Butter Chicken & Spinach Dhal

Before the man went off on a work trip, he was in the mood to cook. An easy meal of spinach dhal and butter chicken. V wanted to catch up before she flew out on back-to-back trips too, and didn't mind our dinner menu for the evening. So she came over, and she justified us having a bottle of wine to go with the meal. Hehehehe. Burrrrrrp.

The man zoomed out to Tekka Market bright and early at 7am, (I was at the gym) and came back with ingredients. I was a little stunned by all the little packets of...... powder, beans and such, like we don't already stock 'em at home.

This is his first time doing butter chicken; he was understandably nervous. BUT during food prep that morning, he somehow accidentally sliced his finger open to the cuticle. It was a short but deep cut that needed some tending to. I was a little amazed at how much blood there was. Thank goodness for antiseptic powders.

Once I put a plaster over his finger, he went back to slicing onions. DUHHHH. I forbade him to handle raw chicken after that. I didn't feel like doing it either, so we went out to BUY a few pieces of tandoori chicken from our trusty eatery. HAHAHA. Butter chicken is really all about the gravy. All the flavors are there. Tomatoes, onions and butter. The larder always has spices, and bottles of chilli powder, paprika, and garam masala. As long as you get the gravy's texture and flavors right, it's all good. The man's version was fairly appetizing.