Butter Chicken

Make the chicken broth. It’s best to use homemade, but if you’re in a hurry, you can use store-bought stock or substitute it with water. However, if you use water, the taste might not be as flavorful as it will be with broth. Cut the chicken thighs into large chunks.

Finely mince the garlic or crush it using a garlic press.

In a small mixing bowl, combine a pinch of salt with the paprika powder and the minced garlic. Run this spice mixture into the chicken and let it rest for about 15-20 minutes.

While the chicken is resting, make the sauce. Chop the tomatoes into large chunks. If tomatoes aren’t in season, you can use canned peeled tomatoes.

Dice the onions. If you’re out of red onions, you can use white or yellow onions instead.

In a skillet, heat up a little vegetable oil. Sautee the tomatoes in the oil for a few minutes. Then add the onions and sautee the vegetables for a few more minutes. Then add about a cup of chicken stock (or water). Add the tomato paste and a teaspoon of sugar. Keep cooking the tomatoes until they are soft.

Meanwhile, make the garam masala spice mixture. In a mortar, combine the cloves, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, bay leaves and other spices. If you don’t like some of the ingredients, you can substitute them for other spices, or add less of them. Using a pestle, grind up the spices. Add them to the sauce.

Add the yogurt and butter to the tomato sauce. Stir until the butter melts and the sauce is smooth and well-combined.

In a second pan, brown the chicken over high heat. Then lower the heat and continue cooking for about 10 minutes or until the chicken chunks have cooked through. Don’t forget to stir it from time to time.

Salt the sauce to taste. Blitz it in a blender until smooth and creamy. To make it even smoother, you can filter it through a mesh sieve.

Serve the chicken hot, with a generous helping of the tomato sauce. You can also add a little sour cream.