Chicken and Shrimp Butter Masala

smokingal

The first time I feasted at an Indian restaurant, I ordered chicken butter masala.  I can remember how delicious I found it to be and was very happy there was plenty of naan available to mop up the sauce that remained on my plate, rather than lick it clean.  It’s been at least 3 years since I’ve had the dish and so I decided to remedy that with this cook.

I started with a whole chicken which, besides the popularity of spatchcocked chicken, I opted to cook beer can chicken style.  Not to worry, as I won’t be wasting any beer for this effort.  The chicken was marinated for two days, making sure that the sauce was thoroughly applied under the skin as well.  The chicken was coated with duck fat and Dizzy Pig Tsunami Spin.  The canned liquid consisted of granulated chicken broth reconstituted with apple juice.

 

 

The chicken went on the Egg at 350F with some oak chunks along with brussels sprouts and
roma tomatoes that were halved and coated with duck fat and garlic.

 

 

About an hour and ten minutes later it was done.

 

 

I didn’t expect so much chicken and duck fat to render.  The vegetables didn’t roast so much as being cooked confit style.  The chicken skin was crispy fresh off the Egg but the skin softened a bit during the rest.  Plain white rice was cooked in coconut water and dinner was served.

 

 

The long marinade had infused the butter masala flavor through the full thickness of the chicken. It was just as delicious as I remembered and super juicy.  The flavors coaxed from the vegetables from being cooked in duck and chicken fat were amplified, with a fatty richness being added to the natural caramelized earthiness of the sprouts and savory sweetness of the tomatoes.  The butter masala flavor was also absorbed by the vegetables.

 

The leftover roasted onions, schmaltz-duck fat in which the vegetables were cooked and remaining butter masala that was smoked along with the chicken needed to be put to good use.  Apparently the sauce also goes well with seafood, so I gave it a shot using it as a marinade for smoked shrimp.

 

 

I had researched various Indian flatbreads and lachcha (layered) paratha struck a chord.
A tortilla recipe was used in lieu of one for traditional paratha and the leftover vegetable infused schmaltz-duck fat replaced the oil in the dough and for cooking.  One of the resources I found for making the dough provided a video showing 5 different ways for creating the layers.

 

 

Some of the butter masala sauce was mixed with a bit of mayo and sour cream to make an
aioli.  Roma tomatoes and brussel sprouts were sliced and shredded.  Another dinner was
served.

 

 

Those shrimp were on point.  Their natural sweetness melded very well with the butter masala
seasoning and aioli with a kiss of oak smoke.  They were juicy and tender.  The parathas were
like a tortilla had a love child with poultry fat enriched puff pastry.  I need to try making some
quesadillas with this stuff.  Good eats.

bucky925

Once again OVER THE TOP.  I read and try to learn. 

bgebrent

Beautiful 

lousubcap

Wow, just wow.  Mad skills across the spectrum.  And magazine quality photos to document it all.  Don't know when you find time to work given all the effort and energy you put into your creations.  Every one elevates this place. 

nolaegghead

fabuloso!

Theophan

Amazing!  The chicken looked JUICY, and everything was just gorgeous!

StillH2OEgger

My goodness. Great work!

JRWhitee

Excellent!

mahenryak

Ho hum, just another spectacular meal from Smokin Gal.  Good  grief, your family is so lucky!

bgebrent

mahenryak said:

Ho hum, just another spectacular meal from Smokin Gal.  Good  grief, your family is so lucky!

Except that they may not eat at home every night. 

johnmitchell

Beautiful.

PoppasGrill

Good use of the leftovers , both cooks look great.

thetrim

Awesome job.  I think we found @caliking long lost sister

johnnyp

Very nice! 

Foghorn

I try not to be crass on here, but as I read through the post all I could think was "F... me that looks good"

caliking

I really like what you did with the shrimp, but I'm ecstatic that you found lachha parantha, because you  executed it PERFECTLY!!!

you must be tired of all of the standing ovations by now

Color_My_World_Green

Girl Power at its very best. Love the detail and thank you for posting this. 

bluebird66

Wow, awesome cook!

smokingal

Thank you all for checking out my post and for all your comments and compliments.

@lousubcap When I'm able to work from home, it allows for extra time to prep or cook food.

@bgebrent Don't eat out very often.  Maybe every 2-3 months.  Almost always impressed only by the price of the meal.

@caliking Thank you for the compliment.  I watched a number of videos of people making it and it looked like they were practicing magic.  Think I'll leave it to the professionals, lol.

@Color_My_World_Green Girl Power! 💪

leemschu

One word for this....wow 😮 

Botch

Damn that all looks good!  

JohnnyTarheel

Fantastic my friend!!!

GrateEggspectations

You had me at “duck fat.”

If you make it again, be sure to check out Urvashi Pitre’s butter chicken (murgh makhani) recipe. Simple and unbelievably delicious. Her Instant Pot Indian cookbook has been on point on all fronts.