I can't believe its not butter, butter chicken

Notice anything different? Take a closer look...See it? I've found PicMonkey....I'm thrilled and devastated all at the same time.  Why? Well I'm thrilled to have some filters for my pictures and its cool to add a watermark to my photos...but the time people, the time I'm spending on the computer before I found this was enough, but now.  I feel I'm doomed!!! I'm sure once the novelty wears off, it will be watermark only but dear Lord.....my husband might divorce me.

I'm a slow cooker junkie, such a clever invention and a dream for a busy person.  Although I'm not that busy working out of the home, you might be surprised to know I don't like to spend hours in the kitchen working on one dish. Lots of different things yes, some time in the morning and some time in the afternoon but not all at once, so the slow cooker gets a workout in our house.  I made this bastardised version of butter chicken with resounding success.  This is a typical example of me taking an idea of a recipe and changing it to suit my desire at the time.  There is no butter in this chicken nor is there any cream, but feel free to add some.

I can't believe its not butter, butter chicken

for the slow cooker:

1kg of chicken thigh, diced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled & bashed

1 onion finely diced or blitzed in food processor

1 tspn ground cumin

1 tspn ground coriander

1/2 tspn cinnamon

1 tspn garam masala 

1/2 tspn chilli powder

1/2 tspn smoked paprika

1 jar of tomato passata

1 tbsp tomato puree

200mls chicken stock approx, I used up some from the freezer stores

for the rice:

2 cups of basmati rice, well rinsed

1 clove of garlic, bashed

1 or 2 parsley stalks

1 or 2 coriander root or stem

1/2 a lemon

you can add some saffron or tumeric to make it a pretty yellow colour but its not a must

to garnish:

fresh coriander, mint and parsley roughly chopped

roughly chopped almonds or flaked if you have them but toast them before hand

natural yoghurt

I just put everything that's for the slow cooker in and pop the lid on, with it set on high.  You need it on high for around 4 hours so if you plan on going to work or heading out for the day, make it first thing and put the setting on low.  Some worry about using slow cookers but honestly they are just the same as using a casserole dish in the oven, but for a lower temperature for a longer amount of time.  I've gotten quite cheeky lately, I'm not even browning the meat before hand.  You really should as it adds flavour but I'm a rebel. Perfect example is my bolognaise, it rocks the slow cooker, even without browning the mince....I know, amazing! Revolutionary! Not to mention time saver!  I don't own a dishwasher (don't even go there) so any time I can save my manicure I'm down with it.

this is one of my frozen chicken stock packages

With the rice, just bang it all in a medium sized saucepan, cover with cold water (approx 4-5 cups if you need a guide) and boil until just under cooked, around 6 minutes timed once it reaches the boil.  It needs to be under cooked as its going in the slow cooker a little down the track.

I love this paprika and the tins are cute too

After around 4 hours, your sauce should be reduced slightly and the chicken happily cooked, if not falling apart.  Now is when you might add 1/2 a cup of cream.  I then put a layer of silverbeet down on top of the chicken (this is an option, we have so much of it at the moment and by layering it in large pieces I can pick it out for the 6 yr old with an aversion to it) and the rice on top of that and setting onto low for another hour or so.  

I had some pizza dough in the freezer that I took out around lunchtime.  It was perfect just rolled out and drizzled with some garlic infused olive oil, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and baked in a hot oven for 10 minutes or so.  It was just the thing to have with this to mop up the chicken and rice.  A dollop of natural yoghurt, some hot chilli sauce(like sambal oelek if you like some heat), a squeeze of lemon and a scattering of fresh herbs was just the accompaniment to make this dish sing.

I love getting your comments, and hearing what you have to say but it seems very quiet out there....Hello? : ) Do you use the slow cooker? Have a fav recipe?
Ciao, Jan