Healthy Butter Chicken

The name says it all! This is our healthier, quick and easy take on a classic butter chicken, made with a creamy spiced cashew, tomato sauce.

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Make the curry sauce (store in an airtight container in the fridge)

Ingredients

  • 1 brown onion (diced)
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • Thumb size piece of ginger (grated)
  • 1 chilli (finely chopped)
  • ¼ tsp cardamom seeds
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 Tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • ⅓ cup cashews (soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes)
  • 400g tin crushed tomatoes
  • 1 cup water
  • Butter


Method

  1. Heat a little coconut oil in a large pot or saute dish. Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes until nicely browned; remove and set aside.

  2. In the same pot, sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli in a tablespoon or two of butter over medium heat in a pot or saute dish until the onions start to soften.

  3. Add in all of the spices, salt and pepper and the soaked cashews; fry off for a few minutes.

  4. Add the tinned tomatoes and water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the sauce to a blender; blend until smooth and creamy.

  5. Allow to cool completely before transferring into an airtight container in the fridge.

  • If you don’t have a blender you can blend the sauce with a stick blender or food processor – you just want to make sure it’s silky smooth with no little bits of cashews.

  • You need to make sure you soak your cashews for at least 15 minutes in boiling water or overnight in cold water. This it was makes the nice and creamy.

 

Shortcuts

  • Swap out the cashews and water for 400ml (1 tin) of coconut cream – note you won’t need to blend this, just add the coconut cream when you add the tinned tomatoes.

Vegetables

  • Swap out the green beans for steamed broccoli.

  • For some extra vege add some spinach or kale into the curry.

 

Protein

 

Other

  • Serve with a dollop of greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt.

 

Ingredients

Chicken 

  • 500g chicken thighs (cut into bite-sized pieces)
  • 1 Tbsp curry powder
  • Coconut oil 

 

Curry sauce 

  • 1 brown onion (diced)
  • 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
  • Thumb size piece of ginger (grated)
  • 1 chilli (finely chopped)
  • ¼ tsp cardamom seeds
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 Tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • ⅓ cup cashews (soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes)
  • 400g tin crushed tomatoes
  • 1 cup water
  • Butter

 

Serve with 

  • 1 ½ cups basmati rice
  • 250g green beans (1 bag)
  • ½ cup coriander (finely chopped)

 

 

Method
  1. Add the sliced chicken to a bowl and sprinkle over 1 Tbsp of curry powder; toss well to coat.

  2. Heat a little coconut oil in a large pot or saute dish. Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes until nicely browned; remove and set aside.

  3. In the same pot, sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli in a tablespoon or two of butter over medium heat until the onions start to soften.
  4. Add in all of the spices, salt and pepper and the soaked cashews; fry off for a few minutes.

  5. Cook the rice as per the packet instructions.

  6. Add the tinned tomatoes and water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the sauce to a blender; blend until smooth and creamy.

  7. Add the sauce back into the pot and then add in the chicken. Let simmer on low heat for 10 minutes until the chicken has cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly.

  8. While the sauce is cooking, steam the green beans for approximately 3 minutes until they are cooked but they still have a nice crunch to them.

  9. Serve the curry alongside the rice and steamed green beans.

 

Variations

Vegetables

  • Swap out the green beans for steamed broccoli.

  • For some extra vege add some spinach or kale into the curry.

 

Protein

 

Other

  • Serve with a dollop of greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt.

 

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