Butter Chicken & Chickpea Curry

This is a recipe that lands in loads of my Meal Plans - it hits big with flavour, but importantly, it also has a great serve of protein AND that all-important fibre that just about all of my clients need to eat more of.

Fibre is so critical - it supports healthy bowel movements, it supports stable blood sugars, it supports balanced hormones and it feeds our gut microbiome.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon ghee or butter
1 medium onion diced
6 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger minced

1⁄2 teaspoon chilli powder or cayenne pepper
1 Teaspoon ground turmeric
1 Teaspoon ground cumin
2 Teaspoon garam masala
1 Teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup tomato passata
1 can coconut cream or 1 cup cream

750g chicken thighs boneless, skinless, chopped into large pieces
1 can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt full-fat
2 Tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro to garnish

Steamed green beans & rice to serve

Method

1.Mix the spices, lemon juice & yoghurt and stir through the chopped chicken. Leave to marinate overnight, or at least for a few hours.

2.Heat the ghee or butter in a heavy based pan & add the onion, ginger & garlic, stirring until softened. Take the chicken out of the marinade - don’t wipe or shake off the marinade (but don’t pour the leftover marinade into the fry pan yet).

3.Cook chicken for around 5 minutes, or until the chicken is white all over (it won’t brown because of the marinade).

4.Add the tomato passata, coconut cream, sugar & salt. Also add any remaining marinade left in the bowl. Add chickpeas. Turn down to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

5.Serve with steamed green beans, steamed basmati rice, cucumber & yoghurt raita & pappadams if desired

Be sure to tag me on insta if you make it: @kelliemontgomerynutrition 🤗