Chicken thigh marinated in spice and ginger-garlic paste, simmered in a tomato-and-butter sauce thickened with cream until the colour deepens to that unmistakable orange. Punjabi restaurant cooking, served with a cool cucumber raita and rice or naan. The dish that introduces most people to Indian food, and earns its place.

Butter chicken (murgh makhani) was invented in the late 1940s at the Moti Mahal restaurant in Daryaganj, Delhi, by Kundan Lal Gujral, who needed to use up unsold tandoori chicken at the end of the day. Simmering the cold tandoori meat in a tomato and butter sauce kept it tender; the dish became the restaurant's signature and spread across India and the world.

The colour is the visual signature. A combination of Kashmiri chilli powder (mild and deeply red) and turmeric gives the sauce its orange-red base; the long simmer of butter, cream and tomato deepens it further; sometimes a small amount of paprika is added at the end for the final saturation. No artificial colouring is needed if the chillies are right.

Chicken thigh rather than breast is the home-cook upgrade. Thigh meat stays moist and shreds tender after the simmer; breast dries out and goes stringy. Cube into 3cm pieces, marinate in yoghurt and the ginger-garlic for at least an hour, pan-sear hard before adding to the sauce. Serve with steamed basmati, warm naan, a spoon of cucumber raita and pappadams. Family dinner that nobody complains about.