Chicken Ruby from Dishoom: From Bombay with Love: Cookery Book and Highly Subjective Guide to Bombay with Map (page 209) by Shamil Thakrar and Kavi Thakrar and Naved Nasir

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Notes about this recipe

  • fiona_qlcaud on May 15, 2026

    The fenugreek leaves are what give the sauce that final punch of flavour. I always a bit more than the recipe states and make sure they are ground up well so as to remove the stalky bits on the leaves

  • sophie_bsts85 on April 25, 2026

    So, so good but I’d strongly recommend marinading the chicken for the full 24hrs. Scoop off the oil once cooked too. Also, don’t use less oil, the oil quantity is very much needed to get the best flavour out of the spices.

  • dmdmdmmm on April 25, 2026

    This was really really good! Its also pretty wasy come together as long as you make the sauce beforehand. Maybe the best butter chicken i’ve had.

  • olliestephen_tijtsc on April 18, 2026

    Love this! Usually reduce the oil a little but it’s just so good

  • Potawatomus on April 13, 2026

    This was by far the best butter chicken I’ve ever had. I sautéed the chicken because I didn’t feel like dealing with the grill. I was feeling cute so I doubled all of the spices.

  • eclairea on April 13, 2026

    Delicious! Quite a bit oilier than I expected, but the basmati soaked up all the delicious sauce nicely. Didn’t have a grill, so just sautéed in an enabled cast iron braiser and it came out great.

  • ShayLRoss on April 05, 2026

    Excellent taste, I was really pleased with how this turned out!

  • Schooffiecooks on March 31, 2026

    Made with paneer!

  • PriyaPath on March 28, 2026

    I can’t say enough good things about this recipe, a family favourite. From graparents to the youngest kids loved it.

  • teresa_3u2sef on March 28, 2026

    I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made this , it’s absolutely delicious

  • hkasdan on February 16, 2026

    Made this and loved it! I didn’t have the correct chili powder so I used Kashmiri which is a bit milder. My boyfriend’s only note was to maybe add some spicy stuff next time so I’ll find the correct chili powder next time.

  • jennifer_5jhsk0 on February 14, 2026

    If I could rate this 10 stars, I would. We do an all day Indian about twice a year.?

  • Deja1 on November 22, 2025

    Finally made the chicken Ruby and it didn't take as long as I thought it would so will replay this soon. Very tasty and addictive, there were hardly any leftovers.

  • Astrid5555 on October 13, 2025

    I can only repeat what everyone else have said so far. It's a fabulous, delicious curry with tender and tasty chicken. Worth the effort and perfect for entertaining. Got rave reviews from all my guests.

  • EmilyR on May 03, 2025

    I went to Dishoom in London and had to make this when we got back. Beautiful and complex… next time I’ll have the pomegranates, too.

  • aimeekitty on March 26, 2025

    This is a lot of work but it's absolutely yummy and worth it.

  • embk27 on March 16, 2025

    Beautiful rich curry which is worth the steps it takes. Once the garlic is fried, I’d remove half of the oil before carrying on. Tastes even nicer the next day.

  • bernalgirl on February 06, 2024

    This is a lot of work, special occasion food if you’re a working parent, but my family adored it. I made the makhani sauce and marinated the chicken on Sunday, and on Monday I seared the chicken in a cast iron pan and compiled the dish. It’s a deeply layered dish that I will make again when I have a rainy day to dedicate cook.

  • catmummery on November 04, 2023

    just made this again. It really is a fabulous curry recipe - as others have mentioned, complex, layered flavours. Sweetness next to chilli next to black and green cardamom and pickling spice. I used 2/3 of the oil suggested and it worked beautifully - it did look a lot at the beginning, but I think it added to the sauce in the end, and it was in no way oily by the end of cooking time. The chicken, like others state, is unbelievably tender and tasty - needed a hotter grill to properly char will do so next time but such a lovely way to do the chicken. Love this +++

  • kkmatti on August 14, 2023

    This is the best chicken makhani I've ever had. It was a lot of work to make and involved a lot of steps and time, but I think it was worth it. We raved about the chicken after it was done grilling, and I'm tempted to try to make the chicken part of this on the bone on its own.

  • WookieWoo on April 19, 2023

    Just the most perfect curry recipe. The sheer simplicity and no onions really surprised me but it just works. Have been making almost on repeat!

  • metacritic on September 13, 2022

    Excellent. Complex and nuanced, while not losing the quality of comfort food provided by a good chicken makhani. My previous standard was from the Benares cookbook. This reaches those same lofty heights and provides a slightly thicker sauce, which I do appreciate. All the observations below that one should pour off significant extra oil is absolutely right.

  • coryelizabeth on June 01, 2022

    As others have noted, this recipe has a lot of steps that — even when split up over multiple days — can be a lot to juggle. As others have also noted, the amount of vegetable oil called for seems excessive, so I cut that down to about a tablespoon. Otherwise, this is a rich and satisfying dish that’s simply bursting with flavor. A real “I love you” meal.

  • Hansyhobs on March 29, 2022

    Mother's Day 2022. I've cooked this several times and it never disappoints. It does take some time but it's not overly complicated. Unlike the other comments I've always used the full amount of oil and not had any issues with it, the dish has never felt oily. I thinly slice my garlic at the beginning as I find that easier to fish out of the oil with a slotted spoon than finely diced garlic. I usually make the sauce the evening before (when I marinade the chicken for the ruby curry). If you're making the black dal, that's a good time to simmer the lentils as well.

  • FJT on June 12, 2021

    We were supposed to be going to Dishoom on a trip to London just as the pandemic started, but it was cancelled so I bought the book instead. So glad I did; this was delicious. I took note of the other comments and only used a little bit of oil for the makhani sauce. I made the sauce at the same time as the marinade for the chicken, so this came together really quickly on the day. I also made double the sauce recipe so that I had some to freeze for another meal.

  • joneshayley on August 30, 2020

    Absolutely worth the time taken to make this. The makhani sauce calls for 175ml oil, of which I decanted 150ml off after cooling the sauce. Next time I’d just use far far less in the first instance. The flavours are so complex and rich, it’s easily the best curry I’ve ever made.

  • IvyManning on August 27, 2020

    I agree with stockholm28, I think there is a typo in the sub recipe for Makhani sauce...175ml (3/4 cup) of oil for one dish? There's a thick film of oil when simmering it...and then you add a substantial amount of butter and cream! I'd recommend reduce to a few tablespoons of oil when making the Makhani sub recipe. It was tasty, but takes a long time, perhaps make the sub recipe one day and finish the rest the next day.

  • stockholm28 on December 26, 2019

    I made the chicken ruby curry. It was very good, but it is quite time consuming. I’ve had this in the restaurant and thought it was great. Mine really didn’t look like like the photo. My sauce was much thicker. It uses a lot of oil and I did end up removing some of it after frying the garlic as it just seemed like too much. Recipe is here: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/sep/07/four-classic-indian-recipes-dishoom-chaat-dal-salad-jackfruit-biyani-chicken-makhani-curry

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