Gordon Ramsay's Butter Chicken Recipe

This fantastic recipe is from Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape, I loved the series and despite the fact that I don't own a single Gordon Ramsay cookbook, I knew I really wanted this one. 

I tend to find Gordon's food a little bit overdone and poncy, I have no interest in serving up meals that look like they're straight out of a restaurant, I just want brilliant, delicious food.  I also find his cooking style very masculine, less domestic and increasingly regimented.  This book however was different, it is full of curry for a start, the meals look hearty comforting and totally scrumptious and I nabbed it for £6 in the WHSmiths sale!

This recipe is fantastic, the butter chicken was brilliant and we will definitely have it again.  That being said I felt that the two step 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hour marinating process would give the dish more depth than it did, don't get me wrong the chicken had a lovely flavour, I just expected a tiny little bit more.

This makes a lovely change from my usual Korma or Rogan Josh though and made a fantastic Friday night supper.

Gordon Ramsay's Butter Chicken Recipe

Gordon Ramsay’s Indian butter chicken Gordon Ramsay This dish can be traced back to Mogul times, but is most closely associated with Delhi’s Moti Mahal restaurant. Many chefs have tried to emulate the rich sauce, and flavours vary slightly between restaurants.

Ingredients

Serves 4

800g boneless and skinless chicken thighs, cut into 3-4cm pieces

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely crushed

2cm ginger, peeled and finely grated

½ tsp fine sea salt

½ tsp hot chilli powder

1½ tsp lemon juice

75ml natural yoghurt

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil, for brushing

Sauce

1½ tbsp ghee or melted unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely crushed

2cm ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 cardamom pod, seeds lightly crushed

2 cloves 1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp hot chilli powder, or to taste

275ml tomato purée

1 tbsp lemon juice

40g unsalted butter

100ml double cream

1 tbsp chopped coriander, to garnish

Method

Place the chicken in a bowl with the garlic, ginger, salt, chilli powder and lemon juice. Mix, cover with cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Mix together the yoghurt, garam masala, turmeric and cumin and add to the chicken, making sure that each piece is well coated with the mixture. Cover again and chill for 3-4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the marinated chicken pieces on a grill rack set on a baking tray and cook for 8-10 minutes. Brush the chicken pieces with a little oil and turn them over. Bake for another 10-12 minutes, until just cooked through.

For the sauce, heat the ghee or butter in a pan and add the garlic and ginger. Fry for a minute or so, then add the cardamom, cloves, coriander, garam masala, turmeric and chilli powder. Stir well and fry for 1-2 minutes, until they give off a lovely aroma. Stir in the tomato purée and lemon juice and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and stir well to coat.  Finally add the butter and cream and stir continuously until the butter has melted and the sauce is smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Transfer to a warm bowl and serve hot, garnished with chopped coriander.

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Gordon Ramsay's Butter Chicken Recipe