Melt butter with oil on medium heat to avoid burning. Add onions and cinammon and salt. Saute on medium - high heat until browning. Use water to speed softening. Once soft, reduce heat and pool ~1 TBSP additional oil in onions for next ingredients
Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili, and coriander. Return heat to medium-high. Blossom dry ingredients then mix through. Add ground nuts and mix through.
Add chicken. Cook until all pieces are done.
Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Whole tomatoes can be quickly crushed into chicken.
Simmer semi-covered on medium heat 35-40 minutes. Whole tomatoes will need to be continually crushed and stirred into chicken as gravy forms. Stir, crushing tomatoes every few minutes. Approximately 10, 20, and 35 minutes of simmering shown in photos below. Gravy should be fairly thick, approaching italian ragu consistency.
Add half and half. Sprinkle optional garam masala on top. Mix through and simmer an additional 5 minutes or as necessary to thicken gravy to desired consistency.
Done!
Freezes well. Frozen and leftover portions shown.
