Weekend Cooking: Butter Chicken Soup

Chicken marinading in an assortment of spices

In my last foodie post, I told you about a canned soup I tried in New Zealand.  It was a soup version of butter chicken. Since that brand is not available in Canada, I determined to find a recipe.  It was far easier than I thought, the first recipe I found, was then quoted in the next four sites I checked.  Since it was being recommended again and again,  I knew that was the one to try.

The recipe was developed by Sophie Gray of  destitute gourment and was published in Healthy Food Guide, a magazine from New Zealand that is dedicated to presenting information and recipes to help it's readers prepare and eat food that is healthy for them.

Browning Chicken

While this recipe does have a long list of ingredients, it is very easy to make, just remember that you need to let the meat marinade in the spices for at least one hour before you continue with the soup making.

Butter Chicken Soup
Marinade:
1 large boneless chicken breast
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed

Soup:
1 tbsp butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/4 tsp chili powder
400 gram can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste  (I used tomato ketchup)
2 tbsp all purpose white flour
2 tsp brown sugar
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup basmati rice, uncooked
1/4 cup light cream (I used 5% cream)

Cut the meat into small pieces.  Combine with the other marinade ingredients in a glass bowl, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Add marinated chicken and chopped onion.  Stir constantly until the chicken is sealed (white looking) and the onion is soft.  Add the dried spices and ginger, then stir in the tomatoes and chicken stock.  When simmering, pour in the basmati rice, stir and simmer for 10 minutes.
Mix together the tomato paste and flour and whisk, a little at a time, into the soup.  (I added broth from the soup into the mixture as it was very thick, to thin it before adding it to the pot)  Add the brown sugar and cream and season to taste.

Serve in soup bowls with a dollop of natural yoghurt, chopped fresh coriander and torn up naan bread for dunking.

printable recipe for Butter Chicken Soup.

This soup was wonderful.  It's a good thing I made a double batch as we wanted to eat it again as soon as we finished dinner.  We'll be repeating this one many times.

If you enjoy eating Butter Chicken, you might also enjoy visitiing Always Cooking up Something, and reading her review of The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall.

I missed a few pictures from vacation and wanted to share them with you.  We are big fans of sushi and when I saw this version of 'sushi sandwiches' I had to take a photo even though my family are embarrassed when I pull out my camera.  It was  in a food court not a gourmet restaurant.  I could eat these every day.  You can barely tell, but there is a layer of salmon in the middle.



i had also told you that we ate at a wonderful cafe called Little and Friday.  Finally found where daughter had put those photos.  First photo below is of the most amazing donut I have ever eaten.

I don't know what these are called, but they are like a rolled bread muffin with a bit of sauce, cheese and veggies. Again, these are something that I could eat repeatedly.

For more foodie fun, be sure to visit Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking post.