scorecardI tried Gordon Ramsay's 15-minute dinner recipe for butter chicken. It was restaurant-quality, but his estimate was way off.
  1. Home
  2. life
  3. food
  4. news
  5. I tried Gordon Ramsay's 15-minute dinner recipe for butter chicken. It was restaurant-quality, but his estimate was way off.

I tried Gordon Ramsay's 15-minute dinner recipe for butter chicken. It was restaurant-quality, but his estimate was way off.

Terri Peters   

I tried Gordon Ramsay's 15-minute dinner recipe for butter chicken. It was restaurant-quality, but his estimate was way off.
I cooked Gordon Ramsay's 15-minute recipe for butter chicken to see how long it really takes to make.Terri Peters
  • I tried Gordon Ramsay's "curry in a hurry" recipe, which is supposed to come together in 15 minutes.
  • The dish was flavorful enough to please my family, though the cooking process took over an hour.

Indian food is my favorite type of cuisine, but taking my family of four out to eat can be pretty expensive. So, like many people trying to save money by cooking at home, I decided to try making one of my favorite restaurant dishes.

Many Indian dishes I saw required lengthy cooking times and long lists of ingredients. So, when I came across Gordon Ramsay's "curry in a hurry" recipe for butter chicken, I knew I had to try it.

The YouTube video shows the chef making the dish in under 15 minutes, which sounds pretty convenient.

Still, I was skeptical about the tight estimate, and I wasn't alone — the video, which has nearly 2 million views, is flooded with comments like, "Can't wait to make this in one hour and 15 minutes tomorrow," and "I made this dish step-by-step, wasn't 15 mins."

To see how easy this recipe really was and if it was actually tasty, I made Ramsay's curry myself.

I started by marinating the chicken overnight.

I started by marinating the chicken overnight.
I gathered my ingredients for marinating the cubed chicken.      Terri Peters

Ramsay's curry in a hurry has two separate ingredient lists: one for the chicken marinade and another for the curry sauce.

I started by cubing and coating about 1 ½ pounds of chicken breast in plain yogurt, olive oil, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, and black and cayenne pepper.

Ramsay's recipe calls for only a pound of chicken and grapeseed oil, but I used ingredients I already had.

I followed the advice in the video and let the yogurt-based marinade sink into the chicken overnight. Notably, marinating the chicken overnight wasn't included in the video's 15-minute timeline.

Letting the marinated chicken hang out in the fridge overnight made it flavorful and tender.

Letting the marinated chicken hang out in the fridge overnight made it flavorful and tender.
The marinated chicken soaked in the flavors of the spices.      Terri Peters

I let the chicken marinate for about 12 hours, allowing the spices to really sink in and coat the meat. When I checked on my chicken, I noticed the marinade had turned the meat yellow, and it smelled deliciously like curry.

I also think plain yogurt added a tangy note and helped tenderize the meat.

The next day, I gathered the rest of the curry ingredients.

The next day, I gathered the rest of the curry ingredients.
The curry in a hurry recipe required a lot of fragrant ingredients.      Terri Peters

When it was time to cook the full dish, I gathered my curry ingredients: olive oil (again, the original recipe calls for grapeseed oil), red onion, ginger, Fresno chile, butter, cilantro, heavy cream, tomato sauce, and lemon.

I also used an assortment of spices, including cardamom pods, cloves, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, and cayenne pepper.

I also noticed this recipe involved lots of chopping. From cubing the chicken to slicing the onion, ginger, chile pepper, and garlic, chopping the ingredients alone took about 20 minutes.

I thought Ramsay's recipe was a little messy, and I knew I'd need plenty of time to clean.

I thought Ramsay
I used two pans to cook the chicken and the sauce ingredients.      Terri Peters

I thought Ramsay's recipe created a bit of a mess. I needed to use two pans — one for cooking the cubed chicken and the other for sautéeing the curry ingredients — and allow plenty of time for cleanup after cooking.

I cooked the chicken breast in one pan and sautéed the curry ingredients in the other.

Cooking the chiles and spices made my kitchen smell amazing.

Cooking the chiles and spices made my kitchen smell amazing.
The chiles, onions, and garlic smelled delicious.      Terri Peters

Next, I cooked the onions until caramelized and added the cardamom pods, cloves, garlic, ginger, and Fresno chile.

Once everything had cooked through, I added butter, followed by cilantro, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, and cayenne pepper.

A highlight of making this recipe was how incredible my kitchen smelled from cooking fragrant chile peppers, spices, and garlic.

The mixture started to look more like butter chicken when I added tomato sauce.

The mixture started to look more like butter chicken when I added tomato sauce.
I started to get excited to eat the finished dish as I was cooking.      Terri Peters

Once the mixture had become paste-like, I added the tomato sauce, heavy cream, and lemon juice.

At this point, I noticed my Indian-food-loving family hanging out in the kitchen and trying to get a peek at what I was cooking. Sadly for them, there was more work to be done.

Puréeing the curry in a blender was messy but worth it.

Puréeing the curry in a blender was messy but worth it.
When I poured the curry sauce into my blender, there were a few drips, but it was worth it.      Terri Peters

If I thought cooking in multiple pans made for a messy kitchen, that was nothing compared to pouring the hot curry mixture into my blender.

I successfully dumped the orange-red mixture into the appliance and puréed it into a lump-free curry sauce, though there were a few spills and drips along the way.

After straining the curry, it was time to combine the sauce and the chicken.

After straining the curry, it was time to combine the sauce and the chicken.
I strained the blended sauce into my pan of cooked chicken.      Terri Peters

Ramsay suggested pouring the puréed sauce through a strainer when adding it into the pan with the chicken, so I pulled out my trusty sieve and went to work.

There weren't many leftover seeds or spices, so I may skip this step next time to save time and have fewer dishes to clean up.

Once the sauce was strained, combining the mixture with the cooked chicken was easy. I stirred the mixture and added more butter, cilantro, and lemon zest to finish.

I served the curry in a hurry with naan and rice.

I served the curry in a hurry with naan and rice.
I thought the finished curry in a hurry and the easy side dishes were delicious.      Terri Peters

I kept things simple with the side dishes I served. I microwaved precooked basmati rice and heated store-bought naan in my air fryer so my family could soak up the delicious curry sauce.

If I make this dish again, I'd probably cook my own rice and grab store-bought samosas to serve along with the naan.

Ramsay's curry in a hurry recipe was delicious, and I'd make it again.

Ramsay
The finished curry in a hurry dish was worth all the effort.      Terri Peters

When I tasted the finished dish, all the mess was worth it. Ramsay's curry sauce tasted as good as ones I've had at Indian restaurants — and I felt proud knowing I'd made it home.

Though Ramsay sped through the cooking process in 15 minutes on camera, it took me about 40 minutes to cook everything, blend the curry sauce, and combine the two pans into one dish.

That said, I think I could cook this dish more quickly over time as I make it more and commit steps of the recipe to memory.

And I can't deny that the end result was beautiful and restaurant-quality. The chicken's flavor was buttery and tomatoey, seasoned perfectly with spices like garam masala and turmeric. My family was thrilled with the dish's creaminess and flavors.

Overall, this flavorful curry recipe can definitely be made a bit faster, and I can't wait to try it again in my kitchen.

Advertisement