Balti Backstep

On November 19, 2006 in Different Dinner Project

I made a bit of a booboo again. I got intoxicated and lost the desire to cook. I'm not sure how anyone can be a "functioning" alcoholic when I can't even go one day without my life falling apart. So I'm behind a day again, having eaten nothing but toast and leftover Butternut Squash Soup. Minor setback. I made what I had intended to make yesterday (technically "today" - boy this is confusing), which is Butter Chicken. Can someone tell me what the main difference between butter chicken and chicken tikka masala is? I can't figure it out. That or why butter chicken is called butter chicken if there's no butter in it.

The recipe I used is different from ones I have previously. The ingredients are the same, but the preparation is backwards. In this recipe, you cook the yogurt and nuts first and add the chicken and tomatoes. In every other recipe I've made, you cook the chicken and tomatoes and then use the yogurt and nuts to thicken it. I decided to try it this way to see if it is somehow better, but it's actually quite inferior. You can't really boil down yogurt to reduce it like you can tomatoes. The seasoning was also a little off, but it gets the point across. I served it with some Chickpea Rice.

Butter chicken seems like a pretty introductory curry, like tandoori. It's got a mild heat level with a lot of Indian-spice flavor. Normally I would also make this with skinned chicken legs and thighs, but we had chicken breast, so I used chicken breast instead. I actually think that it suffers a bit from this, because the stewed dark meat has a much better texture and flavor.

You must be logged in to post a comment.