That’s what I call my “finicky” recipe :)
For the sauce itself
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter, divided (yeah, I know)
- ~1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 2 medium Yellow Onions, diced
- 2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste (which I do by blending ~ 1/2 cup each roughly chopped ginger and garlic with ~1tbsp oil and 1tsp kosher salt)
- 1-2 Green Chilies, diced (I use Jwalas from my local Indian grocer; green Thais, Cayennes, or Serranos work, too)
- 2 tbsp Cashew pieces, soaked in 4 tbsp boiling water 10m, then blend to a fine paste
- 3/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 2 Coriander Powder
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- ~5-6 Roma Tomatoes, blended or diced (skin for smoother curry)
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- ~1/2 - 1 cup Water
- 2 lbs Chicken Tikka, prepared
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 2-3 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
(See what I mean finicky?)
Heat 2 tbsp of the butter in a large dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat until melted and the bubbling’s mostly subsided. Add in the cumin seeds and let them sizzle briefly, then stir in the onions and cook, stirring frequently, till it’s going faint golden and just beginning to darken a little at the edges. Add in the ginger garlic paste and cook, stirring more frequently, two more minutes. Add the green chilies and cook one more minute.
Pour in the cashew nut paste and stir into the mixture, letting some of the excess water cook off and the mixture thicken. Dump in the powdered spices and seasonings (turmeric, cumin powder, chili powder, salt, coriander, and paprika) and cook for about 30 seconds before adding the tomatoes. Since you’ll be blending everything later, it doesn’t matter much if they’re blended, but I find that having them liquefied lets me cook them down without risking burning the mixture (otherwise you need to start feeding it sips of water, which gets annoying). Mix in the tomato paste, as well.
Cook, still stirring fairly frequently, until the mixture’s darkened noticeably–about 10 minutes. Add water to achieve nearly your desired texture, then blend using an immersion blender (or, annoyingly, allow to cool, blend in a regular blender, then heat back up. . . ). Add in your chicken (happy to provide a recipe for that if anyone’s interested), simmer for 5 minutes or so to cook the chicken through if it didn’t finish previously, and then add in the remaining 4tbsp butter, cream, honey, garam masala, and cilantro, stirring well to combine.
Taste for relative levels of salt/sour/sweet, and adjust to your preference with more kosher salt, some lime juice, or more honey.
