Butter Chicken for Vegetarians

It was the end of April and the chilly, wet weather had returned. I made the most of the situation by having a wander down to my old snooker club, rejoining it and having a few frames. Later on, myself, a very good friend of mine and his very pleasant tag time partner hit town and dined out at a Greek Restaurant.

The next morning the Dogg and I headed out to one of the highest places in the county for a walk that took in heath lands, the remains of an ancient chapel, farms, a reservoir and dark, damp woodland.

On player when we got home was some typically mellow Sunday music in the form of Richard Hawley's sophomore effort from 2003 "Lowedges". I only started listening to Hawley seriously at the end of 2016 but he has quickly blossomed into one of my favourite artists. I think part of the reason is that he is from and his albums are largely about his home city of Sheffield. It's a place that's close to my own heart because of many personal and professional connections with the city. In fact the album takes its name from a part of Sheffield where a relative of mine used to live.

The album contains lots of fully formed songs with brooding lyrics and restrained performances that blend electric and acoustic guitars in a very measured way.

The recipe I made for tea was inspired by the popular Butter Chicken recipes I have consumed at numerous curry houses over the years. It's a dish that's hard to do well as often it can be too rich. The only place I have been that gets the right balance of richness and flavour is a local Gurkha Restaurant.

I decided to put my own slant on the dish by substituting chicken for Quorn style chicken fillets and pieces.

The ingredients were as follows:

The Butter Chicken itself:

• One Quorn Chicken Fillet.
• Eight Ounces of Quorn Chicken Pieces.
• Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
• Four square centimetres of root Ginger, peeled and cut into small cubes
• A teaspoon of  Hot Chili powder.
• The juice of half a Lemon.
• A quarter of a pint of zero fat Greek Yoghurt. 
• A teaspoon of Garam Masala.
• A teaspoon of Ground Turmeric
• A teaspoon of Ground Cumin. 
• Four tablespoons of Olive Oil. 

The Sauce

Four Ounces of Unsalted Butter. 

Two Garlic Cloves, peeled and finely sliced.

Four Centimetres squared of Root Ginger, peeled and finely chopped into small cubes.

Two Cardamon Seeds.

One teaspoon of Ground Coriander

One teaspoon of Garam Masala.

One teaspoon of Ground Turmeric.

One teaspoon of Hot Chili Powder.

A tablespoon of Tomato Puree with Chili.

The juice of Half a Lemon. 

A quarter of a pint of zero fat Greek Yoghurt. 

A chopped Lettuce Leaf to Garnish. 

The way I prepared it was as follows:

1. I fried the "Butter Chicken" ingredients in my Le Cresceut with the lid on the Le Cresceut on a medium heat for thirty-five minutes. I stirred them regularly to ensure they didn't stick and to make sure the flavours blended properly.

2. After the above ingredients had been frying for about ten minutes I prepared the ingredients for the sauce. I then melted the Butter in a frying pan on the hob before adding all the other ingredients but the Greek Yoghurt and fried them for ten minutes. Then I added the Greek Yogurt and stirred it in thoroughly. I then left the sauce to warm through on the hob for a further ten minutes.

3. After "Butter Chicken" and the Sauce had cooked through for the correct length of time I served them with some boiled White Rice.

4. I put the "Butter Chicken" on top of the Rice on a plate, then added the Sauce and Lettuce Leaves to Garnish.

The dish was flavoursome rather than rich as the Yoghurt was zero fat and the Lemon, Fresh Ginger and wide variety of spices gave it a spicy taste that wasn't overpowering.

Going for Gold: somewhere under that low fat sauce are the Quorn Pieces