Chicken Tikka Masala

One of the most know Indian dishes - succulent Chicken Tikka Masala. It's explosion of flavors, spices and overwhelming orange hues. And it's absolutely doable in our modern urban kitchens! 

Blog's Category: International, Indian

Intro

I'm not in the position to teach how to make really authentic chicken tikka masala. After all, for a "real" tikka masala you have to cook your chicken in a special tandur oven - do you have one? Most likely no.. but you shouldn't give up on cooking this amazingly delicious dish. Easy as 1-2-3 steps below will bring it for you - the most famous Indian chicken recipe, right there, right to your plate ;)


What is it?

Yogurt marinated chicken has to be grilled, or broiled as in my recipe, and then briefly cooked in a rich sauce made of yogurt cooked with a beautiful bouquet of Indian spices.

Taste Description

It's a flavor bomb! Natural grilled chicken taste and flavor is not overpowered by potent sauce but rather brought to another level, enhanced and complimented by abundance of different powerful spices. Juicy, not overcooked pieces of chicken are still white inside, but outside are covered with beautiful thick, medium-hot masala sauce. 

How to Serve/Store

Serve hot, over the rice or pasta. It's also great as a filling for french baguette sandwich. Traditionally it's served with naan bread and some fresh vegetable salad.

Chicken Tikka Masala



• 5 chicken breasts
• 2 cups whole milk yogurt
• 3 tbs ghee (or vegetable oil)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 7 garlic cloves, minced
• 1" fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 2 tbs turmeric powder
• 1 tbs cumin powder
• 1 tbs coriander powder
• 2 tbs paprika
• 1 tsp chili flakes (or cayenne pepper powder to taste)
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt

- Cut each chicken breast into 4-5 long strips. Transfer chicken into a bowl, add a little bit salt, one cup (half of all amount) of yogurt. Mix well and let marinate for a couple of hours.

- Preheat oven to 430F. It should be very hot. Cook chicken pieces just until they get nice golden-brown patches (about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven and how large pieces are). Or you can broil them on the upper rack of the oven.

- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: in a large frying pan, melt ghee and cook onion just until translucent. Add garlic, ginger, spices, bay leaves and tomato paste. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add remaining 1 cup of yogurt, 4 cups of water and stir nicely. Add salt. Simmer for 2 minutes.

- Remove chicken from the oven. It still may be under-cooked inside but should be golden-brown on the outside. Cut it into a bite size pieces. 

- Transfer chicken to the pan with sauce, stir and simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat. It's done, enjoy!



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