Butter Chicken Masala Curry

Ingredients

• 0.5 lb Boneless chicken
• 2 tbsp Butter, melted
• 2 medium-sized Onions
• 2 medium-sized Tomato
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 3 Garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp Ginger
• 1 tbsp Garam masala or chicken masala
• 4 tbsp Cream
• 1 tbsp Chilli powder
• 0.25 tbsp Turmeric powder
• 0.25 tbsp Crushed fenugreek leaves
• 1 small bunch Coriander leaves or cilantro

Method

Butter chicken depends on two things: char on the meat and a sauce built from spice-blooming|bloomed spices hitting the tomato base. The marinade does two jobs — it seasons deep into the flesh and the acid begins denaturing the proteins, which helps with browning later.

Combine the chicken with salt, the ginger and garlic (crushed to a paste), half the chilli powder, turmeric, and lemon juice. Leave for at least an hour, ideally three. This isn't wasted time — the acid is already working. Roast at 200°C for 8–10 minutes until the surface has colour but the flesh inside is still raw. You're after browning, not cooking through. The chicken will finish in the sauce.

Heat the butter and oil together in a heavy-bottomed pan — the mix raises the smoke point and prevents the butter from browning too fast. Slice the onions thin and fry until they turn translucent and begin to take on colour at the edges, roughly 5 minutes. This is where you build flavour depth. Add the garlic-ginger paste and cook for 30 seconds only — longer and it catches and turns bitter. Now add the garam masala and chilli powder, stirring constantly for 10 seconds. This is spice-blooming: the dry spices hit the fat and release their volatile oils. You want the kitchen to smell sharp and hot.

Crush the tomatoes by hand or pulse them roughly, then add to the pan with salt. The rough texture matters because it gives the sauce body and prevents it becoming a smooth paste. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce darkens to a rust-brown and the tomato flavour stops tasting raw — you're concentrating it and breaking down the cell walls. Nestle the roasted chicken into the sauce, add the fenugreek leaves, and simmer for 8–10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce clings to it. The cream goes in last — heat it through without boiling, which would split the fats. Taste and adjust salt. Finish with fresh coriander. Serve over rice or with naan to soak the sauce.