Chicken tikka masala
This recipe is done in a few stages, but be sure to give it a shot as it is super delicious and easy to make.
Also, marinating the chicken overnight in the fridge will give you the most flavour.
Ingredients
The Chicken marinade:
Skewers - optional
300g natural yogurt - 2 pots
4 whole chicken breasts skin off, cut into cubes
3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 thumb sized piece ginger roughly chopped
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black pepper corns
2 whole cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 to 2 tsp chilli powder - up to you how spicy you like your food
1/2 tsp fennugreek powder
Start the recipe by getting your whole spices toasted gently in a dry pan on a medium to high heat for about 2 to 5 minutes, or until slightly popping and getting slightly golden.
You don't want to burn them as they will go extremely bitter in the final dish.
Leave to cool for a minute then grind them up with the rest of your powdered spices.
( If you don't have something to grind whole spices just substitute the recipe with the same quantity of powdered spices. It will still taste amazing! )
In a bowl add 2 heap tbsp of your spice mix to the yogurt and stir. Keep the remaining of the spice mix for the sauce later on.
Then add the chicken breasts to the spiced yogurt mix making sure you get that marinate all over them and leave them to marinate for a minimum of a few hours. Overnight if possible is the best.
Tikka Masala Sauce
2 big tbsp of ghee or butter
4 onions roughly sliced
5 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 thumb sized piece ginger roughly chopped
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp tomato paste
400g tinned tomatoes - Any kind as we are blending this sauce in the end.
To make the curry sauce start by melting your butter or ghee in a large sauce pot on a medium heat.
Then add your onions, garlic and ginger. Cook them out for about 10 to 15 minutes string often so they don't burn or get to much colour. The longer you cook them out the more natural sweetness you will have in the final dish.
Once softened and lightly caramelised, turn down your heat to a lowish heat and add your turmeric, sugar, salt and left over spice mix. Cook this out for about 2 minutes on a low heat and enjoy the good smells that's going on.
Then add the tomato paste and cook for a further 2 minutes on a low heat.
Now you can add your tinned tomatoes and cook gently for about 30 to 40 minutes.
Once all that is done blend the sauce with a stick blender or a blender as smooth as possible and leave warm ready for the next step.
Charring the chicken
Pre heat an oven grill to as hot as it goes. ( if you don't have one of these you can char it in a heavy pan or a BBQ. The goal here is to char it as hard a possible as quick as possible. )
Take out your marinated chicken out of the fridge and thread them onto skewers.
( If you don't have skewers skip this step. )
Place the chicken on a baking tray lined with foil and grill on the highest heat possible as close to the element as possible until it starts charring. About 5 minutes a side.
Once chicken is cooked and charred, take out of the grill and add them to your Tikka Masala sauce juice and all and cook out for about 5 - 10 minutes.
Check for seasoning and serve with some Basmati rice and your favourite Naan.
Enjoy!