Easy Butter Chicken

Ingredients

• 1.4kg chicken thigh fillets (a 1kg pack plus a 500g pack, minus a couple)
• 1 can coconut cream, 400ml
• Coriander to serve — optional garnish, skip
• Roti or naan to serve
• 1 Tbsp garam masala — staple
• 1 Tbsp ground coriander — staple
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin — staple
• 1 Tbsp paprika — staple
• 1 tsp cinnamon — staple
• 1 tsp salt — staple
• 2 Tbsp olive oil or butter — staple
• 2 Tbsp crushed garlic
• 2 Tbsp crushed ginger
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1-2 tsp sugar — staple
• 2/3 cup water — staple
• 1 Tbsp butter — staple
• Hot rice to serve — staple
• 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 2 bags green beans, topped

Method

1. Dice the chicken into 2cm pieces and put in a large bowl. Add the garam masala, ground coriander, cumin, paprika, salt and cinnamon and stir to coat evenly.
2. Heat the oil or butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the chicken — in two batches so it browns rather than stews — and cook about 5 minutes until browned.
3. Reduce the heat, return all the chicken, add the garlic and ginger and cook 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomato paste, sugar and water and bring to a simmer.
5. Stir in the coconut cream and the extra butter and cook 8-12 minutes until the curry has thickened and the chicken is cooked through.
6. Steamed trio: while the curry thickens, steam the carrot 4 minutes, then add the broccoli and beans for a further 4-5 minutes until bright and just tender.
7. Serve over hot rice with roti or naan and the steamed veg alongside (coriander on top if you have it).

Notes

- Protein-first portioning: meat set to 1.4kg per 6 serves to land ~46g protein/serve (house rule). - Chicken is up 40% on the source. The spice mix, garlic, ginger and coconut cream hold at source levels — the extra chicken releases enough liquid to carry them — but brown in three batches and add a splash of water at step 4 if the pan tightens. - Chicken breast works and cuts it to roughly 640 cal / 55g protein per serve at the same weight (well over target — drop to 1kg breast for ~46g), but thigh holds up much better through the simmer. - No butter-chicken sachet needed — the dry spice mix in step 1 is the whole thing. If you would rather buy it in, a jar of butter chicken or tikka masala simmer sauce (about 500g) replaces the spices, tomato paste and water. - Calories/protein are for the curry only; rice and naan are on top. - Veg sweep: the curry carried no vegetables at all, so the house Steamed trio (broccoli + carrot + green beans) is now a required side, ~170g veg/serve; calories +50 and protein +2. Crushed garlic, crushed ginger and tomato paste lost their staple markers; coriander is now an optional garnish with no shopping line.