Butter chicken curry

I have had the most intense curry craving for the longest time. Good curry. Made with good quality spices that form a rich sauce perfect for dunking Naan into. So last weekend when I was too lazy to cook, I decided to go to my favourite curry joint to get us dinner. When I got there, they were closed (!!) so I stopped at a place close to my house and was so bitterly disappointed by their curry. It was bland, underseasoned and incredibly expensive. So I decided that this week I would make my own because after all, home made is always best.

I made my old favourite, Butter Chicken which is a rich, aromatic tomato-based curry made with tender chicken. I used chicken breasts for this because it’s what I had in the fridge but boneless chicken thighs will also work well. The nice thing about this curry is that it cooks in 30-45 minutes and the marinating can happen overnight and this takes all of 5 minutes to put together. So as far as curry goes, this is a really nice quick one. I served the curry with steamed Jasmine rice and Naan that I made from shop-bought bread dough. I simply rolled balls of the dough into oblong shapes and cooked them in a really hot pan for 1-2 minutes per side until they were cooked through then brushed them with melted butter as they came out of the pan. It was absolutely scrumptious and the leftovers are even better the next day.

4.5 from 2 votes

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Butter chicken curry

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

Course: Curry, Dinner

Servings: 8 -10

Author: Alida Ryder

Ingredients

For the marinade

• 2 kg Chicken Breasts cut into bite-sized chunks
• 200 ml Plain yoghurt
• 2 red chillies
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons Garam Masala
• 2 cardamom pods
• Thumb size piece ginger grated
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 x 400g tins whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tin tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

For cooking

• 3 tablespoons oil/ghee
• 2 large onions sliced
• 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
• 100 g butter cubed

Instructions

1. In a blender, process the spices, yoghurt, tomatoes, ginger and garlic until completely fine. Pour over the chopped chicken and allow to marinade (I left mine for about 2 hours)
2. Heat the oil in a hot pot and fry the onions until soft and golden.
3. Add the garlic and fry for another minute then add the Chicken and all the marinade and allow to come to the boil.
4. Lower the heat and allow to cook for 30-45 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and the sauce has thickened.
5. Add the butter and stir through. Season to taste.
6. Serve with Jasmine Rice and Naan Bread.