It’s so good that even my kids eat it – and two of them are very picky.
I removed dairy and simplified the recipe as much as possible without sacrificing flavor. If you’d like to try a richer version, with dairy, check this one, which is from the beautiful website downshiftology.com (I love her videos, so relaxing).
Serve this chicken on a bed of cauliflower rice (plain, or with fried onions) , and sprinkle parsley or cilantro on top. Then, prepare yourself to enjoy a chicken experience that should be unforgettable.
Let’s make it easy. You may marinate the chicken anytime between the night before, to just 1h before cooking.
Cube the thighs – try to get even pieces, cooking will be easier.
#savetimeinthekitchen ! Prepare a large bowl (marinade) and a small bowl (to cook later): most of the seasonings are used in the marinade + for the cooking part. It’s faster and less work to prepare both at the same time! Also less hands washing, less dishes etc….
Large bowl ( marinade)
Add in each of the bowls: garam masala, Kashmiri powder, crushed garlic, grated ginger in the large bowl, and while you’re manipulating ginger, roughly chop the 1 cm piece you need for the small bowl. Then add lemon juice and olive oil in the large bowl, and, in the small bowl, ground coriander and cumin. Do not add salt. Salt draws out moisture, and your meat will be drier.
Store the small bowl, and give a stir to the large bowl. Add chicken to the large bowl. Give another stir. Cover the bowl with auto-seal plastic wrap and leave it for 1h (on the counter), or for the night (in the fridge).
Small bowl ( to cook later)
If you’re doing dairy, you may add 2 greek yogurts in the marinade ! But it’s also excellent without. You may add 100g of coconut yogurt…. I don’t believe it contains the same acidity than regular yogurt, therefore, probably doesn’t tenderize the fibers, but it does bring a little something to the final taste.
If you leave it for the night, do your best to take it out of the fridge 1h before cooking it. Meat is always more tender if cooked at room temperature.
Once you’re ready to cook, soak 68g of cashews pieces, or whole cashews, in boiling water.
Heat a large pan on high heat. Sear the chicken pieces until golden. Do NOT crowd the pan, or its temperature will drop dramatically, and chicken won’t be seared properly.
Put the golden chicken pieces back in their bowl.
Add the onion to the pan to deglaze it (frozen onions work even better). Once their water has disappeared from the bottom of the pan, add the small bowl of spices / ginger / garlic. Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add diced tomatoes, stir and simmer a couple minutes until it thickens see picture below).
Turn the heat down to “low” under the pan.
While it’s simmering, drain the cashews and add them to a high-speed blender (my BFF !!!!).
Use a laddle to transfer the mixture to the blender. Add coconut milk.
As it’s very hot, I don’t feel very comfortable with plastic, even BPA-free, so I’m using this stainless-steel blender container.
Mix until smooth and creamy. Return the sauce to the pan, add the chicken, partially cover with a lid, and simmer for 7-10′, until chicken is cooked through.
If you own a meat thermometer, feel free to check the chicken: temperature inside the largest piece of chicken should be 75°C – 80°C.
While the chicken finishes cooking, sauté some cauliflower rice (recipe). Add fried onions and fresh parsley if you like.
And/or cook lentils pasta, rice pasta, or rice if you’re not SCD. Everything goes well with this chicken 😉
Serve warm and enjoy 🙂
Butterless Butter Chicken – THE one you’ll make again and again 🙂
Ingredients
- 600 g raw chicken thighs
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 + 1 cm ginger (half grated, half chopped)
- ¾ + ¾ tsp garam masala
- 1/4+ ¼ tsp Kashmiri powder (up to 1+1/2 tsp if you like it very spicy)
- 2 + 2 garlic cloves
- ½ tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 68 g cashews (soaked for 10' in boiling water)
- 150 g passata, or diced tomatoes (canned – if fresh, use all the juice inside the tomatoes + add a splash of water)
- 80 ml lite coconut milk (or regular coconut milk)
- 1 onion (fresh, or 2 handfuls chopped frozen onion)
- 100 g coconut yogurt, or greek yogurt (option)
Instructions
- Cube the thighs – try to get even pieces, cooking will be easier.
- Prepare a large bowl (marinade) and a small bowl (to cook later), this will save you a lot of prep time.
- In both bowls, add : 3/4 tsp garam masala, 1/4 tsp Kashmiri powder, 2 crushed garlic. In the large bowl, add 1 tbsp olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 cm grated ginger, and while you're manipulating ginger, roughly chop the second 1 cm piece and add it to the small bowl.
- Then add 1/2 tsp coriander and 1/2 tsp cumin to the small bowl. Do not add salt. Salt draws out moisture, and you'll get a drier meat.
- Store the small bowl, and give a stir to the large bowl. Add cubed chicken to the large bowl (with yogurt if using). Give another stir. Cover the bowl with auto-seal plastic wrap and leave it for 1h (on the counter), or for the night (in the fridge).
- Once the chicken has marinated long enough, and you’re ready to cook it, soak 68g of cashews pieces, or whole cashews, in boiling water.
- In the meantime, heat a large pan on high heat. Sear the chicken pieces until golden, then flip them and sear the other side – do NOT crowd the pan, or its temperature will drop dramatically, and chicken pieces won't be seared properly.
- Put the chicken pieces back into the empty marinating bowl.
- To deglaze the pan, add the onion (frozen onions work even better). Once their water has disappeared from the bottom of the pan, add the small bowl of spices / ginger / garlic. Sauté for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add diced tomatoes, stir and simmer a couple minutes until it thickens.
- Turn the heat down to “low” under the pan.
- While it’s simmering, drain the cashews and add them to a high-speed blender.
- Use a laddle to transfer the tomato mixture in the blender. Add coconut milk and mix until smooth and creamy.
- Return the sauce to the pan, add the chicken, partially cover with a lid, and simmer for 7-10′, until chicken is cooked through.
- If you own a meat thermometer, the probe should show an internal temperature of 75°C – 80°C.
- While the chicken finishes cooking, sauté some cauliflower rice. Add fried onions and fresh parsley if you like.
- And / or cook lentils pasta, regular wheat/rice pasta, or rice, if you're not SCD. Everything goes well with this chicken 😉
- Serve warm with a pinch of salt, and enjoy 🙂
Notes
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