Butter Chicken

Ingredients

• 1.25 lbs. 2 lg chicken breasts
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 med onion
• 1 inch fresh ginger
• 1 Tbsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups jasmine or basmati rice
• 2 1/4 cups water

Directions

1. Cut away the fat from the chicken breasts, then slice the meat into small chunks and put it aside. Dice the onion, and finely mince the garlic and ginger.
2. Melt the butter in a large pot set over medium-high heat. Once the butter is hot, but not browned, add the chicken and let it brown on every side. Transfer the chicken out of the pot and set it aside; it does not need to be fully cooked yet, since it will finish later in the sauce.
3. Turn the heat down to medium, then add the onion, garlic, and ginger to the pot. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes, just until they start to soften. Stir in the garam masala and cayenne, and keep cooking and stirring for 2 minutes more.
4. Pour in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, stirring until the sauce looks even. Add the chicken back to the pot, cover it, and lower the heat to medium-low. Let everything simmer for 1 hour, or until the chicken is tender and cooked all the way through.
5. While the chicken simmers, make the rice. Add 1.5 cups of rice and 2.25 cups of water to a medium pot. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. As soon as it reaches a full boil, drop the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat, but leave the lid on until you are ready to serve.
6. Once the chicken and tomato mixture has finished simmering, break the chicken into smaller pieces if you like; it should be tender enough to come apart easily. Stir in the plain yogurt. Spoon the chicken mixture over the rice, and add cilantro on top if you’d like.