I replaced most of the chicken with a small head of cauliflower.
It turned out great. The first time I parboiled the cauliflower and then incorporated it into the dish in the last 10 minutes of cooking.

The second time around, I roasted the cauliflower and folded it in during the last minutes of cooking.

My wife preferred the parboiled cauliflower while I preferred it with the roasted cauliflower.

Thank you for the recipe

This would also be great with coconut milk - don't you think?...

Coconut milk is not typical in this dish, but you can give it a try if you like. Cheers!

I just finished making and eating this chicken and Wow it is delicious! It took me a good bit longer than 25 minutes to get the onions golden but I used really low heat and it turned out perfect. I could not find pappadums and used naan to soak up the wonderful sauce. This recipe alone is worth the price of admission.lol

And nothing wrong with Naan bread.

Is there and acceptable substitute for the yoghurt and cream when making Indian chicken or meat dishes?

You might want to experiment with some of these non-diary substitutions. Alternatively, you can omit the dairy in many Indian recipes.

Also, here is another thread from Bob's Red Mill that you might find helpful. And here is yet another link to a site called "Eating With Food Allergies" that you might find interesting. Hope this helps. Cheers!

is heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are same?

As long as it contains a minimum of 33% milk fat, you will be fine. For more information, search "heavy cream" in the search bar at the top right of any page and click on "Forum Discussion". Cheers!

I wonder if the water could be replaced with chicken stock to good effect. What do you think?

Of course you are free to try it if you like but honestly it is not necessary with this dish. Many Indian recipes do not call for stock as the spices and other aromatics lend so much flavor to the dish but as I said, you are free to try it. Cheers!

I will use water.

Every bite was followed by umm. I was so pleased with the results! You were not kidding about the onions cooking down Question: Could you provide a weight suggestion for the chicken? It seemed chicken heavy - wondering if I used too much.

I want to slice the almonds so can I do it after skinning it before drying then let it dry? Or should I wait till it's dry?

Are you looking to slice or chop almonds? I have never (and would never) try to slice almonds by hand. However, if you are looking to simply chop them, then I would say that they can really be chopped either before or after drying (or do you mean after they have cooled off?). I would suggest you try chopping some before and then some afterwards and then you will see which way works best for you. Cheers!

Thanks :)

What would a be a good vegetable side for this dish?

Rouxbe is more about helping users learn the techniques behind cooking and not necessarily about what goes best with what. But with that said, any vegetable that you like would go well with this dish. Personally, I am always a sucker for steamed broccoli or a nice bowl of peas :-) You might just want to keep it more neutral in flavor (meaning don't make an Italian veggie dish to serve with and Indian main). You could try something as simple as roasted or steamed carrots. You could also make a side that is more indian in flavor. Again, it depends on the vegetables that you like and what you are looking for. Hope this helps. Cheers!

Hi Dawn,
If you were going to freeze either this or the chana masala, you would just omit the cream/yogurt/dairy components, wouldn't you? I will have tonnes of left overs and want to be able to freeze them successfully.
Thanks!

Yes, it is best to freeze the dish and then add the dairy component once it has been reheated. This prevents any potential splitting. Cheers!

I have always cooked my pappadums by running them through a layer of hot oil in a low-edged skillet or fry-pan. Heat about 1/4 inch of grapeseed oil, and with a pair of chopsticks or tongs carefully slide one pappadum at a time under the surface of the hot oil. The pappadum will bubble and soften and curl within seconds, so be prepared. Make sure the oil is deep enough so the pappadum is completely immersed. That way, you won't need to turn them.

Toss into a large bowl or platter, where they will dry and crisp within seconds. It is a spectacular presentation. They are great with Mango Chutney.

This dish disappointed both my wife and I. We found it way too greasy, and it lacked the "mmm" factor of other Indian dishes we've had, both in flavour and texture. We would have had a hard time identifying anything "almond" about it.

Not wanting to waste my efforts I decided to try to "rescue" it. I noticed that it consisted of many of the same ingredients as butter chicken, including, what seemed like a lot of extra butter. I picked out the pieces of chicken and set aside. I put the remaining sauce back into a large saute pan, added two diced tomatoes, 1/2 tsp of sambal oelek, a teaspoon of sugar, some additional cream and simmered the whole works until the tomatoes were softened and incorporated into the sauce. Then I put the hot sauce into a blender (careful ** HOT **) and blended it until smooth and silky. I put the blended sauce back in the saute pan and folded in the chicken that had been removed earlier. It made a pretty good butter chicken :-)

Personally, I love this dish and its mellow flavors but good for you for doctoring the dish to suit your tastes - that's what cooking is all about. Sometimes when you have certain flavors in your mind and a recipe doesn't match up it can be disappointing but with good cooking skills behind you, you'll be able to adjust to suit your tastes. Thanks for the feedback. Cheers!

I've made this dish several times and love it more each time I've made it, just fantastic!

I would like to try this recipe out, but I'm a little wary of using paprika because paprika (as far as I know) is not a spice used in Indian cuisine. By any chance, is paprika a substitute for garam masala? Or does paprika go by another name in India. I'd like to make it as authentically as possible (though I think fusion is also great).