Name: Butter chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 3–4
Cuisine: AU-Indian
Ingredients: 125 ml (½ cup) full-fat plain yoghurt; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tsp turmeric; 2 tsp garam masala; ½ tsp chilli powder or cayenne; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 750 g chicken thigh fillets, bite-size pieces; 30 g (2 tbsp) ghee or butter (or 1 tbsp oil); 250 ml (1 cup) tomato passata; 250 ml (1 cup) thickened cream; 1 tbsp sugar; 1¼ tsp salt; Basmati rice and coriander, to serve

Method

Mix yoghurt, lemon, spices, ginger and garlic. Coat the chicken. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
Heat ghee in a large frypan over high heat. Add chicken with the marinade clinging to it (do not dump leftover bowl liquid yet). Cook about 3 minutes until the outside is white.
Add passata, cream, sugar, salt and any leftover marinade. Turn heat to low and simmer 20 minutes until the sauce is a rich orange and slightly thickened.
Taste for salt. Serve with basmati rice.

Tip: Marinade is what makes the chicken tender. The sauce is rich from cream, not a huge amount of butter. Garam masala is a supermarket spice mix.