Main dish

Dishoom's Chicken Ruby recipe

Name: Dishoom's Chicken Ruby
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 8 h
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 700g skinless, boneless chicken thighs (cut into 4cm chunks); 20g unsalted butter; 1 quantity makhani sauce (see below); 50ml double cream; 10g ginger; 20g garlic (5-6 cloves); 5g fine sea salt; 1 tsp deggi mirch chilli powder (or ½ tsp regular chilli powder); 1½ tsp ground cumin; ½ tsp garam masala; 2 tsp lime juice; 2 tsp vegetable oil; 75g Greek yoghurt (full fat); 20g garlic (5-6 cloves, grated or finely diced); 15g garlic (3-4 cloves, finely sliced); 175ml vegetable oil (or less, see intro); 20g ginger (grated or finely diced); 2 tins chopped tomatoes (800g); 2 fresh bay leaves; 6 green cardamom pods; 2 black cardamom pods; 2 cinnamon sticks; 2 tsp fine sea salt; 1 ½ tsp deggi mirch chilli powder (or ¾ teaspoon regular chilli powder); 30g unsalted butter; 1 tsp garam masala; 20g sugar; 1 tsp honey; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (crushed to a powder between your fingers)

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Marinated chicken thighs are grilled until charred then coated in makhani sauce and double cream. This is a sublime curry.

Prep30m
Stand6h
Cook1h 30m
Total8h

curry dishoom indian

Update

I've made a veggie version using paneer.

This is the first recipe I've made from the new and enchanting Dishoom cookbook but where do I start? It’s by far the most delicious curry I’ve ever made but having cooked it I feel somewhat traumatised as I now know what it takes to achieve this level of depth and deliciousness: butter, cream, many herbs, spices and oil. A terrifying amount of oil.

I followed the recipe exactly because it feels like the right thing to do when trying a recipe for the first time but next time I will massively cut down on the oil. I had to strain it off at various stages and there was still so much left.

I have nothing against oil and cook with it enthusiastically but 175ml of vegetable oil alongside two tins of tomatoes doesn’t quite balance. Besides the oil I won’t change much else about this dish because it truly is beautiful*. Charred chicken thighs (my favourite cut of chicken) surrounded by a rich, thick, heavenly sauce make you feel like you’ve achieved some kind of culinary miracle: an Indian restaurant-quality dish in your own kitchen.

★ ★ ★

* One tiny tweak I’ll make next time is to slice the garlic for the makhani sauce rather than dicing it. At the beginning of the recipe you have to fry some of the garlic and then scoop it out with a slotted spoon. I found it difficult to remove all of the chopped garlic whereas slices of garlic would be much easier to fish out.

Recipe credit

Dishoom: From Bombay with Love (affiliate link)

Recipe

Dishoom's Chicken Ruby

Prep30m
Stand6h
Cook1h 30m
Total8h

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Chicken

700g skinless, boneless chicken thighs (cut into 4cm chunks)
20g unsalted butter
1 quantity makhani sauce (see below)
50ml double cream

Chicken Marinade

10g ginger
20g garlic (5-6 cloves)
5g fine sea salt
1 tsp deggi mirch chilli powder (or ½ tsp regular chilli powder)
1½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp garam masala
2 tsp lime juice
2 tsp vegetable oil
75g Greek yoghurt (full fat)

Makhani Sauce

20g garlic (5-6 cloves, grated or finely diced)
15g garlic (3-4 cloves, finely sliced)
175ml vegetable oil (or less, see intro)
20g ginger (grated or finely diced)
2 tins chopped tomatoes (800g)
2 fresh bay leaves
6 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 ½ tsp deggi mirch chilli powder (or ¾ teaspoon regular chilli powder)
30g unsalted butter
1 tsp garam masala
20g sugar
1 tsp honey
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (crushed to a powder between your fingers)
½ tsp fresh dill fronds
80ml double cream

Garnish

ginger matchsticks
small handful coriander leaves (chopped)
1 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Method

Chicken marinade: For the marinade, blitz 10g of ginger, 20g of garlic, 5g of fine sea salt, 1 teaspoon of deggi mirch chilli powder, 1½ teaspoons of ground cumin, ½ teaspoon of garam masala, 2 teaspoons of lime juice, 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and 75g of full-fat Greek yoghurt in a blender or small food processor.
Place 700g of chicken thighs (cut into 4cm chunks) into a bowl and add the marinade. Coat the chicken well and refrigerate for 6-24 hours.
Makhani sauce: Place a large saucepan over a medium heat and add 175ml of vegetable oil (or less, see intro). Add 15g of sliced garlic and fry until it just starts to turn golden and crispy. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper.
Blend 800g of tomatoes to a fine consistency using a stick blender or food processor.
Add 2 bay leaves, 6 green cardamom pods, 2 black cardamom pods and 2 cinnamon sticks to the saucepan with the oil and allow them to crackle for 1 minute, stirring regularly.
Turn the heat under the saucepan down low and add 20g of grated garlic and 20g of grated ginger. Allow both to colour but be careful not to let them burn.
Add the blended tomatoes, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1½ teaspoons of deggi mirch chilli powder to the saucepan. Bring to a bubble and cook for around 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced by about half. Stir regularly to make sure it doesn't catch.
Add 30g of butter and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add 1 teaspoon of garam masala, 20g of sugar, 1 tablespoon of runny honey, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, the crispy sliced garlic (fried earlier), 1 teaspoon of crushed fenugreek leaves and ½ teaspoon of fresh dill fronds to the saucepan. Cook for another 15 minutes.
If using the makhani sauce immediately, add 80ml of double cream and simmer for 5 minutes. If using later, cool the sauce and refrigerate it, adding the cream when you want to reheat it.
Chicken: Heat a grill to a medium high heat. Place the marinated chicken onto a rack and brush with 20g of melted butter. Grill for around 10-15 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is charred and cooked through.
Place a large saucepan over a low to medium heat. Add the makhani sauce, 50ml of double cream and the grilled chicken. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
To serve, transfer to a bowl and top with ginger matchsticks, a small handful of chopped coriander and 1 tablespoon of pomegranate seeds.