one thing I always look for it is the
perfect dollar I can't say my dolloping
skills are the best but some of the best
food stars in the world
pride themselves on the perfect dollop
hi I'm Donnell and welcome to the
channel I've been creating easy meals
that make your life a little bit easier
in the kitchen for over ten years now
but this channel is all about a little
slice of our family life and home
cooking I'll be showing you how to get
the most out of your kitchen to next
level your dishes for maximum flavor so
stick around hit that subscribe button
and let's get cooking in my kitchen I
tend to keep things quite simple
chopping board knife and maybe a frying
pan but sometimes I do bring a kitchen
gadget into my world and lately I've
been doing a lot of slow cooking so I
have a slow cooker and I want to show
you one of my favorite recipes which
we've adapted for the slow cooker to
make your life a little bit easier this
is my slow cooker butter chicken that is
incredibly easy to do with a lot of
these slow cookers they do have a
browning function but I still kind of
rely on a frying pan to get the best
browning that will really introduce a
lot of flavor to these slow cooked
dishes so we're gonna use it but I want
to hack our slow cooker a little bit by
browning off our onions and getting our
spices full of flavor with a lot of heat
on the frying pan before we get into the
slow cooker so we have a little chopping
to do I have some garlic I have some
ginger and I have some onion and in
terms of spices we're keeping it quite
simple here I've got a combination of
garam masala some cumin a little bit of
cardamom and some coriander the great
thing about this sort of recipe is that
you can do a lot of adapting if you
don't have these exact ingredients
really I encourage you to use what you
have and just kind of get a sense of
what flavors you're using you probably
won't go too far wrong if you don't
follow it to the tea right we've got
some shopping to do onion garlic and
ginger
[Music]
so I got the garlic going in with your
knees girl so I want to add in some
ginger and the ginger here is gonna go a
long way to making the flavor of this
beautiful butter chicken really come
alive so I want to grate this off really
nice and finally with a microplane now a
little tip that I've picked up in recent
years with ginger is that everyone talks
about peanut with a teaspoon and peeling
it really nice and funny if this is a
nice clean piece of ginger and you've
given it a wash you can grate the skin
in with the pulp and it'll still taste
wonderful so don't bother peeling just
get gravy and I would say it is worth
using with these graders because rather
than chopping it up when garlic and
ginger is quite fibrous you're gonna get
that stringiness in your dish by grating
it off nice and finely like this you're
getting the pulp of it and you're
getting all that aromatic all in one
bite which is exactly what we're after
so ginger goes in and now we're gonna
fry this off over at the pan so this is
butter chicken so I think it is
essential that we we add a little bit of
butter I'm gonna add more to the pan but
I'm just gonna take off a knob of butter
okay a little bit of water straight in
the pan and we're gonna let that fry off
I always tend to add just a touch of oil
and the reason being just because butter
has a tendency to kind of burn it has a
lower smoke point than oil so straight
in with a little splash of oil all that
butter goes in and we're gonna get our
onions and our ginger and our garlic in
there too
and always at this early point in the
cooking time especially with onions a
good seasoning of sea salt and black
pepper now I'm gonna leave these onions
just to soften down and as they soften
then we need to talk about spices
because we have a little bit of a
combination here and the idea alongside
like the hacking moment of frying our
onions first in a frying pan we're also
gonna fry off our spices because a lot
of these spices are they're basically
sitting in your store cupboards and you
want to bring them alive and to do that
they need heat they need heat and a
little bit of fat and the fat we have of
the butter and the onions and all the
good things that are happening in the
pan this is gonna be like the flavor
bomb explosion that brings the rest of
this slow-cooked dish to life so our
onions are now in a good place they
softened down ever so slightly so I'm
gonna grab up our spices I actually have
just the dregs of the coriander going in
here so I'm gonna pop that last bit in
mmm that sort of lemony scented sweet
spice that it gives then we're gonna add
get these jars where I don't the
teaspoon doesn't actually fit in so
we're gonna eyeball it it's about a
teaspoon or so of cardamon going in
cumin is probably one of my favorite
ingredients in here so a good sprinkle
of that goes in and I suppose the one
that you use the most of is the garam
masala now normally when it comes to
slow cooker dishes people just plonk all
the ingredients in the slow cooker doing
this is gonna bring the electricity of
these ingredients alive so adding that
bit of heat is gonna really make the
difference here so pop in have a look
and let's toast off these spices right
the spices literally need only about a
minute or so even less just to bring
them alive and because they're kind of
stuck at the bottom there's a trick to
