Erica’s Butter Chicken

Tue, 28 November 2023

Makes 4 portions (can be frozen)

Takes 1hour

Ingredients

• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 thumbs ginger, minced
• 1 green chilli, minced
• 3 tsps garam masala
• 2 tsps red chilli powder
• 2 tsps smoked paprika (regular is fine if you can’t find smoked)
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 Lemon, zest & juice
• 150g Natural/Greek yogurt
• 600g Chicken breast or thighs OR 600g prawns/cauliflower/aubergine/tofu, chopped up chunky
• Oil for frying
• 1 White onion, finely chopped
• 500ml passata
• 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaf(optional, very hard to source)
• 100-200ml cream, depending how decadent you would like it
• 50g butter
• 50g ground almonds
• 50g toasted cashews or flaked almonds for garnish
• Handful of coriander for garnish
• 400g cooked basmati rice to serve

 

 

Method:

1. Firstly make up your marinade paste by combining the garlic, ginger, chilli, garam masala, chilli powder, paprika, salt and lemon zest & juice in a bowl. If you prefer, you can use a small food processor to save time. Make sure everything is minced finely.
2. Put half of this marinade mixture in a bowl with the yogurt, mix well and add your chicken/veg.
3. Be sure to fully coat the chicken/veg in the marinade, cover and place in the fridge for 30mins - 24hrs.
4. After this time, turn on the oven and cook the chicken for 15 mins at 200C, turning after ten minutes, don’t worry if it is wet or watery. Finish it under the grill for 1 minute to get some colouring.
5. You can char or grill your chicken/veg in another an instead of the oven if you prefer.
6. In the meantime, start your sauce.
7. Place a large frying pan over a medium heat and add in a tablespoon of oil.
8. Once this has started to heat up add in your onions and fry for a few moments.
9. Next, add in the other half of your marinade paste.
10. Fry this for a few minutes being sure to keep stirring to prevent it from sticking too much.
11. Allow these to cook for a minute, adding a splash of water if needs be.
12. Next put in your passata and fenugreek if you have some.
13. Season the sauce with some salt & pepper.
14. Bring this up to a bubble and turn down to a very gently simmer for ten to fifteen minutes.
15. At this point I like to blend it smooth with a soup gun.
16. Now add the chicken/veg with all its juices etc and allow it to bubble up again.
17. Next stir in the cream, butter and ground nuts.
18. Bring the heat back to a gently bubble, the sauce should be silky smooth and ready to serve, taste it for seasoning just in case.
19. Serve with coriander on top, toasted nuts, some rice and naan bread.