This is my version of a healthy butter chicken curry. It is always assumed that curry has to be unhealthy. This is because most curries have a lot of added fat in the form of oil, lard, or cream and the type of protein used in the curry.

In my version of a butter chicken curry, I replace the cream with plain yogurt (you can use low fat, fat-free or full cream) and I remove the chicken skin before cooking. You may be thinking that fat is flavor but I promise that this recipe is still just as delicious.

Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients Marinade

• 500g chicken (skinless chicken thigh or cut up breast)
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• Rind from 1 lemon
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1/2-1 tsp chili powder or cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic

Ingredients Curry

• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 cup plain yogurt

Method

1. Combine marinade ingredients together in a bowl and then add your chicken. Be sure to completely coat all the chicken. You can always add more yogurt if your chicken isn’t completely covered. cover the bowl and leave overnight or for a minimum of 1 hour.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add your chicken and cook for 3 minutes or until chicken is white all over (it won’t brown because of the marinade).
3. Add the rest of the marinade, the tomato puree, sugar, and salt and turn down the heat to a light simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Take off the heat and slowly add the yogurt. I normally suggest adding a small amount of the hot sauce to the cold yogurt first. Stir in around a cup of the hot sauce into the yogurt before adding the yogurt mixture to the curry.
5. Serve hot with brown rice.

A lot of people are not a fan of adding vegetables to curry, but I am!

I would normally add some chopped up carrots, courgettes, marrows, or mushrooms to the curry. You can also just have these on the side of the dish if you don’t want to dilute your sauce. Baby spinach is also great to add after you added the yogurt as it just wilts into the curry.