Recipe: Butter Chicken with Cauliflower Pilau

Serves: 3-4

Prep time: 30 minutes

Marinating time: overnight

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

500g chicken or breast, cut into thirds salt and pepper to tastse

Marinade

200g (1 cup) unsweetened natural yogurt

10g (2 tsp) cumin seeds

2 cloves garlic

10g (5cm piece) fresh ginger, peeled

20g (2 tsp) tomato paste

10g (1 1/2 tsp) ground coriander

10g (1 1/2 tsp) garam marsala

Sauce

2 onions, diced

15g (1 tsp) butter

4 whole cloves

1 stick cinnamon (or 5g/1 tsp ground)

fresh chilli or cayenne pepper to taste

30g (2 tbsp) cashew nuts

1x400ml can chopped tomatoes

250ml (1 cup) cream

15g (1 tbsp) chopped fresh coriander

Method

Make the marinade by blitzing all the marinade ingredients in a food processor. Marinate the chicken overnight to let the flavours penetrate and the yogurt tenderise the chicken.

The next day, preheat the oven grill, then lay the chicken pieces on the wire insert of the grill tray (reserving the marinade for stirring through the sauce later). Grill until the chicken begins to take on a nice colour, about 8 minutes under a hot grill. Season the chicken and transfer to a plate to rest. The chicken will still be under-cooked; it will finish cooking in the sauce, ensuring that it is juicy and tender.

Begin the sauce by sweating the onions in the butter until lightly browned, then add the spices and cashews and saute for 2 minutes on a medium heat.

Add in the tomatoes and allow to reduce for 5 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick (if used), then transfer the sauce to the food processor and blitz. Add in the chicken, remaining marinade, cream and fresh coriander. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes to finish cooking the chicken and to allow the flavours to combine.

Serve with Cauliflower Rice.

Recipe from What the Fat cookbook