When to Salt Bae:
When cooking vegetables, always add salt at the end. Vegetables shrink after cooking. Adding salt earlier, with other spices, might deceive the eyes into adding more than needed. Hence, always add salt at the end and taste to adjust.
Why is Garam Masala added at the end?
Garam Masala is a mix of spices. Most of the spices are cooked to release the oils and aroma and then grind into a mix. Since most the spices are pre cooked, adding Garam Masala earlier will overcook the spices and may result in a bitter taste to the curry. Also adding Garam Masala at the end releases the aroma and flavors right before serving.
I cannot find Paneer:
Halloumi cheese is the next best thing. We need a cheese that has a high melting point so that it can be fried or sautéed. Halloumi checks the box. However, it is high in sodium content so watch the salt. For a non-dairy substitute, use Firm Tofu. And there is always the option to make your own paneer.
What is the difference between Chicken Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken?
Nearly every chef has an opinion on this. I grew on Chawla's butter chicken and hadn't heard of chicken tikka masala until I moved to New York. Surprisingly, it is impossible to find butter chicken on any Indian restaurant's menu in New York. After tasting the two and researching countless chef recipes and one extensive history lesson, here are the differences:
- Chicken: In butter chicken, the chicken is stir fried. In chicken tikka masala, as the name suggests, the chicken is made as "Tikka" and then added to the curry.
- Marinade: As the cooking methods for chicken are different, the marinade for chicken is different. Butter chicken has a lighted marinade just to give chicken some flavor whereas tikka requires an induction of spices.
- Curry: Butter chicken follows the usual curry rule: onion and tomatoes are in same amount. Chicken tikka masala is a tomato based curry. Hence, it has twice or even three times the tomatoes as the onions.
- Taste: Butter chicken has butter (duh!) and cashews and sugar/honey. So it is sweeter with a kick of chili. Chicken tikka masala is tomato based curry. It has that sour and acidic flavor. Hence it is garnished with cream or yogurt to balance the palate.
- Curry cooking method: For butter chicken, we are trying to evaporate the water in the curry so that everything is cooked in a masala. For chicken tikka masala, we add water so that it has that tomato soupy taste.
- Sieve or not to sieve: Butter chicken curry is thick and is sieved to get that velvety texture. The soupy curry of chicken tikka masala is not usually sieved.