Butter Chicken (Indian Chicken in Tomato Cream Sauce)

This is the second attempt at another butter chicken recipe. I did one back some time ago and it didn't have any sauce. But this was different and we bought a packet of frozen naan from NTUC to go with it.

And I also made some changes to this recipe :

- instead of cooked chicken, I bought chicken fillets and marinated them using the ingredients from the previous butter chicken recipe

- I opted to leave out the garam masala and ground cinnamon coz I didn't want to buy bottles of those just for this recipe (and I thought the marinating would be enough)

- I left out the peas coz I don't like peas

Butter Chicken (Indian Chicken in Tomato Cream Sauce) (recipe from here)

Spice Blend:

• 1 tablespoon garam masala seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Sauce:
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 skinless rotisserie chicken, boned out and pulled into 1 1/2 by 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 (10-ounce) box frozen peas, placed in a colander and run under hot water to thaw
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1) To make the spice blend: Stir the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

2) To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the pieces just begin to turn gold, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. The spices will be fragrant. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and stir will. Add the chicken pieces, spoon the sauce over the top and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook, uncovered, until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce is flavorful, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and cover to keep warm.

3) Shake any excess water from the peas. Add the peas and cream to the sauce in the pan, stir well and heat through. Do not boil. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice and warmed pita bread.

Variation: If you prefer shreds of chicken to whole pieces, remove the skin from the chicken and pull the meat into large chunks by hand. Add to the pan along with the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the tomato sauce and continue with the recipe. Serve over basmati rice.