Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

Method

1. marinate120 min
   refrigerated, covered
   chicken + yogurt + lemon juice + half the ginger and garlic + kashmiri chili + turmeric + 1 tsp garam masala + cumin + 1 tsp salt — the yogurt's lactic acid and calcium loosen the muscle proteins gently, so thighs stay juicy; a straight acid marinade of the same length would go chalky. Two hours is enough, overnight is better, but scrape off the excess before cooking or the coating steams instead of browning
2. broil15 min
   very high heat, single layer
   marinated chicken on a rack or in a ripping-hot dry pan, turning once, until the edges blacken in spots and the yogurt glaze sets — pull it while the centres are just short of done, because it finishes in the sauce. Crowding the pan is the one unrecoverable error here: pooled marinade boils the meat pale and the dish loses its smoke
3. saute8 min
   medium, 2 tbsp butter + oil
   butter + oil + cardamom + cinnamon + cloves until fragrant, then + onion + remaining ginger and garlic, softened to translucent but not browned — the oil is there to raise the smoke point so the milk solids in the butter don't scorch and turn the gravy bitter
4. simmer20 min
   covered, low, then uncovered
   + tomato + cashews + water + remaining salt, until the tomatoes collapse completely and the cashews are soft enough to crush against the pot. Raw cashew is what gives makhani its body; add it now, not at the end, because it needs the full simmer to hydrate or it stays gritty in the blender
5. mix4 min
   high speed, then strained
   fish out the cinnamon stick and blend the base smooth, then push it through a sieve back into the pot — the skins and seeds are what make a home version taste rough rather than restaurant-glossy
6. reduce8 min
   low, no boil
   strained sauce + sugar + remaining 2 tbsp butter whisked in cold, then + cream off a rolling boil. Sugar is not for sweetness, it blunts the tomato's acidity — add cream to a too-acidic, too-hot sauce and the casein curdles into grains you cannot blend back out. Keep it at a lazy bubble and the butter emulsifies into the tomato instead of breaking into slicks
7. simmer5 min
   gentle, covered
   + charred chicken and its resting juices + remaining 0.5 tsp garam masala, then crush the kasuri methi between your palms over the pot and stir once off the heat — its aroma is volatile and a long simmer boils it away, which is why the leaves go in last = butter chicken