This was another recipe from my arthritis cooking class. I wanted to find a simple but traditional dish that would help to reduce inflammation. Since many Indian dishes use turmeric, I used that as my jumping off point. The traditional use of turmeric in Indian dishes makes sure it's always paired with a fat such as coconut milk or butter ghee. This improves the absorption of the compounds in turmeric that give us the anti-inflammatory effects.
Traditionally a butter chicken is made with a curry spice that has turmeric as a part of it, but for this recipe I added in extra turmeric to gain more anti-inflammatory benefits from this dish.
Depending on the person, some with high levels of inflammation may not be able to eat a dish with tomatoes. Since they are apart of the nightshade family. The good news is, you can still make this delicious dish, but with a small twist! My son is highly intolerant to tomatoes, so I have recently been working on experimenting with alternatives to make the same dishes, just tomato-less. For this butter chicken, you can easily replace the tomato with pureed butternut squash. To get 2 cups of butternut squash puree you can cook up a small butternut squash (whole one would weigh just over 1 lbs). Cook it in 1 cup of water until soft, then leaving the extra water in, use an immersion blender to puree. Measure out your 2 cups of puree, then add 4 tsp of lime juice to the puree. The lime juice gives it a touch of acidity like you would get with a tomato. It won't be exactly the same, but this yields a deliciously spiced golden rendition of butter chicken.
If you are sensitive to dairy, you can use a butter ghee to replace the butter. Dairy allergy? Look for a coconut oil that has the butter flavour added, this way you won't lose some of the taste the butter gives to the dish.
In a pinch, you can also use either ground chicken or ground turkey to make this dish. This dish is also a great way to use up leftover chicken from a big roast chicken.
I hope you enjoy this tasty dish!
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