Low Fat Butter Chicken – Updated

 It’s been a long time since I’ve posted and I have not been posting regularly for the past couple of years.  I’ve been contemplating what is it that I want for this blog.  There was a time when I was very active and working with a lot of brands.  But as life goes on, other things have taken precedence over blogging.  After thinking about the future of this blog, I’ve decided that I want it to be a place to record my mom’s Hyderabadi recipes that I grew up on and the dishes my kids are growing up with.  A place where we can reference back to and to record our culinary history.

One of my favourite documentaries is Cooked by Michael Pollen.  He talks about how our history is connected to the food we eat and the importance of cooking.  With the trend of people cooking less, we are actually losing a part of our history.  I can already see this in our family.  Many dishes my mom would make, I don’t cook.  For example, Hyderabadi Nihari is a dish I won’t ever make since it involves tongue although I did enjoy eating it growing up.  My mom would also make a special Hyderabadi dish called Chakna which is so delicious but extremely time consuming to make and full of organs.  I never ate the organs and just ate the amazing sauce.  Since I don’t cook these dishes, my kids don’t have any connection to them. If you haven’t seen Michael Pollen’s documentary, I highly recommend watching it.  You can find it on Netflix.  Through this blog, I hope to keep the history of our cuisine alive and to record our new favourites.  I hope one day my kids will reference back to this blog when they want to cook some of their favourite meals.

Today’s recipe is an old recipe I had on the blog with a horrible picture.  It is one that is loved by my kids and is also the inspiration for my award winning Butter Chicken Lasagna!  It is a lighter version of the regular butter chicken.  I’ve used sour cream instead of heavy cream and less butter.  The chicken is broiled in the oven while you cook the sauce on the stove.  We enjoy this with naan and if you have leftovers you can also use it to make some Butter Chicken Lasagna!

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Yield: 8

Low Fat Butter Chicken

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The BEST Butter Chicken without all the fat!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Chicken Tikka

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp tandoori powder
• 1 tsp kasuri methi
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp oil

Butter Sauce

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter (optional)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cups diced tomatoes (about 2-3 Roma tomatoes)
• 5-6 almonds, ground (lately we have been preferring to use cashews over almonds)
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 1/2 tbsp kasuri methi
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream (for a more rich taste substitute with 35% cream)
• 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

Chicken Tikka

1. In a small bowl mix together cumin, garam masala, salt, cayenne pepper, tandoori masala and kasuri methi.  Rub on both sides of the chicken and refrigerate for at least 30-60 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, oil and ginger garlic paste.  
3. Dip each chicken breast into the yogurt mixture.  Coat well.  
4. Lay on a cast iron pan.  Broil 10-18 minutes or until cooked through, flipping them over halfway through.  
5. When done let chicken rest for 5 minutes and then cut into 1 inch cubes.

Butter Sauce

Heat the oil (and butter if using) in the pan.  Fry onions until soft and translucent. 
Add ginger-garlic paste and stir for about 1 minute. 
Add all the remaining ingredients except for the sour cream and butter.  Cook on medium heat until thick.  Puree.
Add sour cream (or cream if using) and butter.  Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.  
Add the chicken with it’s juices and simmer for a few more minutes.  Serve hot with naan.

Notes

Note: If you want a more rich Butter Chicken, use cashews instead of almonds, 35% cream instead of sour cream and add a tablespoon of butter when you fry the onions for the sauce.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 353Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 112mgSodium: 473mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 38g

Above values are estimates.