fix that I'm just gonna grab a little
bit of water and we're kind of gonna
deglaze the pan somewhat I know if it's
up the official term but basically the
water is gonna help us kind of make sure
that we get all the spices into the
onions okay so this is now looking good
we scraped the majority of the spices
off the bottom of that pan we're gonna
turn off the heat we're gonna transfer
this into the slow cooker so literally
take them and just pop them straight
into the slow cooker not the most
pleasant promise you it's full of flavor
right we've got every last little bit of
it and I've told you many times how much
flavor that's gonna give so do do bother
with that little step it'll make a world
of difference right other ingredients we
have some chicken so I've got chicken
thighs here and you can use skinless and
bone in ones but for simplicity and ease
of
I'm just gonna use the bonus skin this
type and it actually works really well
with the bone in if you have bone in
chicken die so feel free to use them
anything that has the bone in slow cooks
beautifully so use them if you have them
and other ingredients coconut milk a
little bit of tomato passata or tomato
puree and in Ireland we do not call it
tomato puree this is tomato passata and
so we're gonna use that now I should
mention I'm using coconut milk here
rather than the traditional ingredient
which is cream I've started enjoying
this a little bit better knowing that
I've kind of got it a sort of a lighter
bolder chicken and also the fact that it
has a sort of exotic flavor as well so
you could use cream if you want but I
feel like the coconut milk works really
well in this recipe so that's it chicken
posada coconut milk all I need is a
tin-opener and then we're going to
assemble this in the slow cooker and get
it cooking oh and we nearly forgot a key
ingredient I mean it is butter chicken
you gotta add the butter so let's take
the lid off this and I would suggest
that if you're making this do it with
the full fat coconut milk the light
coconut milk doesn't give you a sort of
as rich and creamy finish to it so if
you'll notice when you take your lid off
the coconut milk it's quite a solid mix
and that's all the cream on top so we're
gonna loosen that edge with a spoon and
you'll notice that if you just kind of
spoon that off
which is thick and luscious and gorgeous
underneath there is that sort of milk so
we're gonna pour that straight in and
basically the whole lock goes in but I
just wanted to show you what I'm talking
about right coconut milk in a little bit
of the tomato passata and the beauty of
this is that all the work has been done
for you you've got kind of it's gone the
extra mile then a tin of chopped
tomatoes it's strained it's smooth and
it looks really gorgeous so I do like
this is a little cheese ingredient in
the kitchen okay we're gonna give it a
fairly generous knob of butter as well I
like the idea of its melding together
with the coconut milk and the tomato and
all those gorgeous things this I know
you're reaching in here to see something
beautiful but it does not look beautiful
it kinda have to wait until it cooks out
I mean the thing with slow cooker wheels
is that it doesn't exactly look pretty
until the end where you can kind of
garnish it and add it to rice or things
like this so you kind of do have to have
a little bit of faith and knowledge that
essentially this will end up in
something that's flavorful tender and
gorgeous okay there are key ingredients
and the last one of course is the
chicken so it's not any more glamorous
than this you're just going to place
those chicken ties straight into the
slow cook
now before we finish up and before we
put the lid on a last seasoning of some
salt and pepper really important you
season at this point it's your last
moment to get it in there before this
slow cook so a good generous pinch of
black pepper will go a long way and get
in there and give it a good stir off
okay this is where it needs to be so
what I would say is at this point if you
did want to add in something to bulk
they say I actually normally add
potatoes in here so baby potatoes sliced
in half pop them in and they'll cook it
at a similar enough time as the chicken
so that you exact left with chicken and
potatoes all in one go yeah that's if
you're gonna do this as a sort of one
pot version that you can bring straight
to the table I normally serve it with
some quinoa some pearl barley or even
some rice if you have some the beauty of
these slow cookers is that you can cook
them on high for about 4 hours or you
can cook them on low for about 6 hours
but with a lot of them they have a keep
warm function which means that as soon
as they're done cooking they stop with
the heat and they allow them to keep
warm and it's basically ready for as
soon as you are ready to sit down for
dinner so I'm gonna cook this on high
for about 4 hours they have so many
different functions you can steam you
can do yogurt you can rice bread you can
do pasta book to be honest I normally
just make rice and I do dishes like this
so it doesn't get too exciting four
hours on the clock
let's click start
so our butter chicken has had the time
to cook out its cooked low and slow for
about four hours the liquids reduced a
little bit and now we should be in a
very very good place hello come in and
have a look at this is exactly where we
need to be and it's where I want to be
