Plump Raisins to Dress up Butter Chicken

One of my many culinary regrets is that I have not yet found a good butter chicken recipe. While that means I get to experiment, it also means I am frequently disappointed. In the meantime, I have found this packaged butter chicken curry recipe in Sobeys, which has been carrying it for about a year. In the 'Ethnic Foods' section. Hahhah. When I was, this was the only place to find soy sauce. Now Sobeys has a 'Chinese' section. I wonder when we'll have an 'Indian' section. Hahah. Luckily, we also have Asian groceries.

By itself, I still feed this curry mix needs a bit more than the butter, water and chicken it asks for. I have been adding almonds or cashews (cashews being my preference) and raisins. The raisin and blanched almond idea came from a failed butter chicken recipe, but I really liked this aspect of it.

The raisins are sauteed in butter for about 3 minutes. They grow plump, succulent and soft. I want to stick my finger in and pop them, or test for softness. Of course I don't, I just watch and be amazed. Then I add the nuts for about another minute, and remove them all from the pan to sautee the chicken. Following the directions on the package, the curry from the package is added, and water, and the whole thing is simmered for about 20 mins. I add the nuts and raisins for the last minute or two.