by James Coulter
Is there any type of cuisine more flavorful than Indian food? Actually, let me rephrase that sentence: there is no cuisine more flavorful than Indian food.
At this point, that statement isn’t even an opinion. It’s a fact. And science has proven it! Several scientific studies have been conducted to figure out what makes Indian food taste so good.
One such study, conducted in 2015, analyzed 2,500 Indian recipes. Its findings revealed that the unique, complex flavor of Indian food derives from the “flavor overlap” of its various ingredients.
As The Repository reports, Indian cuisine opts to offer: “the most variety of ingredients with as little overlapping flavor as possible…Every spice and ingredient has a purpose and they all work together in harmony to produce the taste of the dish.”
Trust me when I tell you: you have not experienced real flavor unless you’ve tried Indian food; and once you taste it for yourself, you’ll wonder how you managed to make it through life for so long without ever trying it, because everything else is bland and tasteless in comparison.
For more than a decade, I’ve been preparing Indian food at home, mostly curries like Chicken Tikka Masala. I’ve also eaten authentic Indian food at eateries like Curry Mango in Lakeland. Whether prepared at home or in a restaurant, nothing quite compares to how Indian cuisine combines sugar and spice and everything nice.
Lately, not only have I been craving Indian food, but also wanted to experiment with preparing meals in my slow cooker. Because is there a kitchen appliance more convenient than a slow cooker?
Again, let me rephrase that sentence: there is no kitchen appliance more convenient than a slow cooker. Seriously, all you do is prepare and pre-cook your ingredients, dump them all into the slow cooker, and then set it and forget it for the rest of the day until dinner rolls around, and by then you’ll have your meal cooked and warmed and ready.
I never had Butter Chicken before. I’ve heard it’s good, so I wanted to taste it for myself. I decided to prepare it in a slow cooker. And for this particular recipe, I actually ended up combining two different recipes for the sake of convenience.
Yes, you heard right: this recipe is actually two separate recipes combined into one. I simply wasn’t able to find a recipe that appealed to me, either because it had too many ingredients or the prep work was too complicated. So, I took two recipes, chose the parts I liked most, and cobbled them together into a single recipe that permitted a minimal amount of ingredients and effort.
How did it turn out? Pretty good. The chicken and sauce tasted very flavorful, with the right blend of sweetness and spiciness expected from Indian cuisine. Seriously, I’ve yet to eat “bad” Indian food, and I don’t ever expect to do so.
The only “flaw” was that the overall dish was slightly more “clumpy.” Perhaps next time I’ll add slightly more coconut milk to make it smoother and silkier. Either way, it tasted great paired with the instant rice I prepared for it.
Overall, if you’ve never had Indian food before, I highly suggest trying this recipe. You’ll only have to buy a few ingredients, pre-cook the chicken and onions, then combine everything and let the slow cooker do the rest of the work. You won’t regret it!
The following recipe combines two recipes from AllRecipies.com:
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (6 ounces) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon garam masala (or cumin)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 (14 ounces) can coconut milk (or 2 cups half-and-half or heavy cream)
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt salt to taste
Directions
1. Gather all ingredients.
2. Heat butter and vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in chicken, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in tomato paste, curry powder, chili powder, and garam masala (or cumin) until no lumps of tomato paste remain.
4. Pour mixture into a slow cooker; stir in coconut milk (or half-and-half or heavy cream) and yogurt. Season with salt.
5. Cook on High for 4 to 6 hours (or on Low for
6 to 8 hours) until chicken is tender and sauce has reduced to desired consistency.
