Butter Chicken Poutine

 

Most Wednesday nights my sister and I join my father at a local eatery for supper. It is called the Big Scoop. They often have outrageous specials, and the customers are filing through the doors in droves. Earlier this month they had a Butter Chicken Poutine special that looked fabulous. I love Butter Chicken and I love poutine, so the two together sounded fabulous.

Unfortunately, bad weather prevented us from going there on that occasion. I have been thinking about it ever since however and today I decided to take the bull by the horns and make my own.  I mean, how hard could it be?

What you have here is a delicious mish mash of two cultures.  Canadian poutine which is a dish composed of hot gravy cheese curds and fries.  Indian Butter Chicken.

Put them together and you have D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!

 

Putting this together was not really difficult at all. I took my favorite Butter Chicken recipe and used that for the butter chicken and then combined it with the chips and cheese curds. In the U.K. Curry Sauce is often eaten with chips. It is probably more popular with chips than ketchup or vinegar.

 

The end result of my experiment was something that was outrageously rich and delicious.  I will have probably outraged poutine purists and Indian curry purists to no end, but I also wager that I will have tempted more than a few adventurous tastebuds in the process!

I do hope that you are one of the ones that will be tempted to try this fabulous dish!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BUTTER CHICKEN POUTINE

It looks like a long list of ingredients, but most of them are spices. You could go the short route and use a premade butter chicken, but really making your butter chicken from scratch is well worth the effort! So delicious!

For the Butter Chicken:

• 1 pound (453g) chicken breast meat, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup (123g) plain yogurt
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground paprika
• 1 tsp fenugreek leaves, crumbled (if available)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 TBS vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2-inch piece of fresh gingerroot, peeled and grated
• 1 can (200g) tomato sauce (not ketchup, in the U.K. use passata)
• 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream (or to taste)
• 3 TBS butter
• 1/2 tsp garam masala

For the poutine:

• 1 bag of frozen French fries (4 serving size)
• 1 bag (240g/1/2 pound) cheese curds
• Chopped fresh coriander/cilantro or spring onions to serve

 

I actually bought a package of mis-cut boneless white chicken which ended up being all chicken tenders. All I had to do was to remove the white tendon from each and then cut the chicken into cubes.

All of the spices are available in most grocery stores.  Check out the Interational section where you will often find them at a fraction of the cost that you will pay for them in the regular spice section. If you cannot find the fenugreek leaves you can leave them out.

I tend to use bottled organic minced garlic these days, and I buy the organic ginger, which is smaller than the regular stuff, but every bit as potent. You can just scrape the skin off with a metal spoon and then grate the ginger on your grater or with a micro-plane grater.

Tomato sauce is known as tomato passata in the U.K. It is a thick tomato sauce, with a smooth texture.

I actually had picked up the wrong frozen chips.  I bought spicy ones and had to go back to the shops and get some regular ones. The spicy ones were a bit too much for me! 

I found the cheese curds in the deli-section of meats and cheeses. If you cannot get cheese curds you can use small cubes of mozzarella. Not terribly authentic, but you will get the same flavor and cheese pull from it.

I used chopped spring onions because I could not find any fresh coriander leaf locally.  If you can get the coriander leaf DO use that!

 

HOW TO MAKE BUTTER CHICKEN POUTINE

You will need to marinate the chicken for the butter chicken for at least an hour so do plan ahead.  You can also pop the chicken into the marinade the night before and leave it marinating in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it.

Whisk the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika and salt together in a bowl. Add the chicken pieces, turning to coat them well. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or up to overnight.

When you are ready to cook the curry, add 1 TBS of the oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the marinated chicken pieces and cook, stirring, until they are browned on all sides and cooked through.

Remove from the pan and set aside.

