Experimental Butter Chicken with Potatoes

A long while back, I bought a package of garam masala.  I picked it up when I bought the same for a friend who had wanted to make Baingan Bartha (Indian eggplant curry) but didn't know where to find this ingredient.  It had been sitting in my pantry for a while and I decided to finally put it to use tonight.

Indian cuisine is not really part of my cooking repertoire, but I had formed a vague idea that I would make some sort of  butter chicken with potatoes.  To be completely honest, I don't think I've ever eaten butter chicken before.  But I have eaten various Indian curries and I've seen butter chicken in the frozen entrees section at Trader Joe's.  So basically, I was going to wing it.  After about 20 minutes, this is what I came up with:

I did not set out to duplicate the Trader Joe's dish.  But for some comparison, here's what the Trader Joe's version looks like:

Apparently these are copyrighted photos.  I borrowed them without permission from http://www.flickr.com/photos/onefoodguy/

I hadn't planned on blogging about this, but it turned out so well that I decided to snap some photos.  I didn't take any photos during preparation and I didn't really measure anything out.  I'll just list the ingredients and some guesses regarding quantities.

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks - roughly 10-12 oz.

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (1/2 inch cubes) - roughly 8-10 oz., maybe 1 1/2 cups

1/4 medium onion, peeled and diced - maybe 1/2 cup

2 serrano chiles, finely diced

2 oz. tomato paste

1/4 cup milk

water - maybe 1 cup

3 TBSP butter

2 TBSP garam masala (I used Laxmi brand which has coriander, cumin, ginger, red chili, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves)

1 TBSP crushed garlic

4 TBSP oil (I used canola)

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

salt to taste - I used about 1/2 tsp.

Directions

1. Saute the potatoes in about 2 TBSP oil for about 10 minutes or until cooked through.

2. In a separate pan over MED heat, add 2 TBSP oil, garlic, and 1 TBSP of the garam masala.  Cook for about 30 seconds. It will probably be a thick sort of paste.  Make sure it doesn't burn.

3. Add the chicken breast and cook for a few minutes.  Add a bit of water to deglaze the pan.

4. Add the cayenne pepper and the remaining 1 TBSP of garam masala.

Why add the spices at two different times?  Cooking the spices at the beginning is necessary to release some of the flavors.  But adding all the spices to the pan in the beginning would require more oil or would increase the chances of burning the spices.

5.  Add the tomato paste, milk, and some more water until you have a thin sauce.

6. Add the potatoes, onions, and chiles.  Cook for about 2 minutes.

Why didn't I cook the onions earlier?  I don't like mushy onions, so I almost always add onions toward the end.

7. Finish the sauce with butter.  Add salt to taste.  Serve with rice and/or naan bread.