Butter chicken with cashew nut sauce

1. To make the sauce, toast the cashews in a pan to release a nutty aroma, approximately 3 to 4 minutes, while shaking the pan to prevent burning. Allow to cool and grind to a fine powder.

2. Heat the ghee in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, cumin and onion. Sauté until the onion is golden and translucent.

3. Add the ground cashews and incorporate into the ghee-and-onion mixture. Add the ground green chilli (to taste) and mix well. Add the cream, milk and water. Add salt to taste and cook for approximately 10 minutes on a low heat, stirring all the time to prevent burning, until the sauce has thickened.

4. Blend the sauce using a stick blender.

5. Coat the chicken pieces in the lemon juice, pepper, turmeric, cumin and coriander.

6. Heat the butter in an ovenproof pan and seal the chicken. Remove from the stove.

7. Pour the liquid from the pan into the cashew sauce and mix well. (You should achieve a yellow-coloured sauce at this stage.)

8. Place the chicken in the oven under the grill and cook for about 15 minutes.

9. Add the grilled chicken to the sauce and stir through. Simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

10. Light 3 pieces of charcoal (ordinary braai charcoal works perfectly) and place into a small, foil-lined dish. Place the dish in the middle of the pan containing the sauce and chicken. Add 2 T sunflower oil to the charcoal and close the lid of the pan immediately. Switch off the stove and leave the coal in for 3–5 minutes.

11. Discard the coal and garnish the dish with fresh coriander and crushed cashew nuts, if desired.

For more curry recipes, visit our curry recipe guide.

Extracted with permission from Naqiyah Mayat’s The Beginning: Indian recipes from my home (That Food Guy Publishing)