Gordon Ramsay’s Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 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 tbsp lemon juice
- 75ml natural yoghurt
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil, for brushing
For the sauce:
- 1½ tbsp ghee or melted unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 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 puree
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 40g unsalted butter
- 100ml double cream
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander, to garnish
Method
1. 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.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. Put the marinated chicken pieces on a grill rack set on a baking tray and bake 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.
3. 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 pure 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.
After watching “Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape” on TV, I am going to attempt to make this dish.
Just one query: According to what I’ve read elsewhere on the web, shouldn’t there be Fenugreek leaves in the recipe?
275ml tomato puree?????
Not so sure about 275ml of tomato puree and the lemon juice, the dish was too acidic, there are a couple of other flaws also, no the best version of a great classic, sorry Gordon!
Cooked this at the weekend, me and the missus thought 275ml of tomato puree was quite a lot, but went along with it anyway – big mistake – think it must of intended 75ml maybe. not nice at all!
should be okay with a LOT less puree though.
Delicious have made many times. Bought cookbook and it is excellent. This recipe is a good one and is one you will prepare a lot.
Cookbook also says 275 ml purée and no fenugreek
Puree is simply blended whole tomatoes… NOT the pre-made paste or “sauce”; this confusion is a misunderstanding between England and United States terminologies for what the term puree actually means. Fenugreek is used as a garnish only, so it is optional.
@clewis
I’m pretty sure tomato puree that Gordon has in mind is the tomato paste in the US. Gordon refers the thick tomasto paste as “tomato puree” on EVERY SINGLE TV show. On one occasion he even squeezes the tomato paste out from a toothpaste-like container and refers that as “tomato puree.”
I just don’t see how Gordon’s butter chicken curry will become a sauce.
275 ml puree/paste + 1 tbsp lemon juice + 40g butter + 100 ml double cream
—–> How can that become a sauce? It’s just lemon-flavored tomato paste with lots of fat in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NCNQLRaYw8
275 ml of tomato puree!! I had the same dilemma, didn’t seem to make any sense. How on earth is that going to turn into a sauce?
So I puree’d 4 medium tomatoes with a couple of tablespoons of tomato puree.
Did the trick!
I didn’t bother cooking the chicken on a rack in the oven, I just spread it out on an over tray, turned it after 10 minutes and brushed it with oil.
The only thing I’ll do differently next time is avoid the addition of lemon juice in the sauce. I think that because I didn’t use the oven rack, I poured the chicken with the already lemony marinade into the pan.
Made this dish last night and although it taste delicious, it was very strong and much drier than expected. The picture makes it look very saucey but not sure where the liquid comes from?
275ml of puree is ridiculous Gordon and i hope you update this recipe with the proper ingredients! I just made it with 140ml and it came out so overpowering it took my head off. all I can think is that he meant 275 of pureé’d tomatoes.
Do not use 275ml of the THICK paste (puree for the UK). You can use a couple of tablespoons of the thick paste (puree) and then add a little water to thin it out, or use just a thin tomato sauce. Using that much thick paste will make it dry and very, very acidic.