Punjabi Butter Chicken with Charred Thighs

About this recipe

The trick most home versions miss is cooking the chicken separately and hard, so it picks up bitter char before it ever meets the sauce. That smoke is what stops a butter-and-cream gravy tasting flat. The sauce itself is blitzed smooth, then let down with a little of the marinade juices rather than more cream.

Ingredients

• 800 g chicken thigh filletsboneless and skinless
• 20 g fresh corianderchopped
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1.5 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp dried fenugreek leavescrushed between the palms
• 100 ml double cream
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp kashmiri chilli powderfor colour more than heat
• 6 whole garlic clovescrushed
• 40 g Fresh root gingerpeeled and grated
• 1 whole lemonjuiced
• 150 g natural yoghurtfull fat

Method

1. 1

   Cut the thighs into large three-bite pieces. Mix the yoghurt, lemon juice, half the ginger, half the garlic, the chilli powder, turmeric and 1 tsp of the salt in a bowl, add the chicken and turn until every piece is coated. Leave for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.

   Do not trim the thighs too neatly. The ragged edges are what catch and char.

2. 2

   Heat the grill to its highest setting. Spread the chicken in a single layer on a foil-lined tray, shaking off only the thickest clumps of marinade, and grill 12 cm from the element for 8 to 10 minutes until the tops are blistered and blackened in places. Turn once and give it another 5 minutes. Do not cook it through completely.

   Keep every drop of the juice that collects in the foil. It goes into the sauce later.

3. 3

   While the chicken grills, warm the oil in a wide pan over a medium heat. Add the remaining ginger and garlic and fry for 1 minute until it smells sweet rather than raw. Stir in the cumin and garam masala and let them toast for 30 seconds.

4. 4

   Add the tomato puree and cook it out for 2 minutes until it darkens to brick red, then tip in the chopped tomatoes, the sugar and 150 ml water. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until reduced and no longer watery.

5. 5