Butter chicken recipe

There’s we love more than a Friday night curry – but put down the takeaway menu, because we’ve got a cracking recipe for you to have a go at instead!

Executive Chef Kiran Selvarajan recently held a Zoom masterclass for the rest of the team, featuring his brilliant butter chicken recipe. Appearing in Delhi some time in the 1950s, the tomato and butter-based curry was first seen at the Moti Mahal restaurant. Our team cooked along with Kiran as he made his version of the recipe and were pretty pleased with the result (and we hope you are too!).

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the chicken
300g chicken breast, boneless
1½ tsp ginger, grated
1½ tsp garlic, crushed
1 tbsp red chilli powder, mild or hot
Salt
Sunflower/vegetable oil

For the sauce
500g roughly chopped tomatoes or tinned chopped tomatoes
100g onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp garlic, crushed
50g cashew nuts (optional)
½ tsp garam masala
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp red chilli powder, mild or hot
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp cream
1½ tbsp white wine vinegar/lime juice
Salt

Method

1. Add the ginger, garlic and red chilli powder to a bowl and mix together. Dice the chicken into large chunks and rub with the marinade. Leave for 15-20 minutes.
2. In a frying pan, heat about 1 tbsp oil and fry the chicken with a little salt. Remove from the pan.
3. In the same pan add about 1 tbsp oil and a 1 tbsp of butter, then fry the onions for about 5-10 minutes.
4. Once soft, add the tomato, garlic, lemon juice, garam masala, sugar, chilli powder and cashew nuts. Mix to combine and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove the sauce and place in a bowl to cool down a bit.
5. Once cool, use a hand blender to blitz the sauce to a smooth texture.
6. Pour the sauce back into the pan, and add the chicken, butter and cream. Simmer for 5-7 minutes, so that everything’s warmed through. Check the seasoning and add a little salt if necessary.
7. Garnish with drizzle of cream and chopped coriander and serve with rice or your favourite Indian bread.