This butter chicken recipe is so much better than a takeaway curry. It only takes 15 minutes to prepare although you will need at least 30 minutes for the chicken and the spices to marinate. You'll be rewarded with a flavour packed dish.
You can serve this dish with rice and naan bread.
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- 8 cardamom pods
- 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
- 2 tsp. cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 1/2 cm (1 in) piece fresh root ginger, grated
- 1 long cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
- 500 g (1lb 2oz) chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-size pieces
- 250 g (9oz) natural yogurt
- 2 Tbsp. butter, ghee or vegetable oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 400 g (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes
- fresh coriander, optional, to garnish
- Step 1
With a pestle and mortar, bash open cardamom pods. Pick out seeds and discard husks. Add fenugreek, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, garlic and ginger to the mortar, and pound to make a rough paste.
- Step 2
Scrape the paste into a non-metallic bowl, then add cinnamon, chicken, yogurt and some seasoning. Mix, cover, chill for 30min to 24hr.
- Step 3
Heat butter/ghee/oil in a large pan and gently fry onions, stirring occasionally, for 15min, until golden. Add chicken mixture and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15min until chicken is cooked and sauce thickened. Discard cinnamon and check seasoning. Garnish with coriander, if using, and serve with rice or naan breads.
Freeze ahead
Complete recipe, but don’t garnish with coriander. Cool, transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 1 month. To serve, defrost in fridge, reheat in a pan until piping hot and complete recipe.
Per Serving:
- Calories: 341
- Fibre: 2 g
- Total carbs: 13 g
- Sugars: 11 g
- Total fat: 19 g
- Saturated fat: 8 g
- Protein: 28 g
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
