Go Back
Print Recipe

Pete Evans' Butter Chicken (adapted recipe)

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6 portions
Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS FOR CURRY

  • 1 large onion peeled and cut into quarters
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • 2.5 cm piece of ginger peeled

  • 120 g butter or ghee

  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground paprika
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper or chilli powder/flakes optional
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 100 g tomato paste

  • 40 g lemon juice + more to season at end
  • 400 g coconut cream
  • 1.2 kg to 1.4kg chicken thighs cut into quarters (remove from fridge 30 minutes beforehand)

  • 100 g frozen peas slightly defrosted

  • 30 g fresh basil leaves washed and torn

  • Extra lemon juice and sea salt flakes for seasoning at end
  • 60 g fresh spinach leaves place into bottom of Thermoserver
  • fresh coriander leaves to serve
  • radish pickle to serve see below for recipe

INGREDIENTS FOR PICKLE

  • 4 radish washed and thinly sliced
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar you can use any vinegar you like
  • 1 tbls golden caster sugar or coconut palm sugar
  • ½ tsp sea salt flakes or ¼ tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tbls filtered water

Instructions

METHOD FOR CURRY

  • Remove frozen peas from the freezer and put aside for later
  • Add onion, garlic and ginger to TM bowl and chop 3 seconds / speed 7
  • Scrape down sides and add butter or ghee, and sauté 5 minutes / Veroma / speed 1 / no MC but basket on top
  • Add all the spices and tomato paste and cook 1 minute / 100 / speed 1
  • Add lemon juice, coconut cream and chicken and cook 13 minutes / 100 / reverse / speed 1 / no MC but basket on top ... check chicken and if necessary cook for a further 2 minutes / 100 / reverse / speed 1 (it will all depend on the size of the pieces)
  • Add peas and cook 2 minutes / Veroma / reverse / speed soft
  • Add basil and cook 1 minute / Veroma / reverse / speed soft
  • Test curry and add more lemon juice and sea salt flakes to your taste
  • Pour curry over spinach in the Thermoserver and stir through … leave for 10 minutes to absorb the flavours and allow time to clean your Thermomix (or cook rice if that is what you wish to do)
  • Serve with freshly chopped coriander leaves and radish pickle (if desired), along with cauliflower rice (or traditional Basmati rice if preferred)

METHOD FOR PICKLE

  • This is a very quick and easy accompaniment to a curry that will add a little zing
  • Mix the vinegar, sugar, salt and water in a small jug or bowl
  • Add the radish and stir through
  • Cover and place in fridge to chill
  • The radish only needs 15 minutes to infuse, but the longer it sits the tangier it will be

Notes

Recipe adapted from Pete Evans' recipe in Family Food Page 13
Many Butter Chicken recipes however have nuts (usually cashews), which for my family is not possible due to allergies, so it is great to see this recipe minus the nuts.
I use more protein than Thermomix recipes usually state as 500g to 700g is not enough for all of us, so I will use 1kg to 1.5kg of protein depending on the other components of the recipe. When considering how much protein to add, I always ensure I don’t go over the 2 litre mark in the TM bowl (2.2 litre mark for TM5), and as long as I am not intending to puree the mix, then I can safely go up to that level as long as I cook my dish on either Speed Soft or Speed 1.
As I like my meat chunky, I cut the chicken thighs into quarters so that I get decent pieces of chicken in the dish. It is also important to remove your chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before commencing this recipe.
If you use ghee instead of butter, then the dish is dairy free and Paleo as per the original recipe. I also like to finish off my curries with extra lemon juice once cooked, so do this "to taste" along with sea salt flakes. It really "lifts" the flavours of the dish.