Restaurant-Style Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

Ingredients

• 700 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut into 4 cm pieces)
• 120 g plain full-fat yogurt
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp ginger paste (for the marinade)
• 1 tbsp garlic paste (for the marinade)
• 1.5 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder (for the marinade)
• 1 tsp garam masala (for the marinade)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp fine sea salt (for the marinade)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (for roasting the chicken)
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter (divided)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (for the gravy)
• 1 item bay leaf
• 4 item green cardamom pods
• 3 item whole cloves
• 1 item cinnamon stick (about 3 cm)
• 1 item yellow onion (medium, roughly chopped)
• 1 tbsp ginger paste (for the gravy)
• 1 tbsp garlic paste (for the gravy)
• 500 g ripe tomatoes (roughly chopped, or canned whole tomatoes)
• 30 g raw cashews
• 1.5 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder (for the gravy)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp fine sea salt (for the gravy, plus more to taste)
• 1 tsp honey (or granulated sugar)
• 120 ml water (plus more as needed)
• 80 ml heavy cream (plus a little extra to finish)
• 1 tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves, crushed between your palms)
• 0.5 tsp garam masala (for finishing)
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro (chopped, for serving)