Hi! I have some very good news! Now, they responded, but unfortunately, it was a bot-made email. So I thought, “Well if they don’t respond to me online, then they have to respond to me in person.” However, my dad actually went in and talked to one of the chefs there while I was at school, and he came back with some great news. One of the chefs invited me to the restaurant so that I could ask my questions! I started my conversation with one of the very kind chefs there! His name is Jerome, and he has tons of culinary experience, including working in Fairmont, Edmonton, and Whistler!! He was super kind and willing to answer all of my questions! Big up to Chef Jerome! I read what I wrote in my script, and he began by asking me what went wrong when I made my butter chicken so that he could give me specific suggestions. After I told him, he gave me quite a bit of feedback that will help me next week!

His suggestions/feedback!

• After I told him I had used a handheld blender, he immediately said that that was why I still had chunks in the sauce. So next time I’ll be using an actual blender.
• He also said that if I wanted to make authentic butter chicken, I could even blanch the tomatoes to get rid of the chunks.
• I told him about my problems with the overpowering flavour of the crushed tomatoes. He said that the ingredients in the crushed tomatoes consisted of salt and citric acid, so that may be the reason behind the strong flavour. He said that it was fine to use crushed tomatoes, but to balance the flavour he suggested that I add way more yogurt and heavy cream.
• Kind of going along with the previous point, he asked me if I used any sugar. I told him I did, but barely. He said it was crucial to add sugar and to put in a generous amount of it. Next time, I’ll definitely do that.
  Additionally, he also asked me what I marinated my chicken with. I told him I used lots of spices and olive oil. He suggested that next time I also incorporate yogurt!
• He told me it’s good to marinate the chicken overnight, which I did do.
• Also, he suggested I add some cashews in there, as they taste really good in the dish, and are for sure an essential!
• As for the question I had about “really finding that restaurant butter chicken flavour,” he told me there wasn’t really a restaurant butter chicken flavour. It was just that in restaurants, they use a lot more oil, heavy cream, etc., whereas, at home, we control how much of those things we add. He said that rather than restaurant butter chicken, homemade butter chicken is far more authentic and healthy.

Next week will be my improved butter chicken!