Hot Buttered Chicken

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 kg skinless chicken breast
• 125 g thick set natural yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cinnamon stick (50 mm)
• 8 green cardamoms
• 6 cloves
• 10 dried chilies
• 8 peppercorns
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 piece gingerroot, coarsely chopped (25 mm cube)
• 6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 225 g butter
• 400 g tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 -2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• cinnamon stick, broken up (100 mm )
• 150 ml single cream or 150 ml plain yogurt

Recipe

• 1 wash and dry the chicken and cut into 50 mm x 25 mm cubes.
• 2 grind the cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, dried chilies and peppercorns to a fine powder.
• 3 combine the yoghurt, lemon juice and ground spices and beat until smooth. add the chicken, mix, cover the container and leave in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
• 4 liquidise the onion, ginger and garlic to a smooth paste and mix in the salt. heat the oil in a wok over a medium heat and stir fry the onion/ginger/garlic paste for 1 minute. add the marinated chicken and stir fry for 10 minutes.
• 5 add the tomato puree and butter and cook on a low heat, uncovered, for 10 minutes. remove from the heat, cover and keep aside.
• 6 mix the tomatoes, cinnamon and cayenne pepper in a separate pan, bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. remove the lid and increase the heat to medium. cook for 6 to 8 minutes until the liquid is reduced a little. remove from the heat and allow the tomatoes to cool slightly.
• 7 sieve the cooked tomatoes and discard the cinnamon. add the tomatoes to the chicken and bring to the boil over a medium heat. simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
• 8 gently stir in the cream (or yoghurt) 1 tablespoon at a time then simmer, uncovered, for a further 5 minutes.