What she’d tell you
Leave a little sauce for the rice. It is much too good to leave in the pan.
What you need
Written for 4. Change that in the app and the amounts follow.
Tick things off as you get them ready.
Continue to the method ↓
How it goes
Cut the thighs into large chunks and turn them through the yogurt with half the garam masala and a teaspoon of salt. Set aside while you peel and finely chop the onion and garlic, and grate the ginger.
Melt half the butter in a wide pan over medium-high. Colour the chicken in batches, 3 minutes a side. It need not be cooked through. Set it aside.
Lower the heat, add the rest of the butter, and soften the onion for 6 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and the remaining garam masala and cook 1 minute more.
Add the tomatoes and the rest of the salt. Simmer 12 minutes until it darkens and thickens.
While the sauce simmers, rinse the rice in a sieve. Bring a separate saucepan of water to the boil, add the rice and cook uncovered until tender, following the packet time; white basmati usually takes 10–12 minutes. Drain, cover off the heat and leave for 3 minutes. Keep covered until the chicken is ready.
Stir in the cream, return the chicken with its juices, and simmer gently for 8 minutes until cooked through.
Taste for salt and serve with rice.
If you haven’t got it
Chicken Thighs
chicken breast, but add it later: it dries out faster
Cream
coconut milk, which adds a coconut flavour to the sauce
Keeping it
Three days in the fridge, and the flavour improves overnight.
Low heat in a pan with a splash of water. Freezes for two months.
