Butter Chicken. Yum.

Who doesn't love Butter Chicken? I've made it a couple of times and always been impressed with the result - you'd be pretty happy to get this at a restaurant (in my opinion).

This recipe is heavily tweaked from Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall's The Meat Book.

What you'll need to marinate the chicken:

• 1.5 kg bones chicken thigh fillets, chopped into inch cubes
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbs plain yogurt
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 Tbs Garam Masala
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 2 Tbs grated ginger (fresh)
• 6 cloves of garlic

Mix the ingredients together and let marinate for 2-6 hours, but no more ideally. Fire up your oven to 350F and put some oil in a couple of roasting dishes. Drizzle some oil in there and then plonk the chicken and marinade in there (single layer, please!) and bake until just cooked.

While this is happening, make the sauce:

• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes (don't use pureed or you'll have burns on your arms from the spitting. Ask me how I know)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
• 1 cup water
• 1.5 sticks of butter
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 4 tbs honey
• 1 Tbs fenugreek
• 1+ cup heavy cream
• salt and pepper

Start my melting your obscene amount of butter in a large pot (it's called Butter chicken for a reason!). Now add the onions and saute until golden. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, fenugreek, and fry until the spices are smelling great. Don't let them burn. Toss in the tomato paste and fry for a bit. Then add the water and use it to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.

Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 20 mins. Puree this sauce with a stick blender (or regular one). Now add the cream and honey. Taste it. You'll want to add a fair bit of salt and pepper. If it's too tomato-ey, add more cream and/or honey. It shouldn't taste specifically of tomato, but rich, creamy and delish. Now add the cooked chicken, stir and let the flavours mingle over very low heat for about 10 mins. 

Serve with basmati rice and other curried things.