Butter Chicken

Use medium or medium-high heat. Fry until onion starts getting translucent (just starts to, not fully translucent - maybe 5 min):

1T butter or ghee (butter works fine because the dish as a whole shouldn't be cooked too hot)

1/2 lg or 1 sm onion

garlic to taste (whole head :))

Add:

1lb chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces (I like thighs because they have more chicken-y flavor and are moister)

The dish is more or less done when the chicken is cooked, though if you let it simmer longer, you get a better blending of flavors. Add and mix in the following while the chicken is cooking:

1/2 can of tomato paste

2T lemon juice

1t grated ginger or 1/2t powdered ginger (add with onions to mellow more)

1/2t garam masala

1/2 curry or hot curry powder

cayenne and/or sriracha to taste

Optional but nice:

1/2t cardamom

1/4t cumin

1/2t turmeric (it's anti-inflammatory!)

1/2t tandoori masala

Cover and turn to low for about 10 min.

Now, this still doesn't have the "creamy" part of butter chicken. Depending on your tastes and dietary goals/constraints, pick one or more of the following:

heavy cream

greek yogurt

cream cheese

It's pretty harsh without at least one of these (especially if you put in a lot of spicy ingredients). If all your diners agree about what to add, you can add it to the pan as it's cooking - particularly with the cream, you can add it right before the simmering stage. If you're trying to keep probiotics alive, you'll need to add the yogurt directly to your plate to avoid getting the little fellas over 120F.

Goes well with rice, or just eat it by itself.