Curry for Eleven

Last year my house mate, Kate, spent a year in Paris in order to improve her French. A year which I imagine was probably both terrifying and amazing at the same time. She was lucky enough to meet a good bunch of people who she made some amazing memories with whilst she was out there. Some of the group study at Warwick, like myself and Kate, others were from Birmingham and Ireland. At the start of the year, a big group of Kate's Paris friends came to visit and so Kate wanted to put together a big dinner for everyone. The dish of choice was curry (an easy way to feed a big number of people) and of course being the token Indian house mate, I volunteered my services. 


I learnt most of my Indian cooking from my parents, who are both amazing cooks. They've made me believe that there really is no food like home food. In the past year or so however, I've been braving it and trying to develop my own style of Indian cooking. When Kate's friends came down, we cooked them chicken butter masala & served it with rice. I've tried this recipe a few times and have finally come up with my favourite version. We cooked this for Kate's friends from Paris, as well as a few other people & eventually ended up cooking for 11. It still amazes me that we managed to work that out logistically! The recipe which I'm about to post is: a. for 4 people and b. different to the traditional recipes you'll find for chicken butter masala, but I love this curry & I hope if any of you try it, you will too. 


Chicken Butter Masala (for 4)

4 chicken breasts

Marinade:
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp tandoori masala • 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp tomato puree


Sauce
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 tbsp cashew nuts
• 4 tbsp almonds
• 4 tbsp fresh cream
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 5-6 tomatoes (pureed)
.
1. Marinade the chicken for an hour then cook in the oven till done
2. Grind the almonds & cashews till they make a paste
3. Finely chop the onions & garlic and fry in butter till golden brown 
4. Add the ginger & garlic paste
5. Add the nut paste to the pan with the onions, garlic & ginger6. Add the cream & tomatoes to the mixture and stir till you have a thick sauce
7. Tear the chicken into eatable chunks and add to the sauce
8. Add the salt & spices (chilli, coriander, turmeric, garam masala) and simmer for 5 - 7 mins
9. Garnish with more butter & cream (to taste) and freshly chopped coriander
10. Serve hot with basmati rice