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Food Technology

Easy Butter Chicken

This is a really simple weeknight butter chicken recipe. It can be made quickly and easily. It might not be the most authentic, but it’s easy and tasty and can be made without much fuss.

The recipe works by marinating chicken overnight, and then using this as the basis for the sauce. You’ll need to make the marinade one day, and then the curry comes together in about 30 minutes on the next day.

This serves 2 hungry people!

Ingredients

For the Marinade:

  • 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
  • 2 teaspoons of garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon of ginger
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 400 grams of chicken thigh fillets

For the Curry:

  • 2 tablespoons of ghee
  • 1 cup of passata
  • 1 cup of double cream
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • Chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method

The marinade should be made 24 hours in advance

  1. Peel the ginger and garlic cloves and crush them in a pestle and mortar until they become a fine paste.
  2. Chop the chicken thighs into small bite size pieces.
  3. Add all of marinade ingredients to a bowl and mix together until everything is combined and the chicken is completely coated.
  4. Cover the bowl in cling film and store in the fridge overnight (ideally, for 24 hours).

To create the curry, I like to do this in a heavy cast iron casserole dish

  1. Add the ghee to the pan on a high heat and allow to come up to temperature.
  2. Once the ghee is hot, add the marinated chicken to the pan and cook for a few minutes until the outside of the chicken is cooked. Try not to add too much of the marinade at this point.
  3. Add the passata, double cream, salt, sugar and remaining marinade to the pan and stir. At this point the sauce will probably look very pink (rather than a deep orange). This is normal.
  4. Allow the curry to simmer at a medium heat for roughly 20 minutes, look for the sauce becoming a darker orange colour and reducing to a thicker consistency. The look of the sauce is more important than a specific timing!
  5. Add the chopped coriander at the last minute and stir through.
  6. Serve with pilau rice or naan (or both!)