Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken

We have adapted a classic butter chicken recipe to use with our bhuna blend but you could of course use this with any of our spice mixes. This is a good recipe if you are entertaining - start it the day before then it's very easy to put together on the day of the party.  The chicken is marinated before baking the whole dish in the oven. It is a dryer curry and does need watching in the oven so be sure to keep an eye on it. Delicious served with our Mint and Coriander Raita or other side dishes and our Easy Flatbreads.

Ingredients:
4cm piece of ginger, grated
6 garlic cloves, crushed
150ml natural yoghurt
8 tsps Bhuna Spice Pot
400g tin chopped tomatoes (or fresh ones)
1.5 teaspoons of salt
1kg chicken breasts or thigh fillets (boneless), cut into largish chunks
Oil or ghee for frying
1 large onion, thinly sliced
Coriander to garnish
4 tbsp double cream (optional)

Method:

1. Mix together the ginger, garlic, yoghurt, Spice Pot spices, tomatoes and salt.  Add the chicken and coat thoroughly.  Cover and marinate, overnight or for at least 2 hours.
2. Heat the oil (or ghee if you prefer) in a large frying pan and cook the onion until soft and browning.  Add the chicken mixture and fry on a high heat for 2 minutes (I used to leave out this step and it still works fine). Mix in the coriander and cream and tip into a shallow baking dish.
3. Bake for 1 hour at 180 C.  If the top is browning too quickly, cover with tinfoil.  If not browned enough, put under the grill for a couple of minutes at the end of cooking time. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.  

Serve with rice and flatbread.

Notes on Butter Chicken
Butter chicken, or Murgh Makhni is a Mogul dish that has many versions.  The butter in the title refers to ghee, a type of clarified butter.   

Love a Bhuna curry?  Try our easy Chicken Bhuna recipe or Lamb Bhuna.

Or have a look at some of our easy curry recipes.