Old Delhi chicken curry
Butter chicken is a classic dish that’s been at the forefront of Britain’s love affair with Indian food for decades. Rich, mild and extremely moreish, it’s a crowd-pleasing curry that will continue being popular for years to come.
Will says: ‘The sauce that forms the base of this dish is derived from the classic Delhi chicken (or, as we know it, butter chicken) recipe, originally created by the Moti Mahal restaurant in Old Delhi. It should be smooth, creamy, slightly spicy and flecked with the green of dried fenugreek leaves. When I first tried it in Delhi it reminded me of a spicy version of Heinz cream of tomato soup from a can (in a good way!), so don’t be alarmed if you get the same flavour at the end.’
This recipe is taken from Kricket: An Indian-Inspired Cookbook by Will Bowlby (£28, Hardie Grant). Photography by Hugh Johnson.
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs , skinless and boneless
- 1 handful of coriander cress , or small coriander leaves, to garnish
- 1 knob of ginger , thumb-sized, cut into matchsticks, to garnish
Marinade
- 300g of Greek yoghurt
- 2 tbsp of mustard oil
- 2 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tbsp of ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
Sauce
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 2 Indian bay leaves
- 4 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 green chillies , split lengthways
- 1kg plum tomatoes , pureed
- 200ml of double cream, plus extra to serve
- 250g of unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp of garam masala
- 1 handful of fenugreek leaves, dried
- caster sugar, to taste
- sea salt , to taste
Method
- 300g of Greek yoghurt
- 2 tbsp of mustard oil
- 2 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tbsp of ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 8 chicken thighs , skinless and boneless
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 2 Indian bay leaves
- 4 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 green chillies , split lengthways
- 1kg plum tomatoes , pureed
- 200ml of double cream, plus extra to serve
- 250g of unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp of garam masala
- 1 handful of fenugreek leaves, dried
- caster sugar, to taste
- sea salt , to taste
- 1 handful of coriander cress , or small coriander leaves, to garnish
- 1 knob of ginger , thumb-sized, cut into matchsticks, to garnish
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Old Delhi chicken curry
