Butter chicken

First marinade: toss the chicken pieces with salt, Kashmiri chili powder and lemon juice; rest 45 minutes to an hour.

Second marinade: mix oil, Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, thick yogurt, kasuri methi, salt, black pepper and ginger and garlic paste.

Lift the chicken into the marinade, leaving behind the liquid it released; mix and marinate at least 2 hours, overnight is better.

Set an oiled cooling rack over a foil-lined baking tray; arrange the chicken and brush with melted butter.

Bake at 425F in a preheated oven (400F if convection) for 40 minutes, turning and brushing with more butter halfway.

For the sauce, heat a tablespoon of oil over medium heat and add the green cardamoms.

Add the canned tomatoes and mash; add the grated ginger and garlic and salt; simmer on medium-low until thickened, partly covered if it spatters.

Take the chicken out at about 156F internal, roughly 95% cooked, and cut into bite-size pieces.

Blend the thickened sauce very smooth (cool first if the blender cannot take hot liquid), rinse the jar with water, and pass through a strainer for a velvety sauce; discard what stays in the strainer.

Stir the Kashmiri chili powder and sweet paprika into a third of a cup of water.

Warm the melted butter in a pot over medium heat, add the chili water, bring to a rolling boil, then add the sauce and simmer uncovered on medium-low 10 to 15 minutes.

Taste and add salt; add kasuri methi, garam masala, ground mace, the chicken and the optional green chilies.

Loosen with a splash of water to the consistency you like; cover on low 5 minutes.

Add honey to balance the tomatoes' sourness, then the heavy cream; finish with chopped coriander and drizzle reserved cream over after plating.