Old delhi-style chicken curry

Combine the ginger, garlic, salt, chilli powder and lemon juice. Mix with the chicken, turning the pieces to coat, and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

Mix the yoghurt and the garam masala, and stir this into the chicken mixture. Leave for another 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7.

While the chicken is marinating, make the sauce. Put the tomatoes in a large saucepan with the water. Add the garlic, crushed ginger, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes are very soft.

Put the chicken in a shallow roasting pan, spreading it out into a single layer. Roast for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, tip the sauce into a food processor and whiz to a purée. Push the purée through a sieve set over a saucepan.

Bring the sieved purée to the boil. Add the chilli powder and stir until beginning to thicken. Stir in the butter, a piece at a time, until the sauce turns glossy.

Add the chicken and the juices from the roasting pan. Simmer for 5 minutes.

When the sauce is fairly thick, add the chopped ginger and the cream and simmer a little longer until red spots of fat appear in the sauce.

. Add the garam masala, fenugreek and sugar, if using. Season with salt to taste.

. Serve hot with naan bread or pilau rice.