Butter Chicken (RecipeTin Eats)

Tempo

35 min (+ ≥3 hr marinade)

Picante

Dificuldade

Médio

Rende

3porções

Ingredientes

Marinade:

½ cup

(120 ml) plain yogurt, full fat (iogurte natural integral, e.g. Vigor)

1 tbsp

lemon juice

1 tsp

turmeric (cúrcuma)

2 tsp

garam masala

½ tsp

pure chilli powder or cayenne (pimenta caiena moída) — *not* American "chili powder" which is a blend

1 tsp

ground cumin (cominho)

1 tbsp

fresh ginger, grated

garlic cloves, crushed

750 g

sobrecoxa de frango desossada (boneless chicken thigh), cut into bite-size pieces

Curry:

30 g

ghee or butter (or 1 tbsp neutral oil)

1 cup

(240 ml) tomato passata (purê de tomate, e.g. Pomarola Tradicional or Heinz)

1 cup

(240 ml) heavy cream (creme de leite fresco — *not* the canned stuff)

1 tbsp

sugar

1¼ tsp

salt

**To serve:** basmati rice + cilantro + naan if available.

Modo de preparo

01**Marinate.** Combine all marinade ingredients with chicken in a bowl. Cover; refrigerate **at least 3 hr, ideally overnight (24 hr max).**
02**Sear.** Pan or PCC20 P5 (Refogar). Heat ghee until shimmering. Add chicken with marinade clinging — but don't pour leftover marinade in (yet). Cook ~3 min, until chicken is white all over (won't brown — the marinade keeps it pale).
03**Simmer.** Add tomato passata, cream, sugar, salt. Pour in any leftover marinade from the bowl. Reduce heat to low; **simmer 20 min uncovered.** Taste; add salt if needed.
04**Serve** with basmati rice and a scatter of fresh cilantro.

Butter Chicken (RecipeTin Eats)

Nagi's iconic version. Marinate, sear, simmer. The sauce is so good it's worth doubling and freezing half.

Heat: 1/5. Mild — the chilli powder is more for colour than burn. See Tame it / Bump it below.

Tame it

Drop chilli/cayenne to 1/4 tsp (ultra-mild for kids).
Add 1 extra tbsp cream at the end.

Bump it

1 tsp pure chilli powder + 1/2 tsp cayenne (medium-hot).
Add 1 finely chopped fresh red chile to the marinade.

Sub: bottled chiles only

Replace cayenne with 1 tsp Cepera Pimenta Tabasco Vermelha sauce + drop sugar by 1/2 tsp (the bottled has acid). See Pressure Cooker/chile-substitution-guide.md.

Substitutions (Brazilian sourcing)

Garam masala: sold at Mercadão, supermarkets like St Marche, Empório Santa Maria; or DIY blend (cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, peppercorn, nutmeg — toast and grind).
Tomato passata: Pomarola Tradicional works; or canned tomato puréed in blender.
Heavy cream: creme de leite fresco (cooler section). Avoid canned/UHT box for this.
Pure chilli powder: if you only have caldo Pomarola spice mix, substitute paprika + cayenne 4:1.

Notes

Freezer: simmer through step 3 before adding cream → cool → freeze in portions. Defrost; reheat; add cream then.
PCC20 caveat: P5 Refogar runs to 30 min. After step 2 (sear), cancel and switch to manual simmer (or just lift the bowl onto stovetop). The full cycle of P5 will overcook the chicken before the sauce develops.
Chicken thigh, not breast. Breast goes dry in this sauce.
Marinade strength: the longer the better — overnight is the meaningful threshold. 3 hr is OK. 1 hr is not enough.