Butter chicken

By: Andrea Alden

I first made this grilled butter chicken recipe for Napoleon in 2014 and it was one of my first forays into exotic cuisine. Butter chicken is a typical Indian dish and is not usually cooked on a grill. But since this is a barbecue blog, I simply adapted the recipe. All the ingredients needed for this dish are now known to everyone and easy to get. I usually make this butter chicken when I'm looking for an easy meal or want to cook something that I can eat on my lunch breaks. (Butter chicken freezes well!) Nevertheless, a little note at this point. The marinade spills, which makes the grill grates easily dirty. So preheat the grill well and clean the grill grates immediately after grilling.

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1½ tbsp roasted garlic, crushed
• 2.5 cm ginger, grated
• ½ lime, juiced
• 1½ tsp garam masala
• 1½ tsp red curry paste, mild or hot
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 16 chicken legs (skinless and boneless)
• Coconut oil
• 2-4 naan breads for serving
• 3 cups rice (cooked) for serving
  

Butter chicken sauce

• 1 tbsp butter, for sautéing the onion
• 1 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1½ tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp mild paprika powder
• 1 tsp red curry paste
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup butter, cut into cubes
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1. Mix solid yogurt, roasted garlic, grated ginger, lime juice, garam masala, curry paste, paprika powder, cumin, coriander and salt in a non-sensitive bowl. Add chicken and stir well until thighs are completely coated in marinade. You can do this the evening before and then put the thighs in the fridge to marinate. The thighs can also be grilled immediately without remaining in the marinade overnight.
2. Use a silicone marinade brush to coat the grill grates with coconut oil and then preheat the grill to 200°C.
3. Place a heatproof pot, such as a cast iron dutch oven or deep cast iron skillet, on the side burner of the grill. Melt the butter over low to medium heat and then add the onions. Sauté the onions until they are golden brown.
4. While the onions are sautéing, place the chicken on the grill and fry over direct heat. Each side about 5 to 7 minutes. As soon as the meat can be easily removed from the grill grate and has appetizing grill marks, it should be turned over. The lime halves can be grilled at the same time.
5. While the onions are sautéing, place the chicken on the grill. First with the skin side down so that it gets nice and crispy. Unless you are health conscious and use skinless chicken breasts. If there is any yoghurt marinade left, spread it generously over the grilled chicken. Do not add any more marinade once the outside of the meat has turned white. There is a risk of contamination with salmonella.
6. As soon as the onion has grill marks and is almost cooked, remove it from the grill and chop carefully. Place grilled onion in a high pan and brown while adding butter.
7. Now that the chicken is on the grill and the onions are browned, add the garlic, garam masala, peppers, curry paste and tomato paste to the pot on the side burner. Mix everything together, add water and let the mixture boil down. Allow to simmer until the bottom of the pot is visible when stirred with a spoon. Add cream. Turn off burner and stir in butter, adding 2 to 3 cubes at a time.
8. Take the chicken from the grill and place in the sauce. Grill naan bread to serve with the butter chicken.
9. Arrange two chicken legs with plenty of sauce on a portion of rice, garnish with chopped coriander and serve with naan bread.

Due to the unpredictable summer weather and a sudden thunderstorm, we had to take a break from grilling this week's recipe. Never grill during a thunderstorm, even though it looks great with the rain pounding on the hood and steam rising. Have you seen the safety controls? It only took 15 to 20 minutes for the storm to pass and it was safe to continue grilling. Just enough time to preheat. I could eat too much of this grilled butter chicken every time! Even picky eaters, whom I appreciate, love this Indian grilled recipe. It's easy to prepare, tasty and always enough so that there's always leftovers. This recipe is definitely one of my favorite recipes.

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