 

Add the onion to the pan with the remaining oil. Cook, stirring, until nicely softened. Add the minced garlic and grated ginger. Cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce/passata and the fenugreek leaves. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Return the chicken to the pan, stirring the chicken well to coat with the sauce. Pour in the cream and add the butter. Stir until the butter has melted and the sauce is nice and creamy, a further 5 minutes. Sprinkle with garam masala.

While the curry is cooking cook your French fries. (I used the air fryer.)

To serve place the hot chips on each of four heated plates. Top each with some of the cheese curds and ladle the hot chicken curry over top. Garnish with the coriander leaf or spring onions and serve immediately.

A good mango chutney goes very well with this.

 

Although I was not able to have one of these at the restaurant, I have to say that my homemade version was very delicious. I can only imagine how much more delicious it would be with homemade chips, fried in beef tallow from scratch. Oh boy, just the thought.

In any case this was very, very good.  The butter chicken was rich and unctuous. The chips were lovely and crisp, fresh from the air fryer. The cheese ooey gooey.  The combination was unbeatable.  I enjoyed with a bit of mango chutney on the side.

If you are a purist, feel free to just enjoy the butter chicken curry itself on a bed of soft and fluffy steamed basmati rice. Either way you are in for a treat!

Are you fond of Indian flavors?  You might also enjoy the following options.  I promise you they are delicious! On rice or on chips. You decide!

COCONUT CURRY CHICKEN - This is a fabulously fruity and rich curry. It is not overly spicy and boasts some beautiful flavors! It is an excellent recipe to use if you are wanting to introduce someone to curry dishes.  A way to wet their whistle so to speak!

LAMB ROGAN JOSH - A moderately spiced curry from Kashmir in the North of India. This is an area which is famous for its aromatic and sumptuous curries! Melt in the mouth pieces of lamb in a rich and delicious spicy sauce. 

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Marie Rayner

Butter Chicken Poutine

Prep time: 1 H & 15 MCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 H & 45 M

Curry sauce is often served with chips in the U.K. Poutine is a favorite Canadian Dish. This delicious recipe is a mish mash of the two cuisines, with a delicious butter chicken curry, spooned over top of crisp chips and gooey cheese curds. If you like Indian food, you will love this tasty combo!

Ingredients

For the Butter Chicken:

• 1 pound (453g) chicken breast meat, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup (123g) plain yogurt
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground paprika
• 1 tsp fenugreek leaves, crumbled (if available)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 TBS vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2-inch piece of fresh gingerroot, peeled and grated
• 1 can (200g) tomato sauce (not ketchup, in the U.K. use passata)
• 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream (or to taste)
• 3 TBS butter
• 1/2 tsp garam masala

For the poutine:

• 1 bag of frozen French fries (4 serving size)
• 1 bag (240g/1/2 pound) cheese curds
• Chopped fresh coriander/cilantro or spring onions to serve

Instructions

1. Whisk the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika and salt together in a bowl. Add the chicken pieces, turning to coat them well. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or up to overnight.
2. When you are ready to cook the curry, add 1 TBS of the oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the marinated chicken pieces and cook, stirring, until they are browned on all sides and cooked through.
3. Remove from the pan and set aside.
4. Add the onion to the pan with the remaining oil. Cook, stirring, until nicely softened. Add the minced garlic and grated ginger. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
5. Add the tomato sauce/passata and the fenugreek leaves. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Return the chicken to the pan, stirring the chicken well to coat with the sauce. Pour in the cream and add the butter. Stir until the butter has melted and the sauce is nice and creamy, a further 5 minutes. Sprinkle with garam masala.
7. While the curry is cooking cook your French fries. (I used the air fryer.)
8. To serve place the hot chips on each of four heated plates. Top each with some of the cheese curds and ladle the hot chicken curry over top. Garnish with the coriander leaf or spring onions and serve immediately.
9. A good mango chutney goes very well with this.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @marierayner5530 on instagram and hashtag it #TheEnglishKitchen

Look at the cheese pull!  Make sure your chips and curry are both really hot so that the cheese melts!

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