Tasty, simple and fresh Indian butter chicken curry

These, along with my lamb Rogan josh are my two all time favourite Indian style curry dishes that I like to cook at home. The butter chicken is quite a mild curry and great for the whole family, my children love this dish, as long as it is not to spicy for them.

It makes a perfect dish to cook for friends as the large serving platter can be set in the middle of the table along with basmati rice, a salad and some naan bread and left for everybody to dig in.

Do try this dish at home as long as you have all of the correct spices it is quite a straight forward curry to make.

I will update kitchen files with my Rogan josh recipe soon along with a naan bread recipe also, so watch this space.

Serves 4

Ingredients;

To marinade the chicken;

1 x 4cm piece of ginger peeled and finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic peeled

Small pinch maldon salt

1tsp paprika

1tsp fenugreek

1tsp garam masala

1tsp ground turmeric

1tsp ground cumin

Juice of ½ a lemon

100ml natural yoghurt

4 chicken breast cut into 2cm cubes

 

For the sauce and to finish;

1 onion sliced

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 x 5cm piece ginger peeled and finely chopped

5 green cardamom pods, seeds only (lightly crush pod and remove seeds)

2 cloves

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp garam masala

1tsp ground turmeric

1tsp hot chilli powder

1tsp curry powder

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

Juice of ½ a lemon

100ml chicken stock

100ml double cream

1tblsp cold butter, diced

2tblsp coriander chopped

Method;

 

For the chicken;

Pre heat the oven to 220c.

Place the ginger, garlic and salt into a mortar, grind with the pestle until a smooth puree is achieved. Add all of the spices and mix again until everything has been well incorporated. Mix in the lemon juice and the yoghurt and mix to combine.

Place the diced chicken into a large bowl, pour over the marinade and rub it well into the chicken. Cover with cling film and leave to marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Place the chicken onto a rack set over a baking tray. Place the tray into the pre heated oven and cook for 5mins, turn the chicken over and continue to cook for 5mins or until cooked through. The chicken will start to brown around the edges, this adds to the finished flavour.

 

For the sauce;

Place a medium pan over the heat and add a little oil or ghee, add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry until golden brown.

Place the cardamom seeds and cloves into a mortar and crush with a pestle to a fine powder, add all of the other spices and mix well.

Add the spice mixture to the fried onions and garlic and add another tsp of oil or ghee if needed to prevent the spices from burning. Cook until the spices have released all of their flavour. Add the chopped tomatoes, lemon juice and chicken stock, bring to the boil. Turn the heat to a simmer and simmer the sauce for 20mins over a very low heat.

After the 20mins add the cooked chicken and the cream, cook for a further 5mins. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter, keep mixing and stirring until all of the butter has been completely absorbed. Do this away from the heat to prevent the sauce from splitting.

The curry is now ready to serve. Place the curry into a serving dish and sprinkle over the chopped coriander, serve with basmati rice and naan bread on the side.