Mum’s butter chicken

This butter chicken recipe is a favourite of Aditya Paul’s family and created by his mother, a sensory food scientist. The secret of the sauce lies in making a homemade garam masala blend by roasting and grinding whole spices from scratch – a far more flavourful method than purchasing pre-ground supermarket garam masala blends.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 250 g Greek yogurt
• 250 g thickened cream
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp sweet paprika
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
• 500 g chicken thighs, cut into 3 cm chunks
• 2 brown onions, finely chopped
• Salt
• ¼ tsp ground fenugreek
• ½ tin (200 g) crushed tomatoes
• 40 g butter
• ½ tsp sugar
• Coriander leaves, thinly sliced cucumber and cooked basmati rice, to serve

For the garam masala

• 4 cinnamon sticks (5 cm lengths)
• 12 bay leaves
• 5 black cardamom pods
• 20 green cardamom pods
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
  

Resting time: 5 minutes

Marinating time: 1 hour - overnight

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the ginger garlic paste, yoghurt, cream, pepper, paprika, chilli, 1 tbsp oil and the chicken thigh pieces. Mix well to combine, then cover and refrigerate. Marinate for 30 minutes to overnight.
   
2. Meanwhile, make the garam masala. Heat a medium, dry frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the cinnamon, bay leaves and black cardamom pods. Toast the spices for 15 seconds, while gently shaking the pan, then add the remaining garam masala ingredients. Continue toasting the spices for a further 30 seconds, or until fragrant, taking care as the spices can burn easily. Transfer the toasted whole spices to a plate and allow to cool completely before using a spice grinder to grind the whole spices to a fine powder.
   
3. When ready to cook, heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan or wok over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for 6-8 minutes or until golden-brown. Stir through a generous pinch of salt with the ground fenugreek and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Stir through the crushed tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally for a further 3 minutes, or until thickened.
   
4. Add the butter and marinated chicken to the pan and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through. Stir through the sugar and the garam masala.
   
5. Spoon the butter chicken into a serving platter and sprinkle with coriander leaves. Serve with sliced cucumber and cooked basmati rice.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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