Butter Chicken

see similar recipe cooked in Slow Cooker

Serves 4

Chicken and marinade:

700 g (25oz) chicken breast - - approx. 4 large chicken breasts, diced

80 ml (⅓ cup) natural yogurt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 clove garlic - minced

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp mild chilli powder

For the sauce:

1 large onion - peeled and roughly chopped

4 cloves garlic - peeled

2 tsp minced ginger

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp sunflower oil

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ tbsp garam masala

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp cinnamon

120 ml (½ cup) chicken stock - - water plus a stock cube is fine

400 ml (14oz) passata

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp sugar

6 cardamom pods - - sew them together with a piece of string so you can easily fish them out later

175 ml (¾ cup) double (heavy) cream

Handful of chopped coriander to serve

Place the chicken in a bowl with the marinade ingredients, stir together and cover. Leave to marinate for 1 hour (up to overnight).

Place the roughly chopped onion and the 4 garlic cloves into a food processor and blend until smooth (if you’re using fresh ginger – rather than ready-minced – you can add the ginger in too.

Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.

Add the minced onion, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion starts to brown at the edges of the pan.

Add the marinated chicken to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until sealed.

Add the salt, garam masala, curry powder, paprika and cinnamon. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the spices start to release their fragrance.

Add the stock, passata, tomato puree, sugar and cardamom.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the cardamom then stir in the cream and allow to heat through.

Serve over rice, sprinkled with some freshly chopped coriander