Watching the recent Olympics games brought back so many wonderful memories of our trip to London and one memory that we won’t soon forget has to do with food.

Surprise, surprise!

Going into it, we didn’t realize that London’s Indian community makes up more than 6 percent of their population so finding a fabulous Indian restaurant is about as hard as finding a fudge shop, on Mackinac Island.

The one we researched and chose was Masala Zone, in Covent Garden, just a short cab ride from where we were staying. This location has several hundred vibrant puppets, from Rajasthan, suspended from the ceilings. A fascinating place.

We were seated at a long row of tables for two and had no idea what we were doing when ordering.

We were grateful that the couples sitting on either side of us were so friendly. It was suggested that we order the Thali, a large stainless steel platter with an array of small bowls, of different dishes, to provide a variety of tastes, texture, flavors and colors. We were so glad we did. This is where we first experienced murgh makhani, as our table mates, from the Netherlands, explained, to us, what we were eating!

This one, we had to try recreating. And we did. Though the flavors of this trip may be fading, the memories of the wonderful food and friendly people, we met along the way, is only growing stronger.

This is our version of murgh makhani also know as Butter Chicken.

Butter Chicken (or murgh makhani)
printer friendly version

serves 4

1 pkg boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces, mine was 1.4 pounds/6 thighs
5 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoons black pepper
½ teaspoons cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoons ground coriander
¼ teaspoons cumin
¼ teaspoons cardamom (I know, I know, but don’t skip because of the price!)

1 whole lime, juiced

1 whole onion, diced
¼ cup butter

1 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce (if needed, check to confirm it is gluten-free)
1 14.5 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes or a pint of home canned
1/3 c full fat Greek yogurt

¼ teaspoons ground coriander
¼ teaspoons cumin
¼ teaspoons cardamom

1 bunch fresh cilantro, to taste
Basmati or white rice for 4 (or however much you want), prepared (if needed, check to confirm it is gluten-free)

Combine first 9 ingredients and marinate overnight or at least an hour.

Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook about 10 minutes. Add in the second batch of spices and fry in. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and yogurt. Cook covered for 30 minutes over medium-low heat. Some people would add in a cup of heavy cream after it simmered, but we didn’t. We didn’t miss it or the belly ache. Top with cilantro just before serving over rice.

This has a nice warm heat, though you can cut back on the cayenne if you want, most people won’t find it hot, just nicely warming.

Note: next time we are going to try grilling our chicken to get it nice and crusty before chopping it and throwing it into the sauce more like tandoori cooked chicken. We were looking for a quick dinner when we whipped this up. I can see where using leftover rotisserie chicken could work, too.

Cheers!