Butter Chicken Casserole from The Global Pantry Cookbook. A free sample recipe

2. The Pleasures
of Chicken and Rice
A Big-Comfort Buttery Curried
Weeknight Casserole, Part 2
ACTIVE TIME: 37 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 7 minutes
SERVES 6
This recipe's origins lie with Ann's
favorite way to eat leftover takeout
Indian food-everything mixed with
rice and tossed in the oven to make an
old-timey "curry casserole." It has all the
warming goodness of classic American
comfort food but also the amped-up
flavors we need today (we use a good
dose of a good masala; no more quarter
teaspoons of curry powder!). Broiling
the chicken first gives it a hint of off-the-
grill char. Baking the rice lets it soak up
the sauce flavors while attaining those
heavenly crispy edges. The fried onions
on top are in no way "authentic" to a
curry-but they're absolutely authentic
to a great American casserole.
1/3cup plain full-fat Greek yogurt
1½ tablespoons grated peeled fresh or
frozen ginger
5 teaspoons butter chicken masala blend
(or garam masala)
1¾ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large clove garlic, grated on a Microplane
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs,
cut into bite-size pieces
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup heavy cream
1 can (14.5 ounces) fire-roasted crushed
tomatoes (such as Muir Glen)
2 pouches (8.5 ounces each) cooked
basmati rice (about 3 cups)
Chicken stock, as needed
1 cup crispy French fried onions
Global Pantry
Ingredient
Masala Spice Blend, p. 1s
Flavor Booster
A Proper Masala. There are all
kinds of dish-specific masalas
(spice blends) at Indian markets
or on line (see page 15). The
butter chicken masala blend
makes capturing the flavor of
its namesake dish effortless and
easy. While this blend delivers
the best flavor, in a pinch use
any good, fairly mild garam
masala.
Poultry, Mostly Chicken, Entirely EleYated I 143

3. 144 I The Global Pantry Cookbook
1 Preheat the broiler Lohigh with the oven
rack about 4 inches below the clement.
Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.
2 Stir together the yogun, I½ teaspoons
of ginger, 2 teaspoons of masala blend,
%teaspoon of salt, the cayenne pepper,
and grated garlic in a large bowl. Acidthe
chicken; stir well LO
coat. 1arinate at room
temperature for 15minutes.
3 Spread the chicken pieces out over the
prepared sheet pan (the marinade will
cling). Broil until the chicken starts to char
in spots, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken
pieces over and broil until lightly charred,
5 to 6 minutes. Remove the pan from the
oven, lower the oven rack to the center of the
oven, and adjust the temperature LO
400°F.
4 Meanwhile, melt 3 tablespoons of butter
in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Acid
the chopped onion and ¼teaspoon of salt;
cook until tender, about 10 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Stir in the cumin, minced
garlic, and remaining I tablespoon ginger;
If the masala blend contains whole spices, you may
want to grind it with a mortar and pestle.
cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the
remaining I tablespoon masala blend and
¾ teaspoon salt; cook until toasted and very
fragrant, 1minute, stirring constantly. Stir
in the cream and LOmatoes;cook 3 minutes,
stirring frequently. Knead the rice pouches
ro separate the grains. Stir the rice and the
chicken into the sauce mixture. ff the mixture
seems like it needs more sauce (you want
it to make that ASMR-type smacking noise
when you stir it), stir in a little stock.
5 Place the remaining 3 tablespoons butter
in an II x ?-inch or 2-quart baking dish.
Place the dish in the oven until the butter
melts, about 5 minutes. orthe large skillet
used in Step 4 is ovenproof, you can use it
and stir the aclclitional butter into the rice
mixture.) Acidthe rice mixture LOthe baking
dish. Bake until bubbly around the edges,
20 minutes. Sprinkle the casserole with
the crispy onions; bake until the onions are
browned, 10 minutes. Serve hot, straight
from the baking dish.