-4 minutes; remove from the pan and serve immediately. Enjoy