One of my favourite mild currys is butter chicken, and after a few different attempts I've finally found my perfect recipe for it. This is the recipe that I always go back to if I don't know what to cook and it's one that my friends and family regularly ask me to make for them. Although it's best suited to be eaten during the winter time, I still like to make it year round for a hearty, filling meal. Don't be misled by the name though, this isn't chicken slathered in butter, in fact, there is probably less butter than anything else in it, but I didn't name the dish so don't shoot me!
This is in no way healthy as it does contain butter and cream, but boy it's yummy!

Ingredients
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3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tbs turmeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch of salt and pepper
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup ground almonds (this can be more or less depending on your own taste, I sometimes add a full cup as I like the texture)
4 tbsp butter, divided into two groups of 2 tbsp
1 onion, finely diced
1 sweet potato, diced
1 1/3 cup tomato sauce (this can be sauce or puree. Puree will make it a bit healthier but I like to use heinz ketchup as it's a bit sweeter)
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup single cream
2 large chicken breasts, diced

Method
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1) First of all, I like to prepare all of my ingredients before starting. Some people prefer to do this as they go, but I find it's easier and less messy to have my onions diced and chicken chopped before I start cooking!

2) Gently boil the sweet potato for roughly 10 minutes whilst following the next few steps, this will ensure you don't end up with hard potato in your dish.

3) Grind the garlic, garam masala, turmeric, cayenne pepper, oil, salt and pepper into a paste and set aside. You're best to use a mortar and pestle for this, but mixing it with a fork or a spoon will also work.

4) Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large pan and add the onion when the butter starts to bubble. Saute the onion for 4 minutes then add the paste and ground almonds. Toss for 1 minute.

5) Add the tomato sauce, yogurt, milk and cream to the pan. Combine and then bring to a simmer.

6) Drain the sweet potato and add to the sauce. Add the chicken and then stir in the remaining butter. Simmer for 30 minutes. You may need to simmer for a little longer depending on how large your sweet potato chunks are as they can take a bit longer to cook through, don't worry though, you chicken absolutely will not dry out if you cook for a further 5-15 minutes.


This recipe is particularly saucy so if you prefer less sauce, reduce the tomato sauce by 1/3 of a cup and only use 1/4 of a cup of greek yogurt.
I like to make a full batch of this even if I'm eating alone as I can keep it as leftovers for when I need a quick, filling meal. I tend to portion it off into 6 good portions as this can be eaten alone for a meal without any necessary additions. Depending on your appetite, you may get up to 8 portions out of this, or as little as 4 if you're particularly hungry!
To store, you can keep it the fridge in an airtight tub for 2 days, but if you plan on keeping it any longer then I suggest you freeze it. I've never kept it for more than 1 month, so I can't comment on how well it keeps and re-heats after that.

To reheat from chilled - either place in a pan on the hob and gently reheat or pop it in the microwave on high for 1 minute 45 seconds.
To reheat from frozen - defrost in the fridfe over night and then follow the above instructions. I've never tried heating directly from frozen before, but I imagine it would work quite well as there are a lot of frozen, microwavable curries on the go!

Please only reheat each portion once. Reheating chicken multiple times is never a good idea!

Thanks for reading!