so we're gonna serve this up I need a
slightly smaller ladle the chicken at
this point now I mean look at it it's
beautifully tender it should almost be
falling apart you can see some of that
has actually fallen apart and it's
almost shredding itself so at this point
now we're gonna serve it up and what I
want to prove to you is that this is
your core recipe and then you can build
on it so I have some stuff from the
fridge that I've done a bit of meal prep
on I actually heated up some properly
placed I normally meal prep it's about 2
cups of water 1 cup of pearl barley and
you boil it until the grains are nice
and tender it kind of takes the place of
rice if you don't have rice or you could
use quinoa here we're gonna pop all our
pearl barley straight in there leaving a
little bit of space for the chicken on
the side I have some creme fraiche which
I'm just gonna dollop on top I want that
little bit of richness of some coriander
and I also have some chickpeas which I'm
going to add essentially what you're
getting left with is a meal that has
loads of other components but this is
your core element the butter chicken is
what rings through and brings the
flavour to this entire dish so we'll
serve up that butter chicken you could
do this easily with chicken thighs on
the bone it would work beautifully
there's no faff innovate with a knife
and fork you could almost eat this with
a spoon it's so tender we're gonna pop
on some chickpeas on top and this is
where you know like border chickens
straight out of the party looks lovely
but you know emphasizing the extra
elements that you have just will change
how your dish looks so a little bit of
chickpeas on top nice little bit of
texture and we're gonna add some of
those little coriander leaves just in
over the top and then I want a dollop of
some creme fraiche I just think it kind
of adds a nice coolness and a creaminess
to the top of this border chicken so
grab up a spoon and a dollop of creme
fraiche goes a long way my mum always
added creme fraiche to things and I
always kind of think of her when I do it
because it's that last little hit that
just makes the difference if there is
that little horrible liquid on the top
you can just pour it off or you can do
what I do which is just mix it through
until you have a nice kind of smooth
consistency and one thing like I've done
quite a few cookbooks and TV shows and
stuff like that and
one thing I always look for is the
perfect dollop this is like an acquired
art and some of the best food stylist in
the word I can't say my darling skills
are the best but some of the best food
stars in the world
pride themselves on the perfect dollop
and it does take a little bit of
stirring and then you kind of like tease
the cream and then you kind of do a
little dollop I see if we can I don't
know if that's the perfect dollop but
it's a good try and there you go like a
very simple dish using that beautiful
butter chicken chickpeas pearl barley
good things are happening right now and
all that's left to do is talk in and try
it this is the best moment of making all
the food is getting to eat all the food
so let's dive in and see what we're
dealing with here that chicken should be
yeah that's exactly what we're after
literally just falling falling apart and
I really love the sauce as well I just
wanted to buy to the chicken first mmm I
have to say normally when I cook in the
slow cooker which I didn't do right now
is I check the seasoning before I played
it up but actually the flavor is
fantastic here it could do with a tiny
pinch of salt but with the creme fraiche
there the chickpeas the coriander and
all that Pro barley you have got a meal
that is ready to ock and the beauty of
it is all the work happens in the slow
cooker if you don't have one of these
you don't have to go ahead and buy one
you can still make this recipe in like a
Dutch oven or a casserole it is up to
you and you could put it in the oven and
slowly cook it away or pop it on the hob
and let it cook away there so the recipe
will work just as well so if you want
all the details as always I'll leave
them in the description box below please
hit the subscribe button and ring the
bell to get notifications as soon as
these recipes arrive and that's it
dinner is ready to serve so I'm off to
tuck in and enjoy
I've always been sceptical of slow cookers ut this slow cooked butter chicken recipe is INCREDIBLE! Super tender, great taste and takes minimal work! Ingredients: 8 skinless chicken thighs 25g butter 500g potatoes, peeled and halved 1 onion, finely chopped 1 large thumb sized piece of ginger, finely grated 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1 tbsp garam masala 1 tsp cumin 2 tsp ground coriander 4 green cardamom pods, crushed 750ml tomato passata 400g tin coconut milk Get the full method here: https://donalskehan.com/recipes/slow-cooker-butter-chicken-with-potatoes/ Subscribe to my channel: http://bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEDonal Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/donalskehan Like my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/donalskehan Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/donalskehan Follow me on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/donalskehan Shop for my Kitchen Equipment Essentials: http://bit.ly/DonalsKitchen Check out my cookbooks: http://bit.ly/DonalCookbooks