MURGH MAKHANI (BUTTER CHICKEN OR PHEASANT)

Serves 6

1 organic chicken, I don’t cook a lot of authentic Indian food. Most of the “curries” I make are
weighing about 3 pounds, improvised affairs. But when I filmed an episode of “TV Dinners” with sisters-in-
jointed into “small” law and brilliant cooks Nina and Sumita Dhand, they showed me how to make
portions (pp. 140 –43)
a real murgh makhani (pronounced “merg muckney,” it means, literally, butter
Or 2 small pheasants, chicken). It’s similar to what many Indian restaurants would call chicken tikka
jointed
masala, but this version, enriched with butter, honey, and cream, is the best I’ve
Or 3 pounds cut up organic ever had – completely sublime.
chicken Don’t be daunted by the long list of ingredients. They’re all fairly familiar
Or 11⁄ 2 pounds boneless spices. If you make up the marinade and the tomato sauce the day before, then
organic chicken breasts finishing the dish is surprisingly quick and easy. You can make it with either on-
1 quantity of Tikka the-bone pieces or boneless chicken meat. And I have made it very successfully
Marinade (p. 515) with pheasant too.

THE TOMATO SAUCE : Add the chicken or pheasant pieces to the tikka marinade, mix well and leave in
2 (14 ounce) cans of the fridge to marinate overnight.
tomatoes, chopped, and Put all the ingredients for the tomato sauce in a large pan and bring to the boil.
their juice Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until nicely
A small nugget of fresh thickened. Rub the sauce through a sieve and then put on one side.
ginger, grated Transfer the chicken or pheasant to a roasting pan, with its marinade, cover
2 garlic cloves, crushed with buttered foil and place in a hot oven (450˚F). Bake for 10 minutes, then lower
1 to 3 small green chiles, the heat to 400˚F and cook for 20 to 25 minutes (knock 5 minutes off each phase
depending on heat, finely for boneless chicken).
chopped To complete the sauce, melt the butter in a large pan, add the ground cumin,
5 cloves and sizzle gently for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato sauce, bring back to a
gentle simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato purée, honey, cream,
1 teaspoon salt
fenugreek, lime juice, and black pepper and continue to simmer gently, stirring
3⁄ 4 cup water
occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the sauce is thick, rich, and creamy. Finally,
add the cooked chicken or pheasant tikka. Mix well and heat right through,
TO COMPLETE THE
simmering gently for a final 5 minutes to marry all the flavors. Serve with plain
MAKHANI SAUCE:
boiled rice and naan bread.
1⁄ 2 cup butter
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons tomato purée
4 teaspoons honey
2⁄ 3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fenugreek
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon black pepper

[ 355 ] FA S T C O O K I N G
 FLYING TOAD IN THE HOLE Serves 4

2 pheasant breasts, cut in I’ve always loved toad in the hole and have always felt that, on the whole (!), the
half (or 4 pigeon breasts) meat-baked-in-batter concept is underexplored. This recipe aims to glamorize
4 fat butcher’s sausages the dish a touch, while in no way compromising its earthy, trencherman appeal.
2 large, plump prunes The posh gravy is optional but makes it into a definite dinner-party winner.

3 bacon slices
Choose a roasting pan or flameproof dish into which the breasts and sausages will
1 tablespoon olive oil fit with plenty of space for the surrounding batter.
First make the batter. Put all the ingredients in a food processor, with the
THE BATTER: plunger removed to help aeration, and pulse for about five 10-second bursts until
you have a smooth batter. Alternatively, put the flour and seasoning in a large
1 cup all-purpose flour
mixing bowl, beat in the eggs and yolk, then whisk in the combined milk and
1⁄ 4 teaspoon salt
water by degrees, until you have a smooth batter the consistency of light cream.
A few twists of black Leave the batter to rest for at least 30 minutes before using.
pepper
If you are making the gravy, do that in advance, too. Ensure that the stock is
2 medium eggs quite clear. If in doubt, warm it through and strain through a piece of cheesecloth
1 egg yolk or a cotton cloth. Add the wine and boil hard to reduce it to an intensely flavored
2⁄ 3 cup milk sauce with a light, syrupy consistency. Season with salt only at the end.
Take the pieces of pheasant breast and make 2 or 3 parallel slits about 3⁄ 4 inch
2⁄ 3 cup water
deep in each one. Cut each prune into 4 or 5 slices, discarding the pits. Cut one of
the bacon slices into thin strips. Push a piece of bacon (the fattier the better) and a
THE GRAVY (OPTIONAL): sliver of prune into each slit in the breasts. Cut the remaining 2 slices of bacon in
About 2 cups clear game half and flatten and stretch each half with the side of a large knife. Then wrap each
stock, ideally made from piece of pheasant breast in the stretched half slice.
the pigeon bones (p. 472) Pour the oil into your chosen dish and place in the center of a hot oven (425˚F)
About 1⁄ 4 bottle of red to heat through for about 10 minutes. Then add the sausages and wrapped breasts
wine – they should sizzle in the oil. Start them cooking in the oven for a few minutes,
(Or serve the Onion Gravy then turn them browned-side up and push them around so they are more or less
on p. 517) evenly spaced in the pan. By now the oil should be very hot. Pour the batter over
and around the sausages and breasts and return the dish to the oven. Cook for at
least 15 minutes, but probably not more than 20, until the batter is puffed up and a
deep golden brown.
Give each person a slab of the batter, with a sausage and a breast in it, and a
spoonful of the rich gravy. Have buttered cabbage or other greens to accompany.

Variation
Another great addition to toad in the hole, which you can use as well as or instead
of the pheasant breasts, is kidneys. Use whole lamb’s kidneys, half pig’s kidneys,
or trimmed calf’s kidneys cut into suitable chunks. Prepare exactly as for the
pheasant breasts.

[ 492 ]
Excerpted from The River Cottage Meat Book by
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Copyright ©2007
by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Excerpted by
permission of Ten Speed Press, a division of
Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part
of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted
without permission in writing from the publisher.