The Ultimate Butter Chicken

  This is an absolute favourite in our house.

A long list of ingredients I know, but, they will reward you with an amazingly rich dish and lots of it! This freezes really well so I always make this large quantity to give me a night off another night.

Please note, the tomato paste is not a typo! I use a large jar of the triple strength paste that we can buy here in Australia. The tomato paste, paprika and Kashmiri chilli will give you the amazing colour so associated with butter chicken.

Start this recipe the day before.

Serves 12.

Ingredients

1.8kg chicken thighs, diced

250mls natural yoghurt

40mls lemon juice

2 tablespoons garam masala

4 teaspoons paprika

1 tablespoon ground cumin

50g fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

100g ghee

2 onions, thinly sliced

4 large cloves garlic, minced

2 cinnamon sticks/quills

4 green cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed

16 black peppercorns

1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder

2 teaspoons turmeric powder

3 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

80g raw cashew nuts

450mls cream

500mls tomato paste

250mls water

fresh coriander to serve

Method

In a large zip lock bag, combine the chicken, yogurt, lemon juice, garam masala, paprika, cumin and ginger. Seal the bag and give it a good squish around to make sure all of the chicken is covered. Pop in the fridge for 24hours.

In a large pan, I use a very large shallow pan,  heat the ghee.

Once hot add the cinnamon, cardamom seeds and black pepper, once fragrant add the chilli, turmeric, garlic and onions and cook over a medium heat until the onions are very soft, around 30mins.

Add the chicken and marinade to the pan, stir well.

Process the cashews and water, add to the chicken, along with the cream, tomato paste, salt and sugar.

Bring up to the boil and gently simmer for 30-40 mins until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Check the seasoning, you may want to add more salt and or sugar.

To serve, just sprinkle over a little fresh coriander.