Kitchens Of India Paste for Butter Chicken Curry, 3.5-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)

EDIT DEC 2018: They seem to have reformulated this a bit. It's pretty spicy now. It's weird - it's labeled as mild. It is not mild. Especially compared to their Tikka Masala, which is labeled as medium, but is much less spicy than this. I don't get it. It's still good, but honestly, I throw in some heavy cream or yogurt to smooth it out if I make this with just chicken. I now tend to make this in the instant pot - just toss in the paste, water (a tad less than called for), butter, chicken, turn the pot on for 10min and let it do most of the way NPR. Makes for very tender chicken. If I want to make rice in there too, I'll do 5 mins, then QR, add in the little metal covered pot with the rinsed rice/water on a trivet over my butter chicken, 5 more mins and 10 min NPR, then QR. Easy one pot meal. Only about 2 mins of prep work. ------------------------- Original review: It's actually pretty amazing how delicious this is, especially when it's so simple to cook! It tastes like it came from a restaurant and at a fraction of the cost. It's spicy, spicy enough to make my nose run, but not so spicy that it hurts - it's just right. Here's how I cook it: Slice an onion up, throw it in the pot. Throw chunks of peeled carrot into the pot. Put 1 to 1 1/2 lbs raw chicken, cut into chunks, in the pot. Pour 1 cup water, and butter (3 teaspoons? I don't remember, it's in the directions) into the pot. Empty paste package into pot, make sure paste is broken into chunks - it will "melt" when it heats up. Then simmer for 25mins or so with lid on, stirring thoroughly every 5 mins or so to make sure all the paste chunks dissolve and that the meat is cooked evenly. Tip: It may look like you need more water at first, but the chicken will release juices. You probably do not need more water. If you find your curry is TOO thin, either you can simmer it with the lid off until water evaporates and gives you the desired consistency, or, if you want to speed it up (or prevent any veggies in there from turning to mush from simmering too long), you can: Take pot off heat, pour liquid from pot into a non-stick frying pan - the bigger around, the better. Heat the liquid in the pan till it's simmering. Let it simmer till it is the desired consistency, STIRRING CONSTANTLY (VERY IMPORTANT!!! - it only takes two or three minutes, so keep stirring or it will burn), then just pour it back in with your chicken. Very easy. Great curry paste, so easy, and you can just pair it with rice (rice cookers are AWESOME) or some naan, if that's your thing, or rice AND naan for some mega carbohydrates!

I was a little skeptical about trying this, as I was somewhat disappointed in the Kitchens Of India Curry Paste For Lamb Curry, 3.5-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6) . Given that I found that one not quite as spicy as I like, I expected this to be too mild. I was very pleasantly surprised! The spice is just about right. It is aromatic and flavorful (the degree of heat becoming less of an issue), made a nice thick curry: not at all what I had expected. I am adding this review primarily because I'd expressed disappointment in the lamb curry paste and directed people towards another brand. This one not only made me reconsider but revisit the brand to see what i had missed. My preparation deviated from the direction a bit. I prepared it as if I were starting from scratch, sauteing the spices in the butter for a few minutes, and then adding the chicken to coat, and then the water. I cooked it longer than recommended (but only because I was waiting for my family to get home), and it was really excellent! When I saw how thick the sauce was (and it smelled divine) , I did not want it to go to waste, and so added some new potatos and cauliflower. I think I am going to double my subscription to this one, and try playing around with some variations. I do not know how much of an impact my preparation had as I have only made it the one time. It ois meant to be easy to prepare, literally less than 5 minutes (that said, what I did added only 3 minutes to the prep time). A really excellent product, which has me back here looking for more :)

KoI Paste for Butter Chicken has a permanent place in my pantry. Despite the word "chicken" in the name, this lovely red stuff lends itself to just about any dish you care to apply it to, and it makes a wonderful soup base. Last night, I threw a diced onion, 3T butter, six semi frozen chicken thighs, 2 1/2 cups of water and 3/4 cup of brown rice into a big pot, covered it, and cooked on a flame tamer over low heat for 2-3 hours. I stirred a couple of times, but otherwise left it alone. When the rice was done, shredded the chicken, removed the skin and bones, put the meat back in the pot and added a half cup of heavy cream. The resulting dish was absolutely delicious; thick, substantial, and just a bit spicy. The only effort involved was chopping the onion, measuring the rice and water, and opening the sauce. Major payoff, and the perfect comfort dinner for a really lazy rainy Sunday. It only required one pot, and cleanup was about as minimal as it gets. I suppose I could have added frozen peas to the pot, or fixed a salad or another green vegetable, but dinner was perfect as it was. If my husband was a bigger fan of Indian food, I'd do something with this paste once a week. As it is, I can only get away with it once or twice a month, but on those occasions he grudgingly admits that it's "pretty darned good" before going for seconds. I have it on automatic delivery, and if it ever became unavailable, I'd cry and sulk. I've made butter chicken from scratch. It's a lot of work, and isn't significantly better than the KoI. At less than $1 50 per packet, it's one of the best pantry bargains around. One packet was all I used for 3 lbs. of bone in chicken, and it was enough, even with the rice and extra water. A couple of shots of Tobasco wouldn't have hurt it any.

This is one of my go to quick meals during the week. It's truly delicious. It's a little spicy for some, but I find it just spot on. The directions are easy to follow, you just add some water and cream after browning your chicken and not once have I had someone not like it. To put things in perspective when I go out to a restaurant or a pub and they have butter chicken on the menu I truly find that when I eat it I usually think to myself, "I can make this way better at home." Obviously not from scratch but rather using this product. The price is very reasonable and it's better than the vast majority of the butter chickens you get at various pubs or casual dining restaurants. I would strongly suggest giving it go if you're interested in making Indian food at home and to change things up during your work week.

This is the best butter chicken mix hands down. I've tried various grocery store sauces through the years. This is nice, pantry stable and handy to pull out for a quick meal, even if it's butter chick peas instead of chicken. It has just the right amount of heat for my palette ,doesn't require a ton of additional ingredients and comes together quickly on the stove top. Excellent product!

This sauce pack is the perfect butter chicken flavor for easy at home cooking. We have tried them all!! The premade sauces you pour over just dont cut it. This has the richness of a restuarant sauce, but is super easy to make. It has a bit of heat, but you can dilute that with more butter and some paste tomatoes. I only do that for others because we like it as is! I often add some frozen peas or spinach to add some greens which is not traditional but tastes great. Also the price here on Amazon is great, we try to keep a minimum of 6 of these on hand as this is a weekly regular supper staple. Highly recommend!

Yum, just the right amount of heat, can still taste the food. Been buying this for years, when it’s perfect why change it.

Always love this butter chicken sauce pack. However, check your local superstore because the price is far better there.