Butter Chicken

An authentic version of a delicious butter chicken curry. Rich, indulgent and creamy, this curry goes very well with fresh homemade naan. Recipe below...

INGREDIENTS

Serves 5-6

Chicken:

4 tbsp yoghurt

1 tsp ginger (grated)

1 tsp garlic (crushed)

3 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp saffron (optional)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

700g skinless / boneless chicken thighs, roughly diced (bitesize piece)

Naan (makes 6):

500g bread flour

6 tbsps yoghurt

2 tsp dried instant yeast

2 tsp salt

6 tsp caster sugar

4 tbsp olive oil

354g / 1.5 cups water

Curry:

3 tbsp ghee (butter can be used if you do not have this)

6 cardamom pods

5 cloves

1 cinnamon stick (2 tsp of ground cinnamon good alternative)

2 onions finely diced

1 green chilli finely diced

1 tsp ginger, grated

1 tsp garlic, crushed

100g cashew nuts (soaked in hot water for an hour then blended into a paste)

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp Kasoori methi (fenugreek leaves)

1.5 cups double cream

Method:

Chicken:

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

2. Once marinated, place the chicken onto skewers and place under a grill at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, turning and basting with ghee throughout.

Naan:

1. Mix the bread flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Separately, mix together the warm water, olive oil, yoghurt and yeast and leave in a warm area for 10 minutes to let the yeast bloom.

2. Add the yeast mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and knead for 10 minutes until smooth.

3. Cover and rest the dough until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

4. Once doubled in size, remove the dough from the bowl and separate into 6 pieces.

5. On a lightly floured surface roll out each piece until it is about 1/2 inch thick.

6. Bring a cast iron pan to a medium high heat. Make sure this is hot before adding the naan. No oil is needed.

7. Add a naan into the dry pan and cook for roughly 2.5 minutes on each side (until bubbles form and slightly charred - be careful not to burn them!).

8. Once cooked, remove from the pan and wrap in a kitchen towel. After you have cooked each naan, add them to the towel. The steam will keep them warm.

9. When ready to serve, drizzle with melted ghee (or butter) and top with some black onions seeds and chopped parsley.

Curry:

1. In a saute pan heat up 2 tbsp of ghee over a high heat. Add in the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick. Fry for one minute until fragrant, then turn the heat down to medium/high.

2. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and green chilli to the pan and cook until starting to golden. Next add the cumin, coriander, chilli powder and kasoori methi. Cook for a further few minutes.

3. To the pan add the blended cashew nuts, tomato paste, cream and 1 tbsp ghee.

4. Remove the cinnamon stick from the pan and tip the curry sauce into a blender (or simply use a hand blender). Blitz until smooth, adding some water if it is too thick. If you would prefer more texture, you do not need to do this, however I would recommend finely chopping all of the ingredients before hand.

5. Add the chicken into the pan and put back on the heat and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Depending on consistency, add more water if it is too thick, vice versa reduce it to thicken further. Once cooked, serveTop with crispy shallots, coriander and a drizzling of melted ghee. with the warm naan and enjoy!