BUTTER CHICKEN KOKKINISTO

Now I don’t tend to tread into fusion territory too often but I don’t mind it, especially when it makes sense. This is my voutiro kotopoulo kokkinisto, essentially bringing together the beloved butter chicken curry and the as equally beloved red chicken stew from the villages of Greece. The recipe is built in a way that makes it easier to bring this delicious recipe to life as it relies on a butter chicken store bought paste for all that flavour meaning you can 7 or so ingredients that the classic kokkinisto includes, perfect for anyone low on spices in the house.

Kokkinisto is a hearty Greek stew of slow braised meat, often beef, lamb or chicken, simmered in a rich, tomato forward sauce with onions, cinnamon and wine until deeply caramelised and melt in your mouth tender. Butter chicken curry on the other hand is a creamy, tomato rich Indian dish of tender marinated chicken simmered in a fragrant blend of butter, cream, and warming spices for a silky, mildly spiced comfort food indulgence. So the dishes themselves aren’t too dissimilar, with the spices like cumin and paprika crossing over making it a wonderful way get the flavour of butter chicken without all the butter, cream and heaviness.

Once the hilopites are added in to cook in that incredibly deep and rich sauce, it honestly doesn’t get better. it makes sense on paper, and even more sense on your spoon, with the chicken falling off the bone with ridiculous ease. Check out the recipe below and give it a shot, and enjoy the fact you’ll have extras the next day for leftovers.

BUTTER CHICKEN KOKKINISTO

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BUTTER CHICKEN KOKKINISTO 〰️

Time: 1 hour + 30 minutes

Serves: 4

1 maryland chicken pieces, skin on

2 brown onion, rough diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1 heaped spoon tomato paste (70gm)

150gm butter chicken curry paste

1 cup red wine

400gm can crushed tomatoes

250gm hilopites pasta*

Olive oil

Salt, to taste

Finely grated parmesan

*if hard to source, use a risoni/orzo or any pasta of choice cooked separately and then spoon the kokkinisto on top.

Begin with placing heavy pot on high heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Once smoking with heat, safely brown your chicken pieces on skin side (around 3-4 minutes) until deeply charred to help caramelise the skin. Remove and place to side.

Turn down heat to low and add brown onion and carrot with a pinch of salt and stir to help sweat. Saute for 5-6 minutes.Then add in butter chicken curry paste and mix through and cook out for 2 minutes. Add in tomato paste and mix through and cook out for a minute to remove bitterness. Turn heat to medium high and add in the red wine. Cook your red wine until it’s almost all gone. Add crushed tomatoes in with 2 cans worth of water. Season with salt to taste and add back in the browned chicken pieces making sure they’re submerged.

Bring to a high simmer in pot before reducing heat to low and cook with lid on for 40 minutes covered. Take lid off and cook 20 minutes uncovered before adding in the hilopites pasta and cooking for 10 more minutes, stirring as you go so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Salt to taste, and shred the chicken through the sauce, and remove the bones before serving hot with a covering of finely grated parmesan.