Chicken in Butter (Butter Chicken)

Cooking

1. Mix the ginger and garlic together and set half aside for the sauce. Mix the other half with the turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, chilli and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and yoghurt.
2. Mix chicken into the marinade with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, up to overnight.
3. 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.
4. Add the cardamom, cloves and bay leaves and stir through to infuse the butter. Then add the turmeric, cumin, garam masala, chilli powder and coriander. Season with salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
5. 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).
6. After simmering the sauce for about 10 minutes, start cooking the chicken.
7. After simmering for 20 minutes, remove the hard spices and discard, then transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth and creamy.
8. 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.
9. Preheat a BBQ grill to high heat. Cook the chicken slices for 5-6 minutes, turning to char well on both sides.
10. 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.
11. Serve the butter chicken over steamed rice, garnished with coriander and kasoori methi with some fresh naan bread on the side.