Butter Chicken Wings
They look pretty good on a loaded Thanksgiving Plate
Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
Ingredient Availability: 3/5
Difficulty: 2/5
I’ve never ordered butter chicken for myself and don’t have a good sense of what makes a good butter chicken, so don’t take my review as the end all be all. However, I still know what tastes good and what doesn’t. I decided to make this because it looked interesting and often times home made versions of restaurant dishes at least have something special about them even if they aren’t all out better.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
I think that Kashmiri Chili powder is a pretty key ingredient to a butter chicken. However, I wasn’t able to find it in any of my local grocery stores. Nor was I able to find dried fenugreek leaves. The substitute I used for the chili powder was a combination paprika, cayenne pepper, and regular chili powder. Not exactly sure how different the Kashmiri powder would make this, but at least we’ll know how it turns out without it.
Tools:
Frying Vessel
Pot
Immersion Blender or other blender
Cooking Review:
Prep for Sauce: 11 minutes
The prep for the sauce included chopping the onion, slicing the garlic, chopped the ginger, and measuring out the seasonings.
Marinate Wings: 8 Minutes
To marinate the wings, I grated the ginger and added it to a bowl with the wings, salt, and pepper. I just used black pepper instead of white.
Making the sauce: 33 Minutes
After melting the ghee in a saucepan, I added the onion, garlic, and ginger. I seasoned them with salt and let the vegetables cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes before added the seasonings, let them cook for a few seconds. The crushed tomatoes, sugar, and chicken stock was added next. After the sauce came to a simmer, I maintained the simmer for about 4 minutes before using my immersion blender to smooth out the sauce. This is where the recipe could get a little difficulty if you have to transfer the hot sauce to a blender and back into the pot. Once back in the pot, I added the heavy whipping cream to cook for 7 minutes then melted in the butter. I seasoned the sauce with salt and it was ready for the chicken.
Frying the Chicken: 45 minutes
I cut the chicken wings in half and tossed them in the cornstarch while the oil came up to temperature. Once the oil was hot, I fried the wings in 4 batches. Each batch cooked for about 7 minutes. Once the first fry was complete, I fried the wings a second time at a higher temperature for 3-4 minutes each batch (3 batches).
Finishing: 5 minutes
To finish the wings, I put them all in a bowl and poured some of the sauce over the wings and tossed to coat. I had a pretty good amount of the sauce left over and I think the wings were plenty saucy.
Analysis:
These wings are pretty good. Of course, the sauce is what makes them anything to talk about, as the wings are pretty much just plain fried. The sauce has very good flavor, but it isn’t bold. Both the flavor and the texture are smooth and buttery. When eaten fresh, there is a little bit of crunch that still comes though despite the sauce, which is nice. There is a very slight spice, but not anything that would prevent anyone from enjoying them. I know that’s not all that much detail, but the flavor is pretty unique and hard to describe. I’m going to give this recipe a 8/10. If you want to try something a little different with your wings, this one is for you.
