Dishoom's Chicken Ruby (Chicken Dupe-y)

A cry for better Indian takeout.

Nearly two years ago, I was sequestered in a hotel room before filming Next Level Chef. The first item on my limited food agenda was to order a curry. Dishoom’s Chicken Ruby, while not London’s best Indian takeout, tasted better than the “best” Indian takeout you can get in New York City. I’ve since tasted and cooked a few recipes from the Dishoom cookbook, and now bring my adapted and streamlined Chicken Ruby (Dupey) recipe to you.

Before you get this twisted with some bland, fake-easy butter chicken recipe, be warned, there are three major acts to the recipe:

1. Prepping/measuring the ingredients.

2. Marinating and oven-broiling the chicken.

3. Simmering the makhni sauce.

Recipe

Serves 8-10

Stuff you need: a medium to large pot, a large mixing bowl, and a blender.

Ingredients

Base (follow Step 1 to prep these ingredients and use them separately in the marinade and makhni sauce)

• 1600g or two 12 oz cans of crushed red tomatoes

• 110g or 30 peeled cloves garlic

• 60g fresh ginger root

Marinade

• 4lbs (1600g) boneless skinless chicken thigh or breasts

• 60g ginger-garlic paste (from the Base ingredients)

• 10g kosher salt

• 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder

• 3 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon garam masala

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

• 150g or 2/3 cup Greek yogurt

Makhni Sauce

• 12 green cardamom pods

• 4 whole cinnamon sticks

• 4 dry or fresh bay leaves

• 1 cup or 200ml vegetable or canola oil

• 110g ginger-garlic paste (from leftover Base ingredients)

• 1600g blended tomatoes (from the Base ingredients)

• 4 teaspoons kosher salt

• 20g granulated sugar

• 3 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder

• 2 teaspoons garam masala

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 2 teaspoons dried fenugreek leaves OR 1 teaspoon fenugreek powder

• 200 ml or 3/4 cup heavy cream

• 4 tablespoons or 56g unsalted butter

• handful of fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. Weigh and peel the ginger and garlic amounts from the Base ingredients. Add them to a blender or food chopper with 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of water. Blend until a semi-smooth paste forms. Scrape the ginger-garlic paste into a separate bowl or container. Add the crushed tomatoes to the blender and blend until smooth. Set aside for making the sauce later.

2. Spice prep: Read the ingredients list for the marinade and makhni sauce. Measure the salt, chili powder, cumin, and garam masala for the marinade and place them in a large mixing bowl (where you’ll marinate the chicken). Measure the salt, sugar, chili powder, garam masala, cumin, and fenugreek for the makhni sauce and add them to a separate small bowl for later.

3. Make the marinade by mixing all the marinade ingredients except for the chicken in a large mixing bowl. If using chicken thighs, add them to the marinade as they are. If using whole chicken breasts, cut them into large, 4-5 inch pieces, and then add them to the marinade. Use your hands to make sure each piece of chicken is coated in the marinade. Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours but up to 24 hours.

4. About 1 hour before you plan to serve the chicken, place the oven rack to the second highest rack to the top of the oven and preheat the oven to the highest broil setting. Prepare a large baking sheet with foil and nonstick spray or 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Place each piece of chicken on the prepared sheet and broil in the oven for 10 minutes, or until visibly charred. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.

5. While the oven preheats, get started on the makhni sauce. Add the whole cardamom, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks to a large pot and set the heat to medium. Add the oil and keep an eye on the pot as the aromatics begin to crackle in the oil, after about 2 minutes. Once they sizzle, add the remaining ginger-garlic paste and stir constantly while the paste turns golden brown. Add the blended tomatoes to the pot as soon as the ginger-garlic paste turns golden brown. Stir again and let simmer on medium-high heat with the lid on the pot, but slightly ajar for steam to escape. Simmer the tomato sauce for 30-40 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by 50% and the color of the sauce turns a deeper shade of red.

6. Stir the sauce and add the salt, sugar, Kashmiri chili powder, cumin, garam masala, and fenugreek. Keep the lid ajar and continue to simmer the sauce for another 30 minutes, making sure to stir every 10 or so minutes. After the tomato sauce is deep red-brown and the oil has separated from the sauce, add the butter and heavy cream. Immediately set the heat to low and stir the sauce together, simmering for another 5 minutes before removing the pot from the heat.

7. Cut the broiled and rested chicken into roughly 3-inch pieces. Add the chopped chicken to the pot of sauce and set to low heat. Stir the chicken into the sauce for 5 minutes, allowing the chicken to absorb the sauce and reheat. Sprinkle the Chicken Ruby with fresh cilantro and serve with rice or naan.