Currabinny Cooks: This recipe for authentic Butter Chicken is the best we've ever tasted
Once you've tried this butter chicken you'll make it again and again.
We all know Irish butter is by far the greatest and most flavourful in the whole world. I remember visiting the butter museum in Cork city as a child and learning that at one time the Cork Butter Exchange was the largest butter market in the world.
But after this peak in the early-to-mid 19th century, Irish butter production began to trail off, due to a number of factors.
Colonies had steadily been establishing their own agriculture, rendering Irish exports less important.
The biggest blow came in 1879, with the mechanical separator. Even as farmers mechanized the butter-churning process, they had long been hampered by separating — patiently waiting for the to-be-churned cream to rise to the top (a process that takes 24 to 36 hours, depending upon the temperature).
With the centrifuge-like mechanical separator, that wait time is eliminated.
Unfortunately, Irish farmers were late adopters; by the time they mechanised, the industry was 20 years behind. By the early 20th century, the Cork Butter Market had closed.
In 1961 An Bord Bainne (Irish for The Irish Dairy Board) was established to “promote, facilitate, encourage, assist, co-ordinate and develop the exportation of milk and milk products.”
In 1962, after over sixty suggestions, the name Kerrygold was chosen as the brand name for butter manufactured by An Bord Bainne.
It might surprise you to learn that Kerrygold wasn’t actually sold here in Ireland until 1973, some 11 years after it was launched in the United Kingdom.
Today, Irish butter is sold all over the world, being the clear market leader in Germany, and the 4th most popular butter sold in the United States.
There is even a street called ‘Kerrygoldstrasse’ outside of Duisburg in Western Germany.
Here are some dishes which I think encapsulates the importance of good butter when making food.
Butter chicken
Apart from the name, most people who order this delicious dish at their favourite Indian restaurants won’t realise just how important butter is to this dish. traditionally known as Murgh makhana, the butter makes this tomato and spice curry, velvety and r
Servings
4Preparation Time
10 minsCooking Time
35 minsTotal Time
45 minsCourse
MainCuisine
IndianIngredients
400g leftover roast chicken
2 medium onions, sliced thinly
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp medium chilli powder
1kg of ripe tomatoes
80g flaked almonds
4 curry leaves
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp honey
100g butter
100ml double cream
Sea salt
Vegetable oil
Method
Heat around two tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan. Add the onions, cooking for around 5 minutes until soft and then add the crushed garlic. Add half the butter to the pan, along with all of the spices (including the curry leaves) and a good pinch of salt. Let bubble on the pan for a minute before adding the tomatoes, almonds and around 250ml of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover the pan and let simmer for around 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, check that the tomatoes are completely mushy and then blend everything together with a stick blender until very smooth. Add the honey and the rest of the butter along with the chicken. Stir everything together and then check the seasoning.
Serve with naan bread or rice.
Easy bread
This bread is a flaky, dense and rich loaf full of flavour. If you are looking for an elegant, refined loaf than this isn’t the one for you
Servings
4Preparation Time
10 minsCooking Time
45 minsTotal Time
55 minsCourse
BakingCuisine
IrishIngredients
450g self-raising flour
2 tsp salt
40g butter
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
350ml water
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Butter a circular baking tin and line the bottom with parchment. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour and salt along with the butter which should be rubbed into the flour to create rough breadcrumbs.
Mix the sugar in and then slowly pour in the water, mixing with your hands until you get a fairly wet dough. Knead with your hands in the bowl for a couple of minutes until the dough starts to become soft and smooth, add a little bit more flour if it is too hopelessly wet to handle.
Lay it in a ball shape in your baking tin and cut a cross into the top with a sharp knife. Brush the top with egg yolk and sprinkle a little salt over and place in the oven for around 45 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before cutting it and eating it with lashings of butter or maybe some soup.
