Butter Chicken Chili - Weekend at the Cottage Skip to content
Butter Chicken Chili

Butter Chicken Chili

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Brown chicken in a large skillet on medium high heat, breaking it apart as it cooks. Once cooked, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain away fat.
  2. Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Stir in onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, reduce to simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
  3. Next, stir in all of the spices except the Kasoori methi. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, then use an immersion blender to purée the sauce. Add the butter and cream and stir until butter melts. Add cooked chicken and Kasoori methi and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Spoon onto steamed rice and top with raita and chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.
Pin It

Butter Chicken Chili

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars
Loading...

An incredibly flavourful chili made using ground chicken, fragrant Indian spices, onion, ginger and tomato served with a cucumber-yoghurt sauce…

  • clock icon
    70 MIN
  • 12 SERVINGS
Butter Chicken Chili

BUTTER CHICKEN CHILI is the Indian version of a favourite cottage country meal.

Carol and I first tried this superb recipe last year when we were visiting Jasper, Alberta. Having just arrived at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, we plopped ourselves down in the Emerald Lounge, ordered cocktails and thankfully took our server’s suggestion to try their BUTTER CHICKEN CHILI.

The chili arrived and we both agreed, it sure is a delicious dish. Lucky for us Sous Chef Amal Bahuleyan offered to share the recipe for everyone to enjoy. Here’s a bit of history before the recipe part.

BUTTER CHICKEN is a relatively new culinary sensation from the Indian subcontinent where it is called “murgh makhani”. The dish gained popularity in the 1950s when Indian restaurateur Kundan Lal Gujral first served it at his famous restaurant Moti Mahal Delux in Delhi, India. I wonder what Mr. Gujral would think of the marriage of his authentic butter chicken recipe with the more common chili?

Here’s what we learned about making BUTTER CHICKEN CHILI:

INGREDIENTS

Butter Chicken Chili

Traditional butter chicken uses large pieces of chicken cooked either in a tandoor or deep skillet. Since this recipe is for a chili, we use ground chicken instead. Stir constantly as the meat cooks, to break it up into tiny morsels. Note: we drained the cooked chicken on a paper towel-lined plate to remove unnecessary fat from the recipe.

Using a large sweet white onion and finely chopped garlic and ginger is the only prep for the recipe. The simplicity of it all makes this recipe a keeper. I used homemade tomato purée for this recipe made by my friends Angela and Mike Calamita. Look for organic tomato purée at your local grocer.

SPICE ROAD

Butter Chicken Chili

Five of the ground spices used in this recipe – cumin, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, and chili powder – are readily available at both health and bulk food stores.

The three that may be slightly more difficult to track down are CHANA MASALA, CHAAT MASALA, and KASOORI METHI.

SERVICE

Butter Chicken Chili

While this luxurious sauce simmers to perfection, and I mean PERFECTION, steam up some basmati rice and prepare our RAITA recipe. Serve the steamed rice in small bowls, add the BUTTER CHICKEN CHILI and then top it off with a dollop of the creamy yogurt-cucumber sauce and perhaps some finely chopped cilantro. Guests will certainly ask for a second helping, so plan accordingly!

Butter Chicken Chili ready to be passed on a service tray

The marriage of two great recipes spawns a savoury treat perfect for casual get-togethers.

Bowls of Butter Chicken Chili with Raita

Make this BUTTER CHICKEN CHILI and enjoy some authentic Indian soul food. Namaste!

PIN ME!

Click the Icon to pin this recipe to your board.

Butter Chicken Chili

YouTube

Butter Chicken Chili

Cook Mode
Use cook mode to keep your screen on while cooking.

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. ground chicken
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • 1 large white onion, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup fresh ginger, finely chopped
  • 4 cups puréed tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons chana or garam masala
  • 2 tablespoons chaat masala
  • teaspoons each: cumin, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, chili powder
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup 35% cream
  • 2 tablespoons Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped cilantro for garnish
  • raita for garnish

Directions

  1. Brown chicken in a large skillet on medium high heat, breaking it apart as it cooks. Once cooked, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain away fat.
  2. Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Stir in onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, reduce to simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
  3. Next, stir in all of the spices except the Kasoori methi. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, then use an immersion blender to purée the sauce. Add the butter and cream and stir until butter melts. Add cooked chicken and Kasoori methi and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Spoon onto steamed rice and top with raita and chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.

Related by Recipe Type

Related by Ingredient

For More Great Ideas Visit:

Related Recipes