Butter Chicken Curry

Sebastian and Connor make the most of their party pies

At the recent Party Pie Party, this recipe was my favourite of the pies that came out of the oven.

This chicken curry is delicious served with rice, or in a crispy
pie, or indeed on a sandwich. It’s yummy and simple if you have a few spices ready to go in your pantry.
Use a slow cooker or let this curry simmer away very gently in a 130-140 degree C oven

Slow-cooker Butter Chicken Curry

*I like to use a mixture of breast and thigh pieces, on the bone if it’s for a traditionally-served curry (with rice and naan bread), or boneless if you intend using it as a pie filling.

Ingredients
1 kg chicken pieces (*see note above)

Marinade
125ml tub of natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons fresh crushed ginger
2 cloves crushed garlic

1 tablespoon oil
60 grams butter
1 chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 stick cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
150 ml stock or water
60 grams cashews ground
1 440 gram tin tomato
60 ml cream or natural yoghurt

Method
Combine chicken with all the marinade ingredients and set aside covered in the fridge for at least 4 hours, overnight is better as the flavour will continue to develop over time.

Place the chicken and marinade in the slow cooker and turn it on following the manufacturers instructions.

In a frying pan heat the oil and butter over moderate heat.
Add the onion, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf and paprika and gently fry until the onion is beginning to soften.
Add the stock to the pan and stir to remove any bits that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat and pour contents of the frying pan into the slow cooker with the chicken.
Add the ground cashews and tin of tomatoes and simmer on the lowest setting for 4 hours.
When ready to serve, stir in the cream or yoghurt, and spoon the curry over steamed rice.

To use this filling in pies, wait for the curry to cool in the fridge before adding to pastry.  A hot filling will melt the pastry and cause the pies to be soggy and uncooked on the bottom.

For a simple pastry recipe click here.