‘Tikka' means cube/chuck basically and ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’ as the name suggests is Chunky Chicken in a sauce/gravy. If you see a red Chicken Tikka, sorry to spoil it for you, but it most likely food colouring. The colour of this dish should be a light orange colour that comes through because we are using tomatoes and Kashmiri red chilli powder with some cream.
Marinating step of this recipe is important to give your chicken that extra boost of juicy tenderness. The lactic acid present in yoghurt keeps the meat juicy and tenderises it. It gives an overall better flavour and texture to the final dish.
While making the sauce/gravy, you can skip the sugar and just get that natural sweetness from the onions, tomatoes and cream. I like to add it to adjust to my taste but feel free to play around with it.
TIP: When crushing ginger and garlic for the marinade, crush 1tsp extra of each to add to the sauce later on. Also, once the curry is made, you can take the whole spices out. Yes, you DO NOT eat the whole spices
Recipe
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Oven Temp. : 230°C (450F) for 25-30 mins
- Serves : 5-6 People
Ingredients
For Chicken Marinade
- 1tbsp Ginger
- 1tbsp (5-6 cloves) Garlic
- 800g Chicken (Thighs/Breast)
- 1tbsp Oil
- 1tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1/2Cup Yoghurt
- 1tsp Salt
- 1tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 3tsp Tandoori/Tikka Masala (1 tsp Cumin powder+ 1 tsp Coriander powder + 1 tsp Garam Masala)
For the Sauce
- 2tbsp Oil
- 1tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 2 Bay Leave
- 4 Cloves
- 2 Bay Leave
- 2 Caradamom
- 1 Large (1 Cup) Onion (finely chopped)
- 1tsp Ginger crushed
- 1tsp Garlic crushed
- To Taste Salt
- 1tsp Turmeric
- 2Cans (800g) Tomato Puree
- 1tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 1tsp Sugar
- 2tsp Garam Masala
- If needed Water
- 200g Cream
- 1tbsp Kasoori Methi (Fenugreek Leaves)
- To garnish Coriander
Steps
- Start by marinating the chicken, crush ginger and garlic and add 1tsp each to a large bowl.
- Cube your chicken into chunky pieces and add to the bowl with ginger and garlic.
- Add salt, plain yoghurt, oil, Kashmiri red chilli powder, lemon juice, tandoori or tikka masala. If you don't have either of these masalas, combine 1tsp of garam masala with 1tsp each of cumin powder and coriander powder and you are good to go.
- Combine everything well, cover the bowl and leave the chicken in the fridge to marinate for at least 60 minutes.
- When 30 minuntes into the marination, turn on your oven at 230°C (450F) to pre-heat.
- Then start preparing the masala (sauce), start with chopping onions finely.
- After 60 minutes of marination use skewers and roast the chicken for 25-30 minutes in the pre-heated oven until edges are golden brown.
- Now we will start making the sauce, grab a pan and add oil.
- Add the whole spices when oil gets hot and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the spices are toasted and fragrant.
- To the whole spices, add your chopped onion and cook until well sautéed or golden brown.
- Add a little bit of salt to help with the sauteing. It helps release the water faster from the onions.
- Add ginger and garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes (don’t let the ginger & garlic burn).
- Then add tomato puree, turmeric, sugar, salt, garam masala and salt to taste.
- Then cover the lid and cook on low flame until the tomatoes are cooked completely, it should roughly take 20-30 minutes. Keep checking on the sauce, so it doesn't stick to the bottom and burns. Give it a stir in between.
- When the tomatoes are cooked well, add your roasted chicken tikkas, mix and cook for 3-5 minutes.
- Then add cream and fenugreek leaves and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
- Adjust thicken if needed and garnish with fresh coriander.
- Serve it with naan or my brown onion and cumin rice. Enjoy!
