Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

From the last week of our Indian cooking class - a favourite curry!

Ingredients:


Marinade:
500g chicken breast
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
½tsp chilli powder
¼ cup plain yoghurt
4-6 Tbsp fresh cream - or 1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 Tbsp tandoori paste (I got this premade from my local Indian spice shop)

Gravy:
30g butter
300g tomato puree
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp chilli powder
3-4 tsp honey
200mL fresh cream
1 tsp crushed ginger
3 Tbsp roasted cashew pieces (optional)
1 Tbsp cashew powder

Method:

Marinade:
1. Remove skin from chicken, wash and make cuts over the pieces.  Dry chicken with a paper towel so that all the water is drained off.
2. Mix lemon juice and salt and rub over the pieces and into the cuts and leave for 15 minutes.
3. Mix yoghurt, fresh cream/oil, ginger, garlic, tandoori paste, and all dry ingredients in a big bowl to make a paste.  Now rub it over all the pieces thoroughly.
4. Leave it in the fridge overnight (or for least least 5 hours) before cooking.
5. Preheat the oven and place the chicken in a single layer in a greased shallow baking pan.
6. Brush the chicken with melted butter or oil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes on 220°C.
7. Turn pieces over, brush with butter or oil and let it bake until cooked through.  The water in the chicken should be absolutely dry.
8. Cut the roasted fillets into cubes.

Gravy:
1. Heat the butter.  Remove from heat and add ginger, chilli powder, salt and honey.
2. Add tomato puree and melon juice and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add cream and cook for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add roasted chicken pieces and cashed powder to sauce.
5. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, keep stirring every 4-5 minutes as cashew powder tends to settle at the bottom.
6. Finally, add cashew pieces and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serve hot with naan bread or plain rice.