Malaysian Butter Chicken

• 4 chicken thighs

The Marinade

• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1 ½ tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar / malt vinegar

Dry Batter

• 300 g plain flour
• 50g corn flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

The Sauce

• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ tbsp vegetable oil
• 5-10 curry leaves
• 2 bird's eye chili
• 2 cloves garlic
• 300ml evaporated milk
• 50ml condensed milk
• ½ tsp salt

• Slice the chicken into thick lengths, place in a mixing bowl and then mix all the ‘Marinade’ ingredients and massage them well into the chicken. Pour the ‘dry batter ingredients into the bowl and lightly massage the flours and baking powder into the marinated chicken. Make sure that each piece of chicken is well coated with the ‘Dry Batter’ mix.

• Now roughly chop the garlic and make an incision or two in each chilli to open up the flavour and a little heat but not too much. Pick the curry leaves if fresh, or if using dry curry leaves, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes before using.

• Fill a wok ½ the way up with vegetable oil and heat to a medium - high heat (around 180°C). Use a wooden skewer or wooden chopstick to test the oil by placing the tip of the wood in the oil: if the wood starts to fizz after a 1-2 seconds, the oil is roughly at 180°C.

• Deep fry the separate pieces of chicken by laying them carefully into the hot oil. You may need to do this frying process in two batches to retain a good heat in the oil. Deep fry the chicken until golden brown for 5-6 minutes and then drain on a couple of sheets of clean paper towel.

• Once all the chicken has been deep fried, heat a wok to low-medium heat and add the butter and oil to the wok. Once the butter has fully melted, add the garlic, chili, and curry leaves and fry until fragrant.

• Then add the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and salt to the wok and bring to a boil. Once the butter milk sauce starts to resemble a double cream consistency, place the fried chicken into the wok and fold through or toss through 2-3 times and serve.