Weeknight butter chicken — with ghee

Ingredients

• 600 gchicken thighboneless, skinless, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 3 tbspgheeswapped from butter — see panel
• 1yellow onionfinely diced
• 4garlic clovegrated
• 20 gfresh gingergrated
• 2 tbspgaram masala
• 1 tspkashmiri chillifor colour, not heat
• 400 gtomato passata
• 200 mlcoconut cream
• 1 small bunchcorianderto finish

Method

1. 01

   Salt the chicken pieces lightly and rest them on a board while you build the base.

2. 02

   Melt the ghee in a wide pan over medium heat until it foams quietly and smells nutty.

3. 03

   Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until deeply gold — about ten minutes. Don’t rush this.

4. 04

   Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook for a minute until fragrant, then the garam masala and kashmiri chilli for another thirty seconds.

5. 05

   Pour in the passata, scrape the bottom of the pan, and simmer for five minutes until the colour deepens.

6. 06

   Slide in the chicken and turn it through the sauce. Cover, lower the heat, and cook for fifteen minutes.

7. 07

   Stir in the coconut cream, taste for salt, and warm through. Finish with torn coriander.

8. 08

   Serve with rice or warm flatbread. Leftovers improve overnight.