Community Cookbook: Butter Chicken Masala by Uzma Aziz from Islamabad, Pakistan

Uzma Aziz sits with a plate of butter chicken masala, a popular dish in Islamabad, Pakistan, where is from. She has lived in Cape Girardeau since 2002 and works as operations director at Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence (SEMO-NASV).

Photo by Jasmine Jones

Recipes tell the stories of communities and the people who shape them. Each recipe is more than a list of ingredients and steps; it is a written legacy of the individual who created the dish, their family and history. This monthly series highlights one of these legacies and gives readers the chance to create the recipe themselves.

Uzma Aziz grew up in Islamabad, Pakistan, where she says food is incredibly important in the culture and in her own family. Anytime Aziz visits her two sisters in Atlanta, she says their tables are set with food and she is fed a feast; then, she is given even more food to take home with her.

“It’s our tradition, Pakistani tradition, [that] we show our love through food. We just feed people when they come to visit us. ... This is the way we show our love. In our culture, we don’t say much verbally that, ‘I love you.’ No, our love is food,” Aziz says.

Aziz says a formal Pakistani meal includes a rice dish such as biryani or pilau, naan bread, chicken or goat chops, vegetables, and two or three types of curry. With whatever she’s cooking, Aziz says it is “all about spices.”

Aziz says she learned to cook with her mother; she remembers boiling potatoes, then mixing them with spices and creating patties to fry.

“I remember that’s how I started cooking, ‘cause I love potatoes,” Aziz says. “I think nobody hates potatoes. Everybody loves it.”

Aziz has lived in Cape Girardeau since 2002 when she moved with her husband, Umar Aziz. What she loves most about the area is her job as operations director at Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence (SEMO-NASV). At her job, she works behind the scenes to secure funding and complete human resource requirements and other administrative work, so SEMO-NASV staff and counselors can better serve their clients.

“I come back home [after work, and] I feel so satisfied,” Aziz says. “I have been working there for 20 years now, and it’s so rewarding. ... The best thing about work is we all work together, we all backup for each other.”

Aziz earned her Bachelor of Science degree in home economics from the University of Karachi in Pakistan. There, she learned continental cooking, stitching, home decoration, home management and time management; the latter has turned out to be the most useful, she says.

Aziz says she is the type of person who gets her work done the day before it’s due and always shows up to events on time. She plans her meals and makes grocery lists on Thursday or Friday; then, she cooks everything for the week on Saturday.

She still goes to Pakistan at least once a year to visit her mother and sister who live in the capital city of Islamabad. When she is there, Aziz says they spend a lot of time talking, exploring the “beautiful city,” and of course, eating.

She plans to visit them this month to attend her nephew’s wedding. In her culture, she says weddings usually last a few days, sometimes a full week. Aziz says they wear fancy dresses and lots of gold jewelry during their wedding celebrations; it’s a joyous time for both families.

Aziz says she has a big family, with three sisters and two brothers, but they’re all very close to one another.

“It is very close,” Aziz says. “Here, you have to schedule [to see people and ask,] ‘Are you available?’ No, it’s not [like that] back there [in Pakistan]. You just ring the bell and go in there, and that’s it. ... You just show up, and the other person feeds you and welcomes you with open heart and open arms.”

Butter Chicken Masala

A plate of butter chicken masala sits on Uzma Aziz's dining room table. Aziz says food is important in her culture, and it is used as a way to show love to friends, family members and guests.

Photo by Jasmine Jones

Recipe by Uzma Aziz

For chicken marinade:

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon minced or finely-chopped garlic

1 tablespoon minced or finely-grated ginger

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chili powder/paprika 1 teaspoon salt

For sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced ginger 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin 1.5 teaspoons garam masala 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon red chili powder or

paprika powder (adjust to your taste preference)

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1 tablespoon sugar

6 crushed tomatoes

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves

In a bowl, combine chicken with all of the ingredients for the chicken marinade; let marinate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight if time allows. Heat oil in a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat. When sizzling, add chicken pieces. Fry until lightly browned or golden brown, three minutes on each side.

Heat butter and one teaspoon of oil in the same pan. Sauté the onions. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for one minute, then add ground coriander, cumin and garam masala. Let cook for about one minute while stirring occasionally. Add crushed tomatoes, chili or paprika powder, and salt. Let simmer for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens. Remove from heat, scoop mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. You may need to add a couple of spoons of water to help it blend. Work in batches depending on the size of your blender.

Pour the puréed sauce back into the pan. Stir the cream, sugar and crushed fenugreek leaves through the sauce. Add the chicken with juices back into the pan and cook for an additional eight to 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick and bubbling.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with hot, fresh-cooked basmati rice.