Ingredients

• 8 chicken thigh fillets, sliced
• steamed Basmati rice and or naan to serve
• kasoori methi and coriander leaves, for garnish

Marinade

• 1 thumb size piece fresh ginger, finely grated

• 6 cloves garlic, finely grated

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• 1½ tsp ground cumin

• 1½ tsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp garam masala

• 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

• 1 tsp sea salt

• juice of 1 lemon

• 120ml greek yoghurt

Sauce

• 2 tbs peanut oil
• 100g unsalted butter

• 1 red onion, finely diced

  2min

• 4 cardamom pods

• 2 dried bay leaves

• 3 whole cloves

  1min

• ½ tsp ground turmeric

• 1½ tsp ground cumin

• 1 tbsp garam masala

• 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

• 1½ tsp ground coriander

• sea salt, to season

  5min

• 60g roasted cashews

• 250ml (1 cup) water

• 400g can crushed tomatoes (or 6 fresh ripe tomatoes)

  20 min simmer

  Blend

• 100ml thickened cream

• 1 - 2 tbsp caster sugar, to taste depending on sourness

  Add chicken and heat on low, do not boil otherwise may split

• coriander

• kasoori methi

Directions

Marinate the chicken

Mix the ginger and garlic together and set half aside for the sauce. 
Mix the other half with rest of the ingredients

Mix chicken into the marinade with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, up to overnight. 

Cooks the Sauce

• Heat half the butter and oil in a heavy based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and reserved garlic and ginger paste. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until the onion starts to soften.
• Add the hard spices. cardamom, cloves and bay leaves and stir through to infuse the butter.
• Then add the ground spices. turmeric, cumin, garam masala, chilli powder and coriander. Season with salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

• Stir in the cashews, and cook until starting to toast. Pour in the water and deglaze the pan, then add the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat and cook at a simmer for 20 minutes (add a little more water if the sauce becomes too dry).

• After simmering the sauce for about 10 minutes, start cooking the chicken.

• After simmering for 20 minutes, remove the hard spices and discard, then transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth and creamy.

• Return the sauce to the saucepan over a low heat. Stir through the remaining butter and the cream. Season to taste with the caster sugar.

Grill chicken and add to sauce

• Preheat a BBQ grill to high heat. Cook the chicken slices for 5-6 minutes, turning to char well on both sides.

• Remove the chicken from the grill and add it to the finished sauce. Stir through over low heat for a few minutes, until heated hot.

• Serve the butter chicken over steamed rice, garnished with coriander and kasoori methi with some fresh naan bread on the side.

Last modified on 2026-06-03