Creamy Chicken Makhani With Cucumber Salad (DF)

Preheat the oven to 240ºC/ 220ºC (fan)/ gas 9 then take your chicken out of the fridge and open the packet to let it breathe before cooking

Boil a kettle

Chop the chicken breasts portions into bite-sized pieces

Add the chopped chicken in a large bowl with 1 tbsp [2 tbsp] vegetable oil, coconut yoghurt, cayenne pepper (can't handle the heat? Go easy!), garam masala and a pinch of salt – this is your marinated chicken

Transfer the marinated chicken to a baking tray (use baking paper to avoid mess!) and put in the oven for 6-8 min or until the chicken is slightly charred (you'll be cooking this in the curry later!)

Once done, set aside – this is your chicken tikka

Once the chicken is charred, turn the oven down to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ gas 6

Meanwhile, add the cashew nuts to a bowl, cover with boiled water and set aside for 5-6 min or until softened

Peel and roughly chop the red onion[s]

Peel (scrape the skin off with a teaspoon) and finely chop the ginger

Peel and chop the garlic roughly

Dice the cucumber finely

Add the diced cucumber to a bowl with 1 tbsp [2 tbsp] olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper – this is your peppery cucumber salad

Drain the soaked cashews

Add the softened cashews, chopped ginger, garlic and onion to a food processor and blitz to form a paste – this is your cashew paste

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium heat

Once hot, add the whole cloves and cook for 1-2 min

Add the cashew paste and the tomato paste and cook for 8-10 min or until fragrant

Tip: Add a little more vegetable oil if the pan is looking a little dry

Reboil half a kettle

Once fragrant, add the chicken tikka (and any juices) to the pan with the chicken stock mix and 150ml [250ml] boiled water

Cook for 8-10 min or until the chicken is cooked through (no pink meat!) and the sauce has thickened to a curry-like consistency – this is your creamy chicken makhani

Add the plain naans to a baking tray and put them in the oven for 2-3 min or until warm