Crock-pot Butter Chicken

It's autumn! Which means it's time for slow cooker meals. Without further ado, here's one of my favourites. It was originally found somewhere on the internet via a link I've long since lost, and is one of those rare dishes that didn't need much tweaking to make it perfect for my tastes.

If anyone was curious, I've also tried this using stewing beef instead of chicken (because I discovered that I had stewing beef in the freezer and not chicken when the time came to cook), and it turned out tasty as well.


INGREDIENTS

- 8-12 chicken thighs, chopped

- 1 onion, finely chopped (as always, the food processor is your friend)

- 2 tbsp minced garlic (see above comment)

- 4 tbsp butter

- 4 tbsp olive oil

- 30 green cardamom pods, strung on thread or tied into cheesecloth

- 4 tsp curry powder

- 2 tbsp mild curry paste

- 2 tsp cayenne pepper

- 4 tsp tandoori masala

- 2 tsp garam masala

- 2 cans of coconut milk (as I said on a previous recipe, I always try to look for cans that list only coconut and water as ingredients, such as Aroy-D brand. But I know those can be hard to find so feel free to use whatever you've got.)

- 2 cups plain yogurt

- 2 x 5.5oz cans tomato paste

- vegetables (I prefer green beans (two good large handfuls) and cauliflower (one whole head), but you can use whatever appeals to you. You can also make this completely without veggies, if you prefer, as is more traditional with butter chicken, but I'm of the opinion that vegetables are good for me and all of that sauce might as well get slathered over something.)

- rice


INSTRUCTIONS

1) In a large slow cooker, combine all of the spices, coconut milk, yogurt, and tomato paste. I usually whisk those together first to make sure the sauce is uniformly mixed.

2) In a large fry pan, cook the chicken, garlic, and onion in the oils until the chicken is browned and the onion is tender.

3) Move chicken to the slow cooker full of sauce. Don't bother draining off the oil/butter, that's where all of the deliciousness is.

4) Cook on high heat for 4-6 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. If you're short on time and need to just set the pot and go, add in the veggies right at the beginning and forget about them. If you've got the time, though, I usually add mine in when there's only an hour or two left to cook, so they don't get too mushy.

5) Remove the cardamom pods, if you can find them.

6) Serve over rice.