After many failed attempts at a vegan butter chicken, we finally did it! This curry is richly flavoured with a spiced tomato masala, blended cashews, and marinated jackfruit. It’s easy enough to increase protein by adding chickpeas (or even crispy chickpeas!). I hope you enjoy as much as we do.
Butter chicken is a well known dish all around the world, though funnily enough only created in the 1900s when an Indian chef mixed his leftover chicken into a creamy tomato sauce. Butter chicken was born! It originally called “murg makhani” before being translated to butter chicken in a New York restaurant in 1975.
This vegan butter chicken curry is made rich with blended cashews, spiced tomatoes, and marinated jackfruit to make a delicious butter “chicken” that vegans, vegetarians, and lactose intolerant people can enjoy! When watching some videos of Indian chefs cooking this dish, they only used cream as a finishing touch. Just a dollop of cream! The creaminess is developed through the rich spiced sauce with only a bit of cashews and vegan butter to bring it to life. Feel free to add your own cream to finish if desired, I didn’t think it was needed!
I hope you enjoy this as much as my partner and I do! Enjoy it with some vegan naan!
To Make Vegan Butter Chicken:
Marinate the Jackfruit
Start by opening the can of jackfruit and drain and rinse the fruit in a strainer. Place it on half of a kitchen towel and fold the towel in half to cover the fruit.
Use the heel of your palm to press the jackfruit until it’s completely smashed – pressing most of the liquid out into the towel. Separate the soft “shreddable” jackfruit from the hard core and discard the core and large seeds, as they will not soften in the curry. Try to shred/crumble it with your fingers as you go, this will help you find some of the hard seeds. I usually don’t discard all of the seeds.
Add the ginger, garlic, salt, and kashmiri chili powder to the jackfruit and stir well to coat. Set aside for at least 20 minutes to allow the flavours to be absorbed by the jackfruit.
Make the Vegan Butter Chicken Sauce
In a medium heavy bottom pot or dutch oven, melt the 3 tbsp of vegan butter over medium heat until it just begins to foam. Not only is the flavour of vegan butter an important addition to the recipe, it also foams just like butter! Technically not important for flavour but it just makes me happy.
At this point, add the red onion and cook for about 5 – 10 minutes or until it begins to brown and caramelize.
Add the chopped tomatoes, water, cashews, salt, vinegar, sugar, and chili powder. Stir well, bring up to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 – 25 minutes.
After the sauce has cooked down, add it to a high powered blender and blend on high for 60 seconds or until completely smooth. Add back into the pan and return to a low heat. Alternatively, if you have a lower powered blender, strain the mixture before adding back into the pan.
Add in the marinated jackfruit at this point and allow it to simmer over the lowest heat possible in the sauce for about 20 – 30 minutes to soften the jackfruit and let the flavours mingle and come together. Stir occasionally so it does not burn on the bottom.
Taste the vegan butter chicken sauce and adjust sugar, salt, or vinegar levels before serving. Sprinkle kasoori methi over the sauce and serve alongside basmati rice, naan, and fresh cilantro if desired.
Looking for other Vegan Indian Food Recipes?
- Indian Mango “Chicken” Curry with Basmati Rice
- Easy Red Lentil Curry | Masoor Dal
- Aloo Gobi: Authentic Indian Potato and Cauliflower Curry
Indian Butter “Chicken” Jackfruit Curry
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Open the can of jackfruit and drain and rinse the fruit in a strainer. Place on a kitchen towel and fold the towel in half to cover the fruit. Press, using the heel of your palm, the jackfruit until it smashes and a lot of the liquid is absorbed into the towel. Separate the soft jackfruit from the hard core and discard the inedible core and large seeds.
- Add all of the marinade ingredients to the jackfruit and stir well to coat. Set aside for at least 20 minutes.
- In a medium heavy bottom pot or dutch oven, melt the 3 tbsp of vegan butter over medium heat until it just begins to foam. At this point, add the red onion and cook for about 5 – 10 minutes or until it begins to brown and caramelize.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, water, cashews, salt, vinegar, sugar, and chili powder. Stir well, bring up to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 – 25 minutes.
- After the sauce has cooked down, add it to a high powered blender and blend on high for 60 seconds or until completely smooth. Add back into the pan and return to a low heat. Alternatively, if you have a lower powered blender, strain the mixture before adding back into the pan.
- Add in the marinated jackfruit at this point and allow it to simmer in the sauce for about 20 – 30 minutes to soften the jackfruit and let the flavours mingle and come together. Stir occasionally so it does not burn on the bottom.
- While the jackfruit simmers in the sauce, start your rice if serving and/or begin cooking naan.
- Taste the curry and adjust sugar, salt, or vinegar levels before serving. Sprinkle kasoori methi over the sauce and serve alongside basmati rice, naan, and fresh cilantro if desired.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Originally posted 10/11/2020
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