After all that traditional Americana food, I’m in the mood for something ethnic, aren’t you? Even if the answer is no, that may change after you get a load of this decadent Indian recipe: a GFCF version of Buttered Chicken!
Of course ours isn’t truly Buttered Chicken, but Margarined Chicken just doesn’t have the same ring to it. I hope you can understand why I called this recipe decadent a second ago: the first step is to melt an entire stick of Fleischmann’s Unsalted (not Original) Margarine in a very large pan. Yes, an entire stick. Just remind yourself how glad you are that it’s not an entire stick of real butter going straight to your hips. [As always, the brands I use were GFCF at the time of posting, but manufacturers can change formulas without warning. Always check your labels!]
As a side note, you could also use the traditional Indian butter known as ghee, which is what truly authentic Buttered Chicken recipes call for. While ghee is made with real dairy butter, the cooking process that makes it into ghee removes the casein. You have to balance how sensitive your kids are to dairy, and how much you trust the manufacturer to really process out every last molecule of casein. I have known families that use it with absolutely no ill effects, but we don’t bother with it.
Meanwhile, dice up two onions, and toss them in with the margarine over low heat so they can start getting nice and golden.
One of the defining features of Indian cuisine is the ridiculous number of spices (especially when you consider the fact that garam masala is a blend of spices in and of itself!) But if your family ends up loving this recipe as much as mine does, you can measure out a second little container of all these spices as you’re going along so you’ll already have one pre-made for the next time. We’re going to use 2 tsp garam masala, 2 tsp cilantro (also known as coriander,) 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp salt. Whew!
You’re also going to add in 1 teaspoon each of minced garlic and ginger. If you want to do the extra work and mince it fresh yourself, be my guest. Me, I’ve got laundry to do. Among other things.
Just in the last year, the GFCF community has been granted a huge gift in the form of this new coconut milk yogurt by So Delicious. Of course, various soy yogurts have been around forever, and you could still use one of those in this recipe if you prefer. But can I tell you? I do not prefer. I really, really hate the taste of soy-based anything. I can smell that stuff across the room, and it is not my cup of tea. Plus, soy is one of the top 8 major allergens, so it’s really nice to have an alternative, or at least one that you don’t have to ferment yourself in your own yogurt machine. Conveniently, we need exactly one container, but if you happen to be working with a larger tub of yogurt, it’s going to be roughly 2/3 cup.
Then add 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste, stir vigorously, and your sauce is ready. See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Do double-check that your tomato paste brand is gluten-free. There should be nothing in that can but tomatoes.
Cut up 4 chicken breasts, and combine with the sauce so everything’s nice and coated. Yes, this is kind of a large recipe. On the one hand, you could easily cut it in half. But on the other hand, it reheats extremely well, so leftovers are a great choice too.
By now your onions should be looking good, so you can go ahead and turn up the heat a bit and stir the chicken mixture into the pan rapidly. You don’t want to cook the little pieces all the way through yet, just get the outsides seared — maybe 5-8 minutes, max.
Then pour in 1/2 cup of water…
And snuggle two bay leaves under the surface. Let them simmer in their fragrant little hot tub for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After your dish has been simmering for 30 minutes, it’s time to start your rice. (Do yourself a favor and buy a rice cooker, if you haven’t already. You can’t put a price on perfectly-cooked rice.) I usually prepare about 1 1/2 cups, but my plan is never to have leftover rice, just leftover buttered chicken. So if you’ve made peace with the texture of reheated rice — obviously I haven’t — you may want to make more so your leftovers are in equal amounts.
Stir in 1/3 cup of almond milk, and allow it to simmer for another 15-20 minutes, until the rice is done.
Don’t forget to fish those bay leaves out of the pot before you serve it though. The kids might think you’re trying to poison them if they find plants hidden in their meal.
Happy Eating!
The GFCF Lady’s Buttered Chicken
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp cilantro (coriander)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2/3 cup coconut milk yogurt
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 stick (8 TBS) Fleischmann’s Unsalted margarine
2 onions
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup water
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup almond milk
Sounds delicious but I have so much trouble getting my SPD son to eat anything that has a sauce . . . what’s your trick? The younger one will gobble it.
Well, overall, my trick is not to worry about it. The rule in our house is, “You are in charge of what goes in your mouth; I am in charge of what goes on your plate.” If they don’t want to eat something, they don’t have to eat it. But it’s quite possible I’ll just serve it again for breakfast, and what I serve is what they get. Any pediatrician will tell you, as long as they keep up a good intake of water, skipping a few meals won’t hurt them. They absolutely will eat when they get hungry enough. We only had to go hardcore once for each child before they realized we meant business, and now they’re always reasonable about at least taking a few bites.
That said, if you can’t bring yourself to allow your child to starve himself, the usual advice for spectrum kids is to start ridiculously small and steadily but firmly build from there. The first night, they just have to tolerate it being on their plate. Step two, they have to touch the food with their finger ten times during the meal. Then the next time they have to touch the food to their lips ten times (but not actually put it in their mouth.) Then next time they may have to lick the fork ten times, but not actually get anything that requires chewing. The “ten times” thing is important because it lets them learn within a single time period that it’s not as bad as they thought it would be–the tenth lick will not get as much fighting as the first lick did, and that last one will be the one they remember most.
The best way is to serve the same food again and again at each meal along with whatever they’re actually eating, but if you have to space it out, it will still eventually work, you’ll just have to keep track of what foods they’ve gotten to the point of touching, licking, etc. Good luck!
I used to have that rule too LOL. I think I got so wigged out over going GFCF that I adopted a “oh poor thing, you can have whatever you want” which now that I type this kind of makes me cringe. His sensory issues are not taste or tactile related, it’s the emotional reactivity that leads to the sensory deregulation. But I’m not doing anyone any favors now am I. Thanks for the KIA (though I don’t know you knew you were doing that) to become in charge of meal times again.
If I made extra rice I’d dump the leftover rice into the leftover yummy chicken and store them as an integral unit. I don’t think then you’d notice the rice texture when reheated — but I’m capable of eating (micro-waved) Indian food from prepared frozen cartons so I probably have no standards.
Oh don’t feel bad, mrschaits, I did the same thing. I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the site that when we went GFCF my kid ate the same thing twice a day, everyday, until we got the hang of it. Sometimes things have to take a backseat for awhile so you can focus on what’s more important right now. You’ll be ruling with an iron fist again in no time. 🙂