Butter chicken curry

THURSDAY SERVES 6-8 TIME 1hr 15min LEVEL Medium

INGREDIENTS:

For the chicken marinade:

350g or 2 skinless chicken

breast fillets cut into 2cm cubes ½ cup plain yoghurt

½ tsp garlic crushed

½ teaspoon ginger crushed

1 tsp ground cumin /jeera

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp fine salt

25g finely chopped coriander

For the sauce:

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp butter ghee

(clarified butter)

1 medium onion diced

½ tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped or ginger paste

2 tsp garlic finely chopped or

garlic paste

20g finely chopped coriander leaves

½ cup tomato puree or 4 tbsp

tomato paste

½ tsp ground cumin/jeera

½ tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp kasoori methi leaves (dried fenugreek)

1 cup heavy cream or double cream plain yoghurt

1 tbsp sugar or honey

Salt to taste

METHOD:

In a bowl, combine chicken with all the ingredients for the marinade, let sit for an hour or overnight in the refrigerator. Heat oil in a large frying pan or pot over medium heat. When sizzling, add the chicken pieces in batches, grill the chicken until brown and set aside.

Heat oil and butter or ghee in the same pan, sauté onions until golden brown while scraping up any browned bits stuck in pan.

Add garlic, ginger, ground cumin, coriander and chilli powder and cook about 20 seconds until fragrant while stirring.

Add tomato puree or paste and salt, let it simmer for about 10-15 min until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and pour mixture into a blender and blend until smooth (you may need to add some water to help it blend).

Pour the blended sauce back into the pan,

add in the cream/yoghurt, kasoori methi leaves and the chicken cubes with the juices into the pan and cook for a further 10-15 min over medium heat until sauce is thick.

Taste for salt, garnish with fresh coriander, put a teaspoon of plain yoghurt on top and

serve with homemade naan bread, basmati rice or roti.

Chef Athizaam Rassool – The Edward Hotel