Meet Fenugreek

Fenugreek seeds and leaves. Image source: TheKitchn.com.

Two of our most popular non-vegetarian dishes are Chicken Makhani and Chicken Tikka Masala.

Some guests, such as our lovely friends at the British Embassy, are fiercely loyal to one or the other and will never deviate from their preferred dish. Other guests may call us to place a phone order and ask for help to recall which dish they enjoyed in our dining room.

They are both tomato-based chicken curries, so some confusion is perfectly understandable. Chicken Makhani is the world-famous Butter Chicken. It is a mild, slightly sweet, creamy curry that families often find suitable for children. The curry sauce is a brighter red due to the creamy base.

Chicken Tikka Masala is the UK pub favorite, so well-known that it’s universally recognized by its CTM abbreviation. It’s more savory and spicy than Chicken Makhani and it contains a distinctive spice called fenugreek, or methi in Hindi.

According to Wikipedia:

India is the largest producer of fenugreek in the world where Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab are the major fenugreek producing states. Rajasthan produces the lion’s share of India's production, accounting for over 80% of the nation’s total fenugreek output.

TheKitchn.com offers a brilliant explanation and recipe suggestions for fenugreek.