How to make this classic, Singapore ‘zi char’ dish, Butter Chicken. Foolproof, crispy fried chicken bites tossed in a creamy, garlicky butter sauce – so good.

This is very similar to the salted egg yolk chicken recipe, except this one uses no salted egg yolks. It’s still equally decadent and so, so good. If you want to make a salted egg yolk version, follow along my Salted Egg Yolk Calamari recipe.

Chicken Slices

I used chicken breast here, you can use thighs if you want too, no issue. I sliced it into bite sized pieces – slivers, in an angle. I find that they are less tough this way, and they cook evenly. When deep frying the chicken pieces, do not overcrowd the pan. Cook in batches. Use a medium to medium-high heat. It’s done once the outer layer is brown and crispy. It should be a quick process, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Curry Leaves

Now, one of the ingredients we are using are curry leaves. Though is a common ingredient in Indian cuisine, curry leaves are also incorporated in Malay and Chinese dishes in Singapore and Malaysia – such as this Butter Chicken, a typical ‘zi char’ dish here. This smells incredibly, like umm, curry, duh. I actually don’t think there’s an exact good substitute for this unfortunately – if you know of any, let me know. Apparently kaffir lime leaves are a good substitute. I don’t necessarily agree, but it most certainly would not hurt the dish if you choose to add the lime leaves instead.

You can also add basil. Again, it won’t quite be the same, but it will not hurt the dish. Personally? If you can’t find this, just don’t include.

Evaporated Milk

Evaporated Milk comes usually canned, and is a more fattier, thicker milk than regular milk. It’s basically milk with more liquid drawn out. A substitute would be heavy cream, thinned out with a bit of water. You can also actually use regular whole milk if that’s what’s available to you. Just add 1/2 a cup and be aware that it is not going to thicken up as well as evaporated milk. I personally don’t find this an issue though, sometimes I like a saucier butter chicken.

Ingredients:

300 grams of Chicken
Marinade with
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 2 tbsps Cornstarch (also known as cornflour)
- 1 tsp Curry Powder (optional)
Coated with more Cornstarch

Creamy Butter Sauce:

1 tbsp Oil
2-3 tbsps Unsalted Butter
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
2 Thai Bird’s Eye Chilis or Cili Padi (exclude for a non-spicy version)
2 stalks of Curry Leaves
1 cup Evaporated Milk
1 tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk (or sugar)
1 tsp Salt, or to taste

Directions:

Marinate chicken slices and coat in cornstarch.
Deep fry chicken pieces until crispy and golden brown. Take out of oil and keep to one side.
In a pan add oil and melt butter. Use a low to medium heat.
Once butter melts, add garlic, bird’s eye chillies and curry leaves.
Saute till fragrant, and add evaporated milk.
Season with condensed milk and salt.
Add back fried chicken and toss through.
Done!