By Jessie Lehail,
Special to The Post

I love a food mash up. The idea of throwing two good things together to make a new wonderful thing always makes me smile. My newest experiment: cheese and butter chicken sauce baked into bread. That’s pull apart bread doused with herbs, cheese, and butter chicken sauce. It’s delicious, filling, and the perfect comfort food for cold winter days.  
 
Dough 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• ½ teaspoon sugar 
• ½ Tablespoon olive oil
• 7/8 cup warm water
 
Place all of the dough ingredients in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Knead for about 5 minutes until a well-formed ball is created. Oil a mixing bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean tea towel. Let rise until doubled, about 2 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Punch the dough down and stretch it out on a piece of parchment or wax paper. Top with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 2 tablespoons of butter chicken sauce. Chop it into smaller pieces with a knife, mixing in the sauce and cheese. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Grease a round spring form pan and shape the chopped bread into a round and place it in the pan. Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Let the dough rise covered for about 15-20 minutes. Bake about 20 minutes. Gently pull apart some of the chopped bread in the center to make sure it is cooked all the way through. Serve with additional Butter Chicken sauce.

Butter Chicken Sauce 

• 2 tablespoons ghee or butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 inch ginger, minced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red chili  
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric 
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder 
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander  
• 2 teaspoon Kasoori methi
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of cream 
• Cilantro for garnish 

Add onions, garlic, ginger, and chili to a blender. Add a bit of water and blend. Meanwhile, add ghee to a pan on medium heat. Once ghee melts, add onion, ginger, garlic, and chili mixture. Sauté for 10 to 15 minutes on low heat. Add tomato paste and sauté for another 5 minutes. The mixture should be quite dry and slightly browned. Add tomato sauce and add spices, except Kasoori Methi, and cook for another minute. Cover your pan and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes. Add cream and Kasoori Methi, let it simmer for another few minutes, and garnish with cilantro. 

Jessie Lehail is the author of Indian Influence, a food blog that takes global eats and reinterprets them with a South Asian influence. Visit her blog at www.indianinfluence.ca.