I cooked this last weekend for the first time myself, but it’s been a favourite of Curious Mike’s for years. It really is very simple, but there’s at least a couple of hours cooking time after an afternoon of marinating (5-6 hours).

It’s the perfect treat for a Saturday night in, and it’s actually quite healthy if you go easy on the cream and the ghee butter. That’s a big ‘if’. Mike usually goes all the way, but I find subbing half of the cream for low fat yogurt doesn’t take away from the pleasure. Be warned, this is seriously good food. If you get it right first time, it’ll be one of your top recipes for years to come.

What you’ll need

6 free range chicken breasts chopped to bite size
3 tbsp vegetable oil

For the marinade
2 red chillies
3-4 garlic cloves chopped or crushed
2 tsp toasted cumin seeds
1 tsp garam marsala
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
juice of half a lemon
150 ml natural yoghurt

For the sauce
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
50g ghee butter
75 ml double cream
75 ml natural yogurt
pinch of salt

How to cook it

First thing’s first. To make the marinade blend the chillies, garlic and cumin seeds before adding the rest of the marinade ingredients. Add the chopped chicken into the mixture and pop it into a non-metallic bowl, cover it in cling film and place in the fridge for the afternoon.

For the sauce, blend the tomatoes and cook on a medium heat for about 30-45 minutes until reduced. Stir in the butter and a pinch of salt. Cook for a further 20-30 minutes and then add the cream and the yogurt. Heat through and add more salt if necessary. Set aside.

Separately, heat the vegetable oil in a large pan. Remove the chicken from the marinade and add to the pan, keeping the rest of the marinade in the bowl. Fry the chicken for around 5 minutes to seal and then add the remaining marinade. On a higher heat, cook until the chicken is cooked through (don’t be tempted to overcook – nothing worse than dry chicken).

Pour the tomato sauce over the chicken and simmer for another 5 minutes before plating up. Finish with a little coriander and serve with rice.

The wine match

We have a rich, creamy tomato sauce here, so Italian reds spring to mind. Our new Bricco dei Guazzi Barbera, with its cutting acidity and rich concentrated berry fruit, is just fabulous, and although there will be some heat from the chillies in the Makhani, I think the two will marry well. Another suggestion is our Californian Syrah rosé, Winston Hill. A simple, fruity pink with a lick of spice on the finish. Purrrfect.