For the last week or so I have been content to eat up either leftovers or the meagre contents of my pantry. How fiscally responsible of me! (pause for a pat on the back). But as messy as my kitchen was last night–interestingly so, considering no cooking had actually taken place for at least a week–I just had to cook something fresh, something warm and something that tasted like an actual meal! No more “a bit of this and a bit of that”! Thank goodness I have a quick, easy, go-to recipe for butter chicken (recipe link coming soon). I had almost everything I needed already (maybe my pantry is not so meagrely stocked after all) and the fresh bits were picked up on the way home from work. No need to do the dishes, just moved them out of the way and got down to business.
Of course, the longer you leave the sauce to simmer, the more flavourful it becomes. But once you start to smell the fresh, bright ginger, the rich, nutty butter and the fragrant cumin, you can barely wait until the rice is cooked (I use jasmin rice, which isn’t strictly a match, but it adds a lovely flavour to the dish). Pop a store-bought naan into the oven in the final minutes and DONE! This recipe serves 4 people which is great for a single gal like me…more LEFTOVERS!
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- ¼ cup (50 mL) butter
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) ground cumin
- 2 to 3 hot peppers, such as jalapeño or serrano
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) finely grated fresh ginger
- ¾ cup (175 mL) chopped coriander
- 250 mL container whipping cream, about 1 cup
- 14 oz (398 mL) can tomato sauce, about 1-2/3 cups
- ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
- 5 cups (1.25 L) baby spinach
- Slice each chicken breast into 3 or 4 large pieces. Melt 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter in a large wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Add half of chicken to pan. Sprinkle with half of cumin. Turn often until chicken pieces are golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove to a bowl. Repeat with remaining butter, chicken and cumin. Remove to same bowl.
- While chicken is cooking, finely chop peppers, including seeds. They should measure about 3 tbsp (45 mL). Grate ginger and chop coriander.
- When all of cooked chicken is removed to a bowl, pour cream into pan. Scrape up and stir any bits from pan bottom into cream to add flavour. Then stir in tomato sauce, hot peppers, ginger and salt. Return all of chicken and juices to pan. Bring to a boil. Then cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring and turning chicken occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in coriander and spinach. Heat just to wilt spinach. Remove from heat. Taste and add more coriander, if needed. Fantastic with basmati rice pilaf.
- Make ahead
- Prepare chicken and sauce. Don't stir in coriander or spinach. Wrap and refrigerate up to 1 day, or freeze up to 2 months. Reheat thawed chicken in microwave on medium or in a saucepan, stirring often, just until hot. Then stir in sauce, coriander and spinach.
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[…] came across this group of dishes in my overflowing box of recipes. (Except for the butter chicken. It’s an old family fave and is not at all traditionally Indian but tastes so good I […]