For quite some time
now, my number two son has been telling me how much he loves Butter Chicken.
While I truly enjoy Indian food, I had never tasted Butter Chicken. When the Fix-It-And-Forget-It
Slow Cooker Magic Cookbook arrived in the mail, he was paging through it, pulled out his cell
phone and photographed a page. I looked at him curiously and raised an eyebrow.
He knows his momma and knew that eyebrow was a question. “Butter Chicken” was his response.
Just flipping carelessly through the book he'd spotted a recipe for one of his
favorite dishes. Well, you just know that I had to try this one.
I had all of the ingredients on hand because, as I said, I enjoy Indian food and I make Indian food, and to do so takes a wide variety of seasonings. The ingredient that I did not have, however, was the boneless, skinless chicken thighs. In fact, and brace yourselves for this one, I have never in my entire life prepared chicken thighs. I grew up eating breast of chicken and, in my advanced years, was unlikely to change. In reading this book, I did notice that, without fail, every recipe in it that featured chicken as a main ingredient used thighs. Huh. I do know from experience that chicken in the crockpot can sometimes be dry, other times downright stringy. I always chalked this up to the chicken rather than the method of cooking. In order to be true to the recipe, I bought a package of fresh, organic, boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
I had all of the ingredients on hand because, as I said, I enjoy Indian food and I make Indian food, and to do so takes a wide variety of seasonings. The ingredient that I did not have, however, was the boneless, skinless chicken thighs. In fact, and brace yourselves for this one, I have never in my entire life prepared chicken thighs. I grew up eating breast of chicken and, in my advanced years, was unlikely to change. In reading this book, I did notice that, without fail, every recipe in it that featured chicken as a main ingredient used thighs. Huh. I do know from experience that chicken in the crockpot can sometimes be dry, other times downright stringy. I always chalked this up to the chicken rather than the method of cooking. In order to be true to the recipe, I bought a package of fresh, organic, boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
I cut the recipe in half and used my mid-sized crockpot, mindful of the
tip I had learned from reading this book about being certain to fill the pot
2/3s full for proper cooking. I was a bit leery of the short cooking time, so
did turn the temperature up to “High” for about 45
minutes, but it probably would have done just fine had I followed the
directions exactly.
This dish was absolutely delicious. As I have no idea what Butter Chicken is
supposed to taste like, I can't say if this is an exact replica of what is
served in Indian restaurants, but I will say that this was one of the easiest
and best tasting Indian meals I have ever made. The spices blended beautifully,
and the flavor was rich, delicious, exotic, and complex, and I am also totally
sold on chicken thighs. I did marinate them in buttermilk overnight, as I do
with all chicken, but the chicken was moist and tender and truly delicious. I
cannot recommend this dish enough. I served it over basmati rice to which I
added turmeric.
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