I first tried a Pete Evans Paleo Butter Chicken recipe with my children about 4 years ago – although we were eating only wholefoods (primarily GAPS friendly) foods at the time, my children weren’t overly keen. However, my husband and I absolutely loved it (spices are a delight after you have walked the long road of GAPS Intro) so I persevered, making it from time to time and pushing through the complaints at dinner time. At some point about 18 months ago the children started enjoying it and now love butter chicken, it has now become an absolute staple in our household. And I believe it played a part in opening up my children to a whole new world of taste sensations – particularly Indian and Asian flavours that they now love. Many of my friends children have also come to love this delicious and nutrient dense dish. Taste researcher and consultant Dr John Prescott says that “food preference is to do with learning…..As we become exposed more and more to certain flavours, we get used to them”. This is such a key for parents as we all struggle at points to get or kiddos to try ‘new things’ and diversify their diets. In the Mad Food Science Program we teach the children about this phenomena – that their sense of taste can change over time – so not to give up on something that they think is ‘yuk’ today. We do an experiment that helps them experience this first hand – and help them to realise that they often do a lot of their tasting with their ‘eyes’ rather than their tongues. So keep at it…..often once our kiddos come to love new flavours it opens up a world of experience for them. I alternate between the Pete Evans and Quirky cooking versions (which I have modified slightly as you will see below). Below is my modified version – of the Quirky Cooking Butter Chicken which, most times, I whip up in the Thermomix. I have removed the chilli (to make it suitable for even very young children and those kiddos who don’t cope well with the hotness of the chilli), I reduce the amount of chicken and add vegetables to the main bowl – to make it even more nutrient dense and so the vegetables soak up the beautiful sauce – for this reason in my version I have doubled the quantity of spice mix from that given in the original recipe and reduce the amount of salt (our preference) . Don’t get thrown by the amount of spice in this dish – it is absolutely delicious. A great time saving tip for when you are measuring out the spices is to make up several additional small bags of the spice mix so that they are ready to go for future batches. Here is a link to the Pete Evans Version.
- 800 g cauliflower broken or cut into small florets (grain-free option)
- 1.5 cups organic rice I use Honest to Goodness (HTG) Brand
- 3 cm piece fresh ginger I have used 1-2 Tbsp ginger powder a few times when I have been out of fresh
- 4 cloves fresh garlic
- 1 medium brown onion halved
- 100 g butter, ghee or coconut oil coconut oil is dairy-free option
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon I buy this in bulk from Honest to Goodness
- 4 tsp smoked paprika not the hot paprika
- 6 tsp garam marsala
- 2 tsp ground cardamon
- 4 tsp ground coriander
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tsp ground turmeric I buy this in bulk from Honest to Goodness
- 500 g coconut cream I use HTG Organic
- 1 handful fresh coriander as a garnish
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 200 g tomato paste I use HTG Organic
- 1.5 tsp himalayan or celtic sea salt
- 800 g boneless skinless chicken breasts, or thighs cut into 3-5cm pieces
- 1-2 cups diced vegetables I use carrots, zucchini, swede, and peas but you could use your preferred vegetables
- Place cauliflower florets into TM bowl, and chop 10 sec/speed 5, or until ‘rice’ sized pieces. Place into Varoma dish, poking a hole in the centre to let the steam through. Set aside. Wash and dry TM bowl OR
- If preparing regular rice, fill and boil kettle of water. Place 1.5 cups rice into the thermomix basket. Rinse under cold water. Place basket into thermomix bowl and fill with enough water to cover the rice by about 1cm. Cook Varoma for 13 minutes, speed 2. Let rice sit in bowl with lid on while you prepare the butter chicken. This is where having second bowl comes in handy. Or place rice in a thermoserver to keep warm. Rinse bowl ready to make the butter chicken.
- Place garlic and ginger into TM bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 7. Add onion and chop 2 sec/speed 5. Scrape down sides with spatula.
- Add butter, ghee or coconut oil, cinnamon, paprika, garam masala, cardamom, coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Cook 5 min/100/speed soft. Loosen mixture from sides and base of bowl with spatula.
- Add coconut cream, lemon juice, tomato paste, salt and chicken to TM bowl. If making cauliflower rice, place Varoma dish into position, and cook 25 min/Varoma/reverse/speed soft. Cauliflower rice will steam above, as butter chicken cooks below. Check cauliflower is cooked - if not, add another 5 mins/Varoma/reverse/speed soft.
- Once cauliflower or regular rice is ready place into a serving dish. Place butter chicken into a separate dish, sprinkle some fresh coriander on top as a garnish.
- If making cauliflower rice, process cauliflower in a food processor until chopped into rice sized pieces. Set aside.
- If making regular rice, measure out rice in a saucepan and cover with water - (I usually do 2 cups of water per 1 cup of rice) and follow directions on packet to make rice of your preference.
- Chop onion, garlic and ginger by hand, then saute in a heavy based saucepan with butter, ghee or coconut oil, until soft.
- Add remaining ingredients and simmer gently, covered, for 20 mins or until chicken is cooked through and sauce is beginning to thicken. Stir now and then.
- If making Cauliflower rice, fry cauliflower in a frying pan with some butter, ghee or coconut oil, for 15 mins or until soft.
I have swapped out the chicken for chickpeas as per Jo's suggestions to make a wonderful vegetarian version. If you use chick peas (rather than chicken) and coconut oil (rather then the butter or ghee) this would become a vegan dish.
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