Butter Chicken Lasagna - Indian Italian Fusion Recipes
The Butter Chicken Lasagna needs no applause, I would say you can never go wrong with this Indo Italian Fusion Recipe. Do you want to use leftover Butter Chicken? Or, you can just make it from scratch, the recipe says it all!!
Ingredients
For butter chicken
- 500 gms Boneless skinless chicken breast chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 Onions cut roughly into big pieces
- 4 Tomatoes cut roughly into big pieces
- 1 tbsp Ginger chopped
- 5 cloves Garlic chopped
- 3 Green chilies or as per spice preference
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp Butter chicken masala I used MDH brand
- 1 tsp Ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp Red chili powder
- 1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp Asafoetida/Hing
- 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1/4 tsp Crushed Mint
- 1 tsp Dried fenugreek leaves (Kasuri methi)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Cooking oil + 1/2 tsp extra, I used Avocado oil
- 1 tsp Jaggery powder Can be replaced with sugar
- 1 cup Heavy cream
- 1 tbsp Butter
- Ground Cardamom seeds From 2 cardamom pods
- 1/4 cup Coriander/Cilantro leaves For garnishing
- 1 cup Water
For Lasagna
- 3 cups Butter Chicken Prepared with ingredients mentioned above or you can use leftover prepared butter chicken
- 4 Lasagna Sheets Can be increased to 6 as per liking
- Water For boiling lasagna sheets (As per packet instructions)
- 2 cups Shredded Cheese I am using Trader Joe's Shredded 3 Cheese Blend, a mix of mozzarella, cheddar and Monterey jack
- 3/4 tsp Italian seasoning
- Black pepper powder A pinch
- 1/2 tsp Garlic flakes (dried)
Instructions
For Butter Chicken Preparation
- Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan or skillet. Add chopped ginger, garlic, green chilies in the oil. Also add onions and saute them on medium flame till they turn golden brown. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool for sometime.
- Meanwhile, add the chopped tomatoes to the blender. Also add the onion mixture prepared in step 1 to the blender along with the tomatoes. Blend the ingredients to a smooth paste. The base of makhani gravy is ready.
- In the same non-stick pan/skillet, heat 1/2 tsp oil, add asafoetida powder and then add the blended mixture. Cook the mixture for around 5 minutes, and add the dry spices (salt, turmeric powder, butter chicken masala, ground cumin, red chili powder, ground black pepper and coriander powder. Simmer the mixture on low-medium heat for around 10-15 minutes or till oil starts to separate from the mixture.
- Add the chicken pieces to the mixture and saute for around 2-3 minutes. Add water and cover the pan. Simmer the mixture for around 15-20 minutes on medium heat till the chicken is completely cooked through.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove the lid, reduce the heat to low, and add butter, cream, jaggery powder, crushed mint, crushed cardamom seeds and dried fenugreek leaves. Adjust the salt and cook for around 2-3 minutes more. Switch off the flame. Garnish the creamy butter chicken with chopped coriander/cilantro leaves.
For Lasagna Preparation & Assembly
- Firstly separate out chicken pieces and sauce from the prepared butter chicken. Set aside 2 cups of butter chicken sauce. Shred the prepared butter chicken pieces into mince size pieces with the help of a fork and keep aside 1 cup of the shredded mince.
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Boil the lasagna sheets in water and drain them as per packet instructions. Keep aside.
- For layering the lasagna, first take a 8 x 6 x 2 inch glass dish and spread 1/2 cup of butter chicken sauce. For the next layer, lay 2 lasagna sheets over the butter chicken sauce layer. Spread 1/2 cup of shredded butter chicken pieces as the third layer. Next layer consists of spreading 1/2 cup of cheese blend. Sprinkle the cheese with a pinch of black pepper powder, 1/4 tsp of garlic flakes and 1/4 tsp of Italian seasoning.
- Again top this with layer of 1/2 cup of butter chicken sauce. Next layer will be laying 2 lasagna sheets on top of butter chicken sauce. Again spread 1/2 cup of shredded butter chicken pieces. A layer of 1/2 cup cheese blend goes next. Again sprinkle the cheese layer with pinch of black pepper powder, 1/4 tsp of garlic flakes and 1/4 tsp of Italian seasoning. Top it with layer of 1/2 cup of final butter chicken sauce.
- For the last layer, spread the final 1/2 cup of cheese blend. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of Italian seasoning on top of the last layer. Cover the glass dish containing the butter chicken lasagna layers with aluminum foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Broil for 1-2 minutes for getting the brown crusty top. Remove from oven and serve the cut butter chicken lasagna pieces as is or with salad on the side!!
Notes
- I had separated the chicken chunks into minced form with the help of a fork. This helped me in creating the chicken layer properly, otherwise big bite sized chicken pieces were not spread uniformly in the lasagna layer.
- I have just used four lasagna sheets in the recipe, making it sufficient for 2-3 people. Using more sheets has always resulted in us waiting for the dish to get over. This, I feel is the perfect proportion for a family of 2-4 people.
- While serving this dish, you can add salad vegetables (like broccoli, carrots, beans etc.) by the side. This helps in proportion control and also adds more nutritive value to your meal.
Tried this recipe?Mention @livelaugh974 or tag #bakewithkanwal on Instagram!