What can be better than the Indian divine dish of creamy butter chicken on a cold winter night? Well, probably nothing, but this dish of butter chicken made with meatballs comes close.
By Shuchi Mittal
This recipe was an experiment for a party I was hosting. I was fed up of cooking the same masala chicken, so decided to zest up things a bit. I made the traditional butter chicken sauce, but decided to add home made (chicken) meatballs to it instead of the regular chicken tikka. The result was this yummy, creamy and totally satisfying curry. Takes a while to prepare, but can be frozen in batches for up to two weeks- so you don’t have to sweat over and over to enjoy the delish treat. Just take out a batch at a time, defrost and enjoy! 
Butter Chicken Meatballs
- Total Time: 26 hours
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Traditional Indian Butter Chicken, substituted with Home-made Meatballs
Ingredients
For the chicken meatballs
- 2 lbs minced chicken
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 2 tablespoons thick yogurt (greek works best)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons garlic ginger paste
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh coriander
- Salt to taste
For the sauce
- 2 teaspoons garlic ginger paste
- 4 fresh green chilies, slit
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 4 green cardamoms
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 4 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 teaspoon methi/fenugreek seeds
- 340 gm tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon red chili powder
- 10 almonds, blanched, peeled and made into a paste
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 2 teaspoons kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- ¾ pint heavy cream
Instructions
Make the meatballs
- Marinate the chicken mince in all the ingredients listed for the marinade.Refrigerate overnight.
- Oil your hands and shape into 25-30 tiny balls from the marinated mince.
- Brush with a little oil and bake at 350 degree F (180 degree C) for 25-30 minutes, or till the chicken is fully cooked. Make sure not to overcook or it’ll become dry.
- Keep aside to cool.
Make the sauce
- Heat butter or oil in a non-stick pan.
- Add green cardamoms, black cardamom, cloves and cinnamon powder. Sauté for a couple of minutes till the ingredients start to get fragrant.
- Add the fenugreek seeds. When the seeds begin to sizzle, add the garlic ginger paste and the green chilies.
- Cook for a few minutes and then stir in the tomato paste and all the dry spices, along with 4 cups of water. Turn to medium heat and cover and cook for 15 minutes till the mixture thickens and the spices are blended into the tomato.
- Add the cooked chicken meatballs and let it simmer on low heat for another 15 minutes.
- In the end, stir in the cream and simmer on medium-low heat for about 7-8 more minutes.
- Garnish with fresh coriander and a splash of cream!
- Absolutely divine with fresh Naan or Parantha.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 2 hours
Wow, can’t wait to make this! Nice spin on my favorite butter chicken recipe. Yum!