Butter Chicken

I’ve been fortunate to have housemates and friends who were born or lived in India. I got to learn first hand how layers of flavour are built in curries and how they vary depending on the region. Butter Chicken is a great way to introduce children to spice because it’s flavourful without intense heat. Once you start making your own curry sauces (or gravies) you can’t wait to try out more combinations.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2 Adults and 2 Kids
350g leftover chicken or boneless chicken thigh
5 cloves garlic
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
1.5 tsp cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp veg oil
1 red onion
600g tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp malt vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
50g salted cashews
260g plain yoghurt
40g butter
small bunch of coriander

• Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks. Chop and squash the garlic and ginger until you have a paste. Put the chicken in a bowl with the garlic and ginger paste then sprinkle over the spices and salt. Massage the spices into the chicken then leave to marinade for 15 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet on a medium high heat. Cook the chicken for 1 minute on each side to get some colour on the meat then remove from the heat back into the bowl.
• Finely chop the red onion and roughly chop the tomatoes. Add the onion to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes (don’t let the onions burn) before adding the tomatoes, tomato puree, water and vinegar. Add the sugar, garam masala, salt and cashew nuts and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes until the tomatoes have become a sauce.
• Tip the sauce into a large bowl then blitz with a hand blender until smooth. Pour the sauce through a fine sieve back into the skillet. Use a ladle to push the sauce through the sieve until you’re left with just the seeds in the sieve.
• Add the yoghurt and butter to the sauce and stir then add the chicken pieces and cook over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle the final dish with chopped coriander and serve with pilau rice (and naan bread if gluten isn’t a problem).