Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is one of our favourite meals. It is amazing how many different varieties of the same dish there are. When we’ve ordered Chicken Tikka Masala from the takeaway, it can come come spicy, sweet or a little bland. So we’ve hunted out this recipe of the dish to become our favourite version.

Bizarrely the first time we cooked this was for a New years Eve celebration. Unfortunately it also combined with the Gas man hunting for a gas leak and pulling our kitchen apart. With less than the hours to go we grilled the chicken tikka and made the masala sauce to perfection. Everyone loved it and the recipe continues to impress.

Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe
Chicken Tikka

You Will Need:
For the Chicken Tikka
1 pot of Natural Yoghurt
1 tbsp Cumin Powder
1 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Tumeric Powder
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 Lemon Juiced
8 Cloves of Garlic (Crushed)
1 inch of Fresh Ginger (Grated)
A few drops of Red Food Colouring
4 Chicken Breasts (cubed)

My Method:
1. Measure out all the powdered ingredients into a large bowl (or large Tupperware)
2. Add the Yoghurt, Lemon Juice and Food Colouring.
3. Mix the Marinade together.
4. Add the cubed Chicken Breasts.
5. Allow to Marinade for 24 hours in the Fridge

Notes:
Your house will smell like your cooking something amazing, which you are.

Chicken Tikka Masala Sauce

You Will Need:
3 tins of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Chopped Onion
2 tsp Curry Powder
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
1 Clove of Garlic (Crushed)
3 inches of Fresh Ginger (Grated)
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
Fresh Coriander Leaves (Chopped)
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 tbsp Natural Yoghurt
2 tbsp Sugar

My Method
1. Add the onion, Garlic and Ginger to a large pan with the oil.
2. Cook over a medium heat till the onions start to go translucent.
3. Add the Garam Masala, Chilli, Curry Powder
4. Cook the spices through for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the Tomatoes, and Yoghurt and simmer for 20 minutes
6. Blend the curry base with a hand-held blender until smooth.
7. Pass the blended curry through a sieve to remove any pulp.
8. Add the sugar and taste the sauce. If you prefer it sweeter add a little more sugar.
9. Add the chicken pieces and simmer the curry until it thickens to the desired consistency.

Notes:
I think that the sieve stage lifts the quality of the sauce to the feel of a restaurant version. It’s not the same as a takeaway, but much better than a stir in sauce. The final stage of thickening up the sauce can take a while as your basically waiting for the liquid to evaporate out.
We cheated and used Uncle Ben’s Pilau Rice packets, which went really well with the main. My other confession is that I forgot to photograph the dish till too late. So the image above is the scrapings from the pan!
Finally I originally found the recipe from Nigella.com, however as of May 1st 2016 it has gone.