FAQ for uk.food+drink.indian Newsgroup

Chicken Tikka Masala

To date the most frequent questions and requests have been regarding Chicken Tikka Masala (generally referred to as CTM). Before making the sauce you need your Chicken Tikka!! The first recipes on this page are for Chicken Tikkas, followed by Masala sauces and then some further recipes for similar dishes.

Chicken Tikka (1)

Chicken and Marinade Recipe

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small cubes.
Mustard Oil - 2 cups
Yogurt - 1 cup
Red Chilli Powder (Indian paprika) - 4 teaspoons (or more)
Turmeric (the orange powdery stuff) - 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala - 2 tablespoons
garlic - 2 pods
ginger - 1 cm cross-section ( dont know what units you measure ginger in!)
sugar - 1 tblespoon
Juice of one small lemon

Method

Stick all the ingredients (sans chicken pieces) in a blender/food processor
Once you get a nice emulsion, stop blending
Marinate the chicken for atleast 2 hours or as long as a day.
If you're making tikkas, remove chicken pieces and skewer them onto a kabab stick.
Grill at mild heat for about 2 minutes on each side or till done
For moist tikkas, brush on the marinade while cooking
If you're not making tikkas (ie if you're making makhanwala) make sure you remove excess marinade by passing it through a pasta drainer.

Chicken Tikka (2)

(Comment from the person who posted this -These recipes come from Pat Chapman, founder of the Curry Club in Britain and an acknowledged expert on Indian food, it can be found in his Bangladeshi Restaurant Curries. The book is a must for anyone who enjoys curries, rush out and buy it immediately!)

Recipe for 4 persons

675g(1.5lb) fresh chicken breasts, skinned, filleted and cut into20-24x3.75 (1.5 inch) cubes.
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons chilli powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons garam masala
1-teaspoon ground cumin
0.5-teaspoon turmeric
150ml (5fl oz) thick natural yoghurt (home made is best but not essential)
2 tablespoons mustard oil
4 large, plump garlic cloves very finely chopped
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-tablespoon tomato puree
1-teaspoon salt
Approx 50ml (2fl oz) milk

Method

Mix the marinade ingredients together in a large non-metallic bowl
Add the chicken pieces. Cover with cling film (Food wrap) and refrigerate for 24-60 hours. (If chicken has previously been frozen do not exceed the 24 hour marinating period, 60 hours can be achieved with fresh chicken which has not previously been frozen)
Just prior to cooking divide the chicken between four skewers. (Use the marinade in a curry or discard it)
Pre-heat the grill to medium. Place the skewered chicken on an oven rack above a foil lined grill tray and place the tray in a midway position. Alternately the chicken can be barbecued.
Cook for 5 minutes, turn and cook for another 5 minutes. Cut through one piece of chicken to ensure it is fully cooked through, it should be white right through with no hint of pink. Cook further as necessary.
When fully cooked raise the tray nearer to the heat and singe pieces to obtain little flecks of blackening. Do not overdo it and burn the chicken.
Serve with Indian bread, rice etc and a raita or reserve for use in Chicken Tikka Massala.

Sauce/Gravy for Chicken Tikka Masala (1)

Recipe

Tomato Puree (TP)
Whipping Cream (WC) Depending on how much gravy you want, but the ratio of TP to WC is 3:1. Make sure you get fresh liquid whipping cream, and not the
stiff whipped cream that's so popular (here) in the states.
Ghee/Oil - 2 tablspoons (use ghee if you can, tastes better!)
Garam Masala powder - 3 tbspoons
Whole Garam masala -- ok, this is just 1 stick of cinammon, a couple of
whole black pepper pods, 1 dried bay leaf broken up. (whole grm msla is optional)
red chilli powder - 1 tblspoon
salt - 1 tblspn or to taste
honey (yes honey.. takes the edge off the tomato puree) - 1 tablespoon
Ginger - 1 cm
Garlic - 2 pods
Green chillis - 1

Method

First grate the ginger, the garlic and the green chillis. Mix the three up till you get a paste like mixture. You want to use about one tablespoon of this mixture.
In a kadaai or wok, heat ghee. Add the pieces of whole garam masala.
When the whole garam masala pieces start to crackle, lower the heat and add the powdered garam masala. Fry the masala for a minute or two.
Lower the heat even further, and add the ginger/garlic/chilli mixture.
Fry for a minute or two.
Now add the tomato puree and stir well. At this point, add the red chilli powder, the salt and the honey.
Bring to a boil and let simmer for atleast 20 minutes. You want to take the edge off the tomato and for the masalas to be well incorporated.
Now add the chicken pieces. Cook for another 10 minutes, you want the chicken to absorb the flavor of the gravy.
Finally, turn off the heat and let it cool down for another 5 minutes. At this point, add the cream and stir well. You've got a great tasting curry!

Sauce/Gravy for Chicken Tikka Masala (2)

Recipe

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 large plump cloves of garlic, finely chopped
225g (8 oz) onions, very finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons bottled mild curry paste
1.5 tablespoons bottled tandoori paste
20-24 chicken Tikka pieces cooked to the previous recipe
6 tinned plum tomatoes, chopped
1-tablespoon vinegar, any type
1-tablespoon tomato ketchup
175ml (6 fl oz) canned tomato soup
Half a green pepper, chopped
0-4 fresh green chillies, chopped (optional)
100ml (4 fl oz) single cream
1-tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander leaves
Salt to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a large karai or wok.
Stir-fry the garlic for 30 seconds, then add the onions and stir-fry for 8-10 minutes until golden brown
Add the pastes and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, adding just enough water to keep things from sticking
Add the tomatoes, vinegar, ketchup, soup, green pepper and chillies if using.
Stir-fry for 5 minutes or so.
Add the cream, garam masala and chopped coriander leaves.
Simmer for a further 2 minutes, adding a little water if needed.
Add salt to taste and then serve

Similar Style Recipes

Quick and Simple

Recipe

One pack of value chicken breasts from Tesco cut into inch-ish chunks. Save half of one breast for dog's dinner (optional) Add the following, all in the same (big) bowl: (all quantities are variable)
2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt
juice of a lemon
200ml pot of greek-style yoghurt (not zero fat rubbish)
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
4 or so cloves of garlic, crushed
lump of fresh ginger, grated
big squirt of tomato puree (2 or 3 tbsps)
1 tbsp sugar or honey
a couple of tbsps of Patak's Korma paste that was in the fridge (optional)

Method

Stir madly until it's all the same colour. Wipe walls & ceiling. Cover & leave in fridge for at least 12 hours if poss. If not, whatever you can spare.
When ready to cook, peel and finely chop a big onion. Fry in ghee if available, or a couple of ounces of butter and about 5 tbsps veg oil until just turning brown (yes it's a lot of fat but it's ok).
Pour chicken mixture on top of the onion and stir madly again. Add a quarter of a block of creamed coconut, dissolved in 1/3 pint hot water.
Looks quite nice now. Don't taste it yet!! Bring almost to the boil, stirring.
Pour everything into a big casserole dish and bung into a low-ish oven (gas 3, electric...don't know :o) for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.
Add a couple of ounces of ground almonds when almost done.
Check seasoning, add salt if necessary. Some chopped fresh coriander would be nice too.
Pour in a few ounces of single cream, give it a swirl & serve.