Vegan Butter Chicken (Butterless and Chickenless)

Before I became vegetarian I was (and still am) an avid curry lover:). My favourite was 'butter chicken'. Once I became vegetarian, my friend suggested using tofu instead of chicken and just do the rest the same. This was quite yummy (though my partner didn't care much for the tofu).



Now that I am phasing out dairy this meant that I wouldn't be using the butter, cream or yogurt that the standard recipe called for.



This recipe I adjusted from a recipe I found on a random google search: http://indianfood.about.com/od/chickendishes/r/butterchicken.htm, I replaced the yogurt for coconut cream and was going to use nuttelex for the butter, but found I didn't need it.

Butterless and Chickenless Butter Chicken:

Ingredients:

 

•250gm packet of mock chicken strips (I got mine from a vegan restaurant, it was all written in Asian so I'm not sure of the specific brand)

•750gm firm tofu-cubed into approx 3x3 cm cubes

•Juice of 1 lime

•Salt to taste

•1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to suit your taste)

•6 cloves

•8-10 peppercorns

•1" stick of cinnamon

•2 bay leaves

•8-10 almonds

•Seeds from 3-4 pods of cardamom

•1 can of coconut cream

•3 tbsps vegetable/canola/sunflower cooking oil

•2 onions chopped

•2 tsps garlic paste

•1 tsp ginger paste

•2 tsps coriander powder

•1 tsp cumin powder

•1/4 tsp turmeric powder

•1 can 400gm of diced tomatos

•2 tbsps tomato past

•1/2 litre chicken stock (Massels brand-NO ANIMAL PRODUCTS)

•2 tbsps kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)-I used Keens curry powder

•3 tbsps unmelted nuttelex**

•Salt to taste

•Coriander leaves and roasted cashews to garnish

 

NB. This is the basic Butter Chicken recipe, however, I love vegies and added the following:

•5-6 mushrooms, sliced thickly

•1/2 eggplant, sliced into 1 cm strips

•1 red capsicum, sliced into strips

•1 cup frozen peas

(I also just used what was available in the fridge, you can use more or less of the vegies, or even add cooked carrot, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato, zuchinni etc.)

Method:

 

1.Mix the mock chicken, tofu, lime juice, salt and red chilli powder in a large, non-metallic bowl. Cover and allow to marinate for 1 hour.

 

2.Heat a flat pan or griddle on medium heat and gently roast (stirring frequently) the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaves and almonds till they darken slightly. Cool and add the cardamom seeds. Now grind into a coarse powder in a food processor.

Yummy spices being toasted

 

3.Mix the coconut cream, above whole spice powder (from previous step), coriander, cumin and turmeric powders together and add them to the mock chicken and tofu. Allow to marinate for another hour.

4.Heat the oil in a deep pan on medium heat. When hot, add the onions. Fry till a pale golden brown in color and then add the ginger and garlic pastes. Add all other vegies and fry for a minute. Remove vegies from pan.

Separating the vegies stops them from over cooking and gives more room for the mock chicken and tofu to cook.

 

5.Add only the mock chicken and tofu from the chicken-spice mix and (leaving the marinade) fry until tofu is browned and a little crispy. You may need to add some more vegetable oil here. Also be careful of turning the tofu, as it tends to crumble. Let it cook for a little while on one side before carefully flipping it over.

Cook mock chicken and tofu until crispy and browned

 

6.Now add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, curry powder and remaining part of the coconut milk-spice mix to the mock chicken and tofu.

 

7.Add the vegies and gently stir through.

8.At this point my sauce was quite watery, so I mixed about 4 tablespoons of corn flour with enough warm water until it created a smooth gooey consistency. I then poured this through the butter chicken and stirred through. Leave it uncovered to simmer until it is thick enough for you.

9.Melt the butter in another small pan and then pour it over the chicken. ***I omitted this step***It's up to you, I figured my dish was already oily enough from the vegetable oil.

10.Serve over brown organic rice and garnish with coriander leaves and cashews and serve with microwaved papadums.

Bon appetite

 

This recipe was actually quite easy to make. It makes a lot. Maybe enough for about 6-8 people. I had leftovers today and it tasted even better. Please note that you can vary indregients and quantities to your liking. I added another can of coconut cream towards the end to give it more of a creamy consistency.

My carnivorous father downed this meal in about 3 minutes and enjoyed it. Mum and my partner liked it too:) This would be a good 'vegan' meal for skeptical omnivores.