Murg Makhani

This is what I made this cold rainy day. The full recipe is at the end of the post along with notes from the lady I got the recipe from.
It was either this or chicken and dumplings. When I read the spices that went into this dish I knew it was no contest, I could roll around in these spices and be perfectly happy.

 

Wanna see what it's all about?

I was very happy I had all the spices called for in the recipe, but not all of them were ground. So I got out my trusty little mortar and pestle and got busy. The first spice I had to grind was...

cardamon. I cracked open the pod and was given the gift of tiny little black seeds. Some needed chasing around the cutting board but all were present and accounted for before being smashed to smithereens.

Believe it or not, I ground the exact amount needed.

Next was the coriander.

Talk about chasing seeds all over the place. At least these little buggers were bigger.

They were ground up quickly.

Now that all the spices are ready, it's time to round up the rest of the ingredients.

The recipe calls for heavy cream to be added. Now, I've tried to like tomato based sauces that milk or cream were added to and I just can't. There's not much I don't like, I just can't do it. To me pink sauces are very off putting, I can't even eat that Vodka Pasta Sauce. I'll spare you the reason why, I don't want to ruin your appetite for this dish. Trust me you'll thank me.
I substituted the cream with some of my wonderful homemade chicken stock I made yesterday. I just had to reduce the sauce a little toward the end.

I started by cooking some onions in butter, once they were cooked and staring to take on some color I

added the garlic and ginger. When the garlic and ginger became fragrant I added

the spices to the onion and cooked them gently until they became fragrant also.

Then the tomatoes were added and cooked until blended with the spices and onion.

I considered not adding a whole cups worth of chicken stock, reasoning that it's not equivalent, texture wise, to heavy cream and that the sauce might suffer by adding it. I then reasoned that if I let the sauce reduce it would concentrate and richen the sauce.
I really hate reasoning with myself because at times I can be so unreasonable. 

The sauce simmering and bubbling away to reduce a little.

It's great topping some couscous.

I didn't add the chicken to the sauce, I sauced some chicken. I want to try the sauce with some other things, shrimp for one and maybe some pork.

This is just great and I'll make this again for sure. Thanks to Cindy on rfc.

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Murg Makhani

1 large whole skinless, boneless chicken breast *see note
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 large sweet onion, thinly sliced and cut into 1-inch lengths
1 jumbo garlic clove (or more), crushed
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and grated; finely
0.5 teaspoon cayenne
0.25 teaspoon cinnamon
0.25 teaspoon nutmeg
0.125 teaspoon powdered cloves
0.25 teaspoon cardamon powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
  salt to taste
1 cup (half a 14-oz of crushed or diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup heavy cream
  more butter to taste
  cilantro, chopped roughly, for garnish

In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter.  Saute the onions
over medium heat until translucent.  Add the ginger and garlic.  When
they start to smell good, add all of the powdered spices.  If the
pan seems too dry, add a little butter.  Sautee the spices until
they release their odors.  Stir in the tomatoes, and cook until
they are thoroughly blended with the spices and aromatics.

Add the cream, and cook briskly until the sauce reduces and is as
thick as you wish.  Adjust the seasoning with salt.

Cut up the chicken breasts and add to the sauce.  Cook until they are
done through.  Plate as you wish, garnishing with cilantro.

You can fully cook the chicken ahead of time. If you do this, make
sure it's cooked through to avoid food-borne illness.

If you're going to cook the chicken at the last minute, you can make
the sauce first, then cook the chicken.  The sauce will hold while
you are at the grill.

Notes:  Stuff to turn the chicken breast into Chiken Tikka (I like Patak's
paste)
Marinate the chicken breasts for chicken tikka.  I prefer to salt them
before marinating, but I'm just that way. Grill them until they are at
least half-cooked (get a nice color on the outside; the insides
can finish cooking in the sauce).

Comments

[Shawn]

Looks great, but sounds too complicated for me.
(I'll just have to try a leeetle of yours?)

[koko]

Too complicated for you! I don't theeeenk so.
Probably less ingredients than the rubs you make, and I'm sure you are smart enough to buy the ground spices.

Thanks for the compliment I appreciate it.