Buttery Butter Chicken

Ever heard of The Curry Guy? The man spent more than a year cooking Indian food every day. He also wrote a cookbook about it, from which this recipe for butter chicken comes. Believe me: it takes a bit of work, but you’ll be licking your fingers clean.

You can find the recipe for tandoori chicken (see the ingredients list) here.

Now: In 1947, Kundan Lal Gujral opened the first tandoori restaurant, called Moti Mahal, in Delhi, India. Although tandoor-style ovens had been used for thousands of years, he was the first to have large tandoors made for use in a restaurant. The restaurant served deliciously marinated chicken, meat and vegetables, all perfectly grilled in a tandoor. Gujral didn’t like waste and came up with the idea of using leftover marinade in a curry, and that’s how butter chicken (murgh makhani) came about. For this recipe, use tandoori chicken tikka (see this recipe). Save the marinade for the sauce.

Method

1. Heat the rapeseed or cooking oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom pods and cassia leaves to the hot oil and stir for about 30 seconds.

2. Now add the onion and carrot and fry, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent but not brown. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt to draw moisture from the onion. Finely chop the garlic and ginger. Now add the garlic and ginger, fry for 30 seconds and add the diced tomatoes.

3. Add the paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander and ground turmeric and simmer gently for about 3 minutes. You now have two options. You can leave the sauce as it is, or remove all the whole spices and blend the sauce until smooth. The choice is yours. I usually leave the sauce as it is.

4. Lower the heat and place the grilled chicken in the sauce to warm through. Finally, stir in the cream and the reserved chicken marinade and turn the heat up again. Add the cold butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, and season with salt if necessary. Sprinkle with the garam masala and serve.

Title: The Curry Guy
Author: Dan Toombs
Publisher: Good Cook
Price: €19,95