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Healthy Butter Chicken by 28bySamWood

Warm-up with my famous, healthy version of butter chicken. It's a healthy take on the traditional Indian takeaway everyone loves, proving great tasting food can be good for you.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 2
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Author: Sam Wood

Ingredients

For the butter chicken

  • 4 tablespoons basmati rice
  • 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 250 g chicken thigh fillets cubed
  • 1/2 onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 red chilli small, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ginger minced
  • 1 teaspoon coriander ground
  • 1 1/3 teaspoon cumin ground
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon ground
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 cup passata
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 cups kale finely chopped
  • salt
  • pepper

For the garnish

  • 2 tablespoons fresh coriander roughly chopped
  • 1/2 lemon quartered

Instructions

Prepare the rice

  • Bring saucepan of water to boil and prepare according to packet instructions.
  • Once rice is cooked to your liking, drain and serve alongside the butter chicken.

Prepare the chicken

  • Heat oil in fry pan over moderate heat.
  • Add chopped onion, garlic, chilli and ginger.
  • Stir until starting to soften.
  • Add spices, cloves and bay leaf to the frypan and stir for a minute.
  • Add chicken and stir until starting to brown.
  • Pour in tomato passata, coconut cream and tomato paste.
  • Stir and allow to simmer with lid on for 10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, remove lid from the chicken, add kale, stir and continue to simmer uncovered for a further 15 minutes.
  • Season the sauce to taste at this point.
  • Simmer until rice is ready.

Garnish & serve

  • Serve the rice and butter chicken in a bowl
  • Top with fresh coriander and drizzle with fresh lemon juice if desired.

Notes

Serve with some rice or quinoa, and if you can’t eat a curry without naan bread, why not try this healthy alternative to naan bread.

NB: All main course recipes use quantities from the ‘Female Healthy Weight Maintenance’ Stream of the 28 By Sam Wood program. So if you’re a male, feel free to bulk it up.

If you’re looking for sustainable weight loss, why not check out our 28 By Sam Wood Weight Loss Program?


My program has helped over 500,000 people lose 6 million kilos. It really is the easiest way to get fit & healthy at home!

Posted by Sam Wood

Father and husband, on a mission to help people move more, eat better and make a positive change to their lives. Sam Wood has over 20 years experience as a personal trainer and is recognised as one of Australia’s leading experts and media commentators in the health & fitness industry. Sam is the founder and personal trainer of 28, Australia’s #1 home fitness and nutrition program, and he's also the proud owner of Australia’s largest personal training studio, The Woodshed, based in Brighton, Melbourne.