Oh, I have been meaning to look for a recipe for Butter Chicken and I have two packages of naan waiting for a meal. Thanks for getting me off my butt.

I found one in this thread on the Cooking forum will make this week

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2428148/rotisserie-chicken-leftovers-ideas?n=21 

Oh my, we practically lived on it in India. As the name might imply, its awfully rich!

I have had good success with this recipe:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chicken-tikka-masala-51171400

We made our own Naan in India and I am planning to try it at home. I will look for the recipe I have. Sooo much better.

There is also a line of sauces sold in the refrigerator section, and they have a good Tikka Masala.Premade

Adding to my TJ's list! On cheater nights I use a simmer sauce adding cut up boneless chicken breast and frozen peas.

Maya Kaimal has a bottled line too (not refrigerated). I also buy TJ's Thai Green Curry and Seeds of Change.

Thank you for the great recipes and ideas. Cindy, you're my go-to person here for recipes and ideas and I was hoping that you'd have some. Where do you find the Maya Kaimal bottles sauce? Thanks!

D-GW: I'm going to order that to try, thanks! We have Amazon Prime, so this will be easy.

MtnRdRedeux: you have it in India?!? I am so green with envy. I can only imagine how amazing it would taste there. Thanks for the link.

Localeater: thanks for that recipe! At least it has ingredients I can find locally!

I found what looks to be a good recipe version of it online on Norecipes.com. Here it is: Butter Chicken Recipe . Most of the ingredients I already have, including the saffron threads and fresh ginger. But others that I know are important to the recipe's character, such as dried fenugreek leaves, fenugreek seeds, Garam masala, black and green cardamom pods are ingredients I'd have to hunt down. Kind of a pain unless I'm sure the recipe is an outstanding one.

OK, I've just ordered the Butter Chicken Spice Paste from Amazon that D-GW suggested. Thank you so much! It's gotten really great reviews on Amazon and I can't wait to try it.

Lynn, I think the main reason I haven't ventured into Indian food from scratch is the variety of seasoning required. So I cheat. ;)

I find the Maya Kaimal at Fresh Market and Whole Foods. Whole Foods also carries the refrigerated line. I may grab one of those next time.

Lynn, We had absolutely excellent quality, gourmet top notch cuisine in India. Not just Indian but Italian, French and Western generally !

That said I was surprised by how much the CTM tasted just like home! Of course our local Indian place is very highly regarded. And the only other time I have it is in NYC when my Indian colleagues order for me ... so you know it is good stuff.

The Naan however was much better than what I have had here. It was thinner and served so hot you could barely touch it, slathered in melted butter (I might worship cows too in my own way) and had a slight tang. We even got to make it one night when we had dinner in the desert on the dunes. We mixed and rolled it, then tossed it almost like a pizza crust, and then had to throw it on the side wall of this hot cylindrical oven filled with coals. 2 minutes later you remove it with tongs, brush with butter and serve. OMG

Mtn, that sounds like such a fun experience! I was telling DD about the Butter Chicken on Saturday, as she was in Tulsa visiting her little (sorority) sister and her family there for a long weekend. The only Trader Joes in all of Oklahoma is in Tulsa, and so she and her Little headed there to pick up a few packages of their frozen Butter Chicken version . . . and their Naan. As DD told me afterwards, " You just can not have Indian food without Nann, Mom!" I'd better pick some up before my spice packets arrive!

Lynn, I believe I have seen all of those spices at the Penzey's store in Abq. It may be worth the trip for you if there are others you need.

Cindy, Yes, those spices can add up, especially if you're not using the for anything else! I'll see how the spice packets work out, if not I'll pick up some of the bottled sauce at our local Whole Foods. We don't have Fresh Markets here, but there's one right around the corner from our son's home in Augusta, GA, and we shopped there several times last month when we were visiting him. Very nice!

Oh my gosh, Tish, I've never heard of them or seen their stores before. I see on their website, that they have a store in the NE Heights on Wyoming and Montgomery. I go past that area a lot. It looks like it's in the same shopping center as Michaels. I haven't been in there in a while, being more of a Hobby Lobby gal myself. Thank you! I'm definitely going to check it out.

There is also a Natural Grocer's/Vitamin Cottage in the same shopping center. Kinda funny considering this thread, but the store is in what was at one time an Indian restaurant. The quality of the spices are fantastic and the cocoa they sell is expensive but quite good, as well.

Ok, now I know where it is exactly! I've eaten in that former Indian restaurant many years ago. I'm going to try and stop in later this week to check it out.

The Indian spice packet that D_gw posted sounds wonderful. I have to read all ingredients first because I am gluten intolerant. My heart sank when I saw gram flour but I thought hmmmmm...gram may not be the same as graham. Thankfully it's not. Gram flour is made from chick peas. I am putting this in my cart.

Holly and Lynn, I hope you like the spice paste. Be warned that the cooking odor is really strong. I don't have great ventilation so weather permitting I make it outside on the burner in my barbecue grill.

It seems from the Amazon comments that butter chicken is a regional dish, like barbecue, and there are arguments about which ingredients are authentic. I usually add onions and peas but the paste really lends itself to be a base for whatever you like. When my vegetarian daughter is home I substitute chunks of firm tofu for the chicken and it turns out really well.

Dee

Thanks Dee, I will cook mine outside for the first time but I go have good ventilation. DH loathes strong cooking odors.

I have no recipe, but just have to gloat that one of my East Indian students brought me a container of butter chicken and a roti (made by grandma) for lunch today. Yum!

It's not nice to gloat about homemade Butter Chicken made by an authentic Indian grandma, Daisy! Just kidding, but although I'm happy for you (kind of- LOL) Im also green with envy.

Thanks, Dee! My DD is already crazy about Butter Chicken, after eating one of the TJ'S frozen meals. We chatted this afternoon and she told me she wants a few of my spice packets to take back to her home at college. The strong smell won't bother me at all. Or DD, as one of her housemates is of Lebonese ancestry. and those two love to cook for their friends. Some of it is awesome Lebonese food.

Someone here posted a recipe for butter chicken a number of years ago-- was it Hhireno? Bumble?

I have had ok results preparing my own indian/Nepalese food but nothing I would rave about. I hope to get better at it..

I am confused.. i always thought tikki masala and butter chicken were two different dishes. Are they the same?

Funkyart, like you, I've been under the impression that they are two different dishes.

Funky ... Yes and no.

My Indian colleagues in NYC first introduced me to CTM years ago, and they also called it butter chicken. My local award winning Indian restaurant has only CTM on the menu, and to me it is butter chicken. The bottled and refrigerated sauces labeled CTM are really for butter chicken.

In India, CTM had no sauce in most places. It looked more like Tandoori to me. To get butter chicken you had to indicate "with sauce". I saw one YouTube Indian cooking demo where she called it gravy!

Very interesting, Mtn! Although I don't consider Santa Fe or Albuquerque backwoods towns, and their restaurants are many, varied, and very good, your info on Indian food is really enlightening. I had no idea, but always love learning new things. A BIG thank you for all your information!