Black Cardamom For Butter Chicken

Butter chicken is one of my most favourite dishes. I simply love to make it. I use black cardamom when making butter chicken and I cannot imagine my dish without it.

Black cardamom lends a very unique, smokey flavour to your dish; together with fenugreek seeds, dried methi leaves, and all the other spices. Some people regard butter chicken as ordinary but I think differently. For me it is one of the tastiest and best curry dishes that exists.

I was once invited for supper where the hostess served butter chicken. She served a sweet curry with small pieces of dry chicken fillet. It resembled a thick sauce instead. That was the first time I ate butter chicken. I then decided to research it a bit, and I have made the dish from scratch ever since.

Authentic butter chicken requires grilling your chicken pieces in a tandoor or over coals for that distinctive smokey flavour before placing it in the tomato-based sauce to cook further until done. Ons het mos nie tandoor-oondjies nie en ek grill gewoonlik die hoender in my oond direk onder die element totdat dit effens bruin raak. Mens kan dit ook in ’n pan doen, maar jy doen dit oor hoë hitte sodat dit net verbruin, maar nie heeltemal gaar raak.

I know that you can also smoke your pot curry with a piece of charcoal in the middle. I prefer the grilling method in the oven and using black cardamom, though.

When I make butter chicken I first chargrill skinless chicken, and to add to the distinct smoky flavour, I use black cardamom along with dried methi leaves, fenugreek, cinnamon sticks, etc. I don’t use chicken fillets at all. It is too dry.

I researched many recipes and now stick to one particular recipe. I don’t use onions at all. . Butter chicken's sauce is tomato based. Onions give structure in any bredie/stew, but with butter chicken your chicken is basically cooked in a sauce, and the thickening comes from cooking the tomatoes and tomato paste to your desired thickness. Also, the yoghurt or curd used to marinate your chicken in adds substance. I do however know that each of us have our own way of cooking.

Next, I fry the whole spices in butter first, then I make the tomato-based sauce, which I then strain through a sieve to get rid of all of the solids. This ensures a smooth sauce without pitjies and goedjies.

Finally, I add my half-cooked/grilled marinated chicken to the very fragrant sauce, cooking everything further until it’s done. There are also certain spices that are indispensable.