Murg Makhni (Chicken Curry)

If you have ever struggled to create a really good tomato based Punjabi chicken curry, this one is a classic. Its quick and easy to make and doesn’t need hours of preparation.

I tend to use a 700g pack of boneless chicken thighs, as they have more flavour than breast meat. This will serve about 4 people.

First cut each chicken thigh in half, so each piece is still quite large. Add the chicken to a bowl with a tablespoon of vegetable oil, the juice of a squeezed lemon and enough natural plain yoghurt to coat the chicken. Mix in a tablespoon of tandoori masala powder, which you can get from any large supermarket. You can make this yourself but i find the shop stuff is quick and easy to use with good results. Leave this to marinade whilst you get on with the makhni sauce.

Roughly chop 500g of tomatoes and add to a hot pan with a splash of vegetable oil. Roughly chop 4 cloves of garlic, an inch of fresh ginger and add this to the tomatoes. Then add a teaspoon of turmeric, cumin and coriander powder. Also add a tablespoon of chilli powder, a stick of cinnamon, 4 green cardamom pods and 4 cloves. Cook this for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes have completely broken down. Add a splash of water if it gets a bit dry.

Take out the cinnamon stick and puree the sauce until completely smooth (leave the cardamom pods and cloves in as they need to be blended). Your basic makhni sauce is now done, but add more chilli powder if you want more spice.

Thread your chicken pieces onto skewers and place in a very hot oven at full heat or ideally straight onto your BBQ. The idea is to try and get the chicken cooked in a similar way to a tandoor oven. This should take about 30 minutes to cook through. The chicken should be well charred on the outside, but not burnt.

Remove the chicken from the skewers and add to the makhni sauce. Stir in a teaspoon of garam masala powder, 4 tablespoons of single cream and 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. If you are trying to keep this low fat then you can leave out the cream and butter, but the sauce won’t be quite as glossy.

Serve with basmati rice and naan bread.