How To Make Toddler Butter Chicken
If it should strike you as surprising and/or slightly insane to serve a small child the foods of cuisines you might associate with spiciness–say, Thai, Sichuan, and especially Indian–remember this: the people of those regions have to feed their children, too. In saying that, we don’t just mean modifying dishes as you see fit to accommodate baby mouths–i.e., removing spices or spicy peppers–but that every cuisine has its share of mild/not-spicy and comforting dishes, most especially the ones with lots of spice–they need them to balance and enhance the fiery stuff. Find those, find your next dinner option for your child.
Butter chicken, the rich and creamy Indian curry that has become popular in Britain and America, is just such an example. Tomatoes, cashews, cream, and (yes) butter–the foundations of the dish just screams “my child is going to eat this.” And while we’ve ditched the chili pepper in our version for obvious reasons, we’ve actually kept most of the typical cooking process and quite a bit of the floral and warming spices you’d expect to find in a South Asian stew–think of it as age-appropriate authentic. And you’ll eat it, too.
- 2 Chicken Breasts (can sub in tenderloins, thighs, or other tender/easily cut up part of chicken)
- ⅔ cup Cashews
- 1 small Onion
- 1 cup Tomato Sauce (can sub with ⅓ cup of tomato paste)
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 tsp Garam Masala seasoning (see Note if you don’t have an Indian Seasoning blend)
- 1 tsp Ginger Powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Cardamom
- Minced Garlic
- 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
- Soak the cashews in hot water for thirty minutes.
- Slice the onions. Heat oil in a pan to Medium; cook onions until golden, roughly 5-7 minutes. Allow to cool.
Fill a large pot about halfway up with water (~6 cups) and heat until boiling; place chicken breasts in pot, turn stove off, and cover the pot. Leave in the pot for fifteen minutes, then remove from the water and allow to cool and dry. Cut into bite-sized pieces. (If using other cuts of chicken, click here for cook times.)
- Add the tomato sauce, onion, and cashews to a blender; mix until blended.
- Heat a pot–and feel free to use the same one you cooked the chicken in–to Medium and melt one tablespoon of the butter; add in garam masala (or equivalent), ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and a heaping spoonful of minced garlic; cook for one minute.
- Pour in tomato-cashew-onion mixture into the pot; add one cup of hot water to the blender jar and shake to loosen remaining sauce, then pour into the pot. Stir pot to combine.
- Bring sauce to a boil, then lower heat until a gentle simmer is maintained Medium Low or Low. Cover and cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Check the sauce’s consistency, adding an additional ½ cup of hot water if you find the sauce too thick. Add two pinches of salt, one of black pepper, and one of sugar if you are looking to make a sweeter taste; taste sauce to assess flavor, adding more salt or seasoning as needed.
- Once sauce has the right taste and texture for you and/or your family, turn off heat. Add in chicken and heavy cream; stir to blend all ingredients.
The first time you serve this dish, and/or if your child is still reticent about stew dishes, leave a few pieces of cooked chicken out of the sauce; serve these to your child with the sauce on the side–if your child approves, you can then served the sauced chicken portion. Serving with rice is the default move, but we also like to serve with our lentils and/or by adding peas or chickpeas to the sauce, which you can do in step 3 of the cooking process if using uncooked and/or frozen legumes.
We opted for speed and simplicity in preparing the chicken; for a more authentic version, cut the chicken into pieces, coat the pieces in yogurt and lemon juice, and marinate for at least three hours. When ready, cook the chicken pieces in butter for two minutes a side; add to the pot in the last 2-3 minutes of simmering the sauce to finish cooking.
Most large grocery stores will carry an Indian spice blend in their spices aisle and/or the section where "international" foods are shelved. If you need to make your own, you can get by just fine with two parts cumin x one parts coriander, black pepper, cardamom, and cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
