Aromatic Tandoori Chicken Tikka Masala

Aromatic tandoori chicken tikka masala. What a recipe! You can’t ge much more British than this. Haha ????. Yep, that’s correct, Chicken tikka masala is the most eaten dish in the UK. We love Indian curries and this particular curry is our favorite. Marinated chicken cooked in a spiced tomato and cream sauce. Serve it with fluffy basmati rice and naan bread and ultimate bliss is achieved. Yum…

There is a very easy way to make chicken tikka masala and that’s to fry some chicken off an add a ready-made jar of shop bought masala sauce. However, that’s not what The Yum Yum Club is about and, to be honest, the end result is very mediocre. This post shows you how to make this delicious dish from scratch. What’s more, the end result is so worth the effort. Enjoy…

1. Gather the ingredients together for the tandoori chicken tikka

This recipe is really made in two parts. First, there is the preparation and marinating of the chicken. The chicken needs to marinate for at least 1 hour and, if you have time, overnight. Following this, there is the cooking of the actual dish itself, primarily made up of frying the chicken and making the masala sauce.

For the tandoori chicken tikka, the marinade is made up of 11 spices in total and the first task is to gather all of these together. The measurements are listed in the printable recipe below but for reference, you will need cumin, coriander (fresh and ground), curry powder, turmeric, fenugreek, sea salt, mint, chili powder, tandoori paste, and ginger and garlic paste.

A quick word on the tandoori paste. This is a shop bought pre-prepared paste and is optional. However, I find it really does add to the flavor and is a great addition. One other benefit is that it eases my conscience a little as it allows me to justify the word “tandoori” in the description ????. Arguably, apart from the red food coloring and the tandoori paste, this is really a recipe for chicken tikka. A detailed and informative description of the differences between tandoori and tikka can be found by clicking this link… ▶

2. Make the aromatic tandoori chicken tikka masala marinade

With the herbs and spices gathered the marinade can be made. First, add the herbs and spices to a mixing bowl and add the lemon juice and the olive oil.

Mix this together thoroughly then add a tablespoon of water at a time and mix together until the texture of the marinade is rich and creamy.

3. Prepare the chicken and marinate

Chicken thigh or breast can be used for this aromatic tandoori chicken tikka style. Whichever is chosen, however, the skin and bone must be removed. The skin simply pulls off and, for the breast, the bone will already be removed. If using thighs and they have been bought with the bone in then it’s relatively simple to remove these. There is a good short yet instructional video below that shows how to do this.

Once the bones have been removed then trim any excess fat. The final thighs should look something like this.

Once the chicken is prepared cut in half if thighs and quarters if breast and add to the marinade.

Mix the chicken and marinade together until the chicken is coated all over.

Now, cover the bowl with kitchen film and leave in the fridge to marinate. This will take a minimum of 1 hour but leave overnight if you have the time.

4. Gather the ingredients for the masala sauce

When the tandoori chicken tikka has finished marinating the ingredients for the masala sauce can be gathered together. Again, the measurements are listed in the printable recipe below but the main ingredients are 6 spices of garam masala, cumin, chili powder, turmeric, coriander, and salt. In addition, there is onion, garlic, ginger, butter, cream, and passata. Note that passata is a basic tomato sauce which can be shop bought or made by following this link… ▶.

Gather the ingredients together

The only preparation required is to finely chop the onion, garlic, and ginger.

5. Make and serve the aromatic tandoori chicken tikka masala

To cook this wonderful dish start by heating the oil in a skillet to medium heat. Add the marinated chicken and fry for around 3 minutes. After this time remove the chicken from the pan and leave on the side. The chicken will finish cooking in the sauce.

Using the same pan, add the butter and melt and then add the onion and sweat off for 3 minutes or so. Then add the garlic and ginger and heat through for 1 additional minute.

Next, add the spices and cook through for just 30 seconds.

Now, add the passata and salt and cook through for 10-15 minutes. The key point here is to keep stirring and make sure the tomato sauce does not dry up. If it starts to become too thick then turn the heat down slightly and add a little water.

After 10 minutes add the cream.

Mix the cream in and add the chicken.

Cook all of these through for 8-10 minutes until the chicken has cooked all the way through.

And that’s all there is to it spice fans. Aromatic tandoori chicken tikka masala. Serve with a good sprinkling of chopped coriander and server with fluffy basmati rice and naan bread. Yum!

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As always, many thanks for reading and until next time… Steve.

 

6. Nutritional values

7. Printable recipe