RAMADAN DIARIES: BUTTER CHICKEN

Butter Chicken (also known as Murgh Makhani) is one of my all time favourites. It’s similar to chicken tikka but so much creamier and rich in flavour. Whenever I make butter chicken, I will always either make some flavoursome pilau saffron rice to accompany it or some freshly made tandoori naan. (or you can do both!) It was also the dish of choice that I decided to make for the Ramadan iftar boxes that I had prepped for some fellow work colleagues to educate them on the month of Ramadan.

I have made this recipe a few times with different methods to get to a feel of what works best. I think the key to a really beautiful creamy butter chicken is how you choose to cook the chicken before it is incorporated into its rich creamy sauce. The best way to cook the chicken is making sure you have the right marinade ingredients infused into the chicken meat and then making sure that you slow roast or chargrill it to perfection before the sauce is made. I probably tried so many online recipes until I came across one that worked best for me. What I love most about this is how the chicken is succulent in the centre but has that roasted flavour within the creamy sauce.

Ingredients:

Marinade

1 ½ lbs boneless chicken thigh chunks

2 tbsp of thick Greek yoghurt

2 tsp gram flour

4 gloves of garlic

1 small piece of ginger, peeled

1tsp paprika

½ tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

½ turmeric powder

1 tsp fresh coriander

Pinch of crushed saffron

Salt, to taste

Butter, for basting

Juice of ½ lemon

Sauce

1 ½ tbsp unsalted butter

5 green cardamom pods lightly crushed

4 cloves

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 green chillies slit lengthwise

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp garam masala powder

1 can of peeled plum tomatoes

150mls double cream

1 tbsp kasoori methi

Method:

1. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilli into a small grinder to grind into a smooth paste. Mix the yoghurt with the gram flour in a bowl to form a thick paste like consistency. Add in the garlic, ginger and chilli paste, paprika, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and coriander. Also mix in the saffron, salt and lemon. Leave this to refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

2. Soak wooden skewers in water. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6. Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers and place onto a wire rack. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Turn the skewers every 5 minutes and baste with melted butter until the juices run clear and they are cooked through slightly charred around the edges. Or Alternatively I sometimes get a griddle pan out and grill them in a pan until they are cooked, start off on a low heat to let the meat soften before grilling on a high heat.

3. To make the sauce heat the butter in a pain and ads to this garlic cloves and green cardamom. Fry for 20 seconds and then add the finely chopped onions and sauté for 5-7 mins on a medium heat until they develop a light brown colour.

4. Add in the grated ginger and slit the green chillies lengthwise. Fry for a further minute and then add the chilli powder, garam masala powder along with the can of tomatoes. Stir this well and cook for a couple of minutes. Gradually add the double cream stirring continuously to mix all the spices with the cream. Simmer and cook for 2-3 mins.

5. After this add in the cooked chicken pieces and simmer the curry on a low heat for 8-10 minutes. Garnish with coriander.

6. Then serve with saffron pilau rice and tandoori naan