Home-made for Non-Vegetarians from North India

          Home-made Chicken Tikka Masala

-Homely Chef

Chicken Tikka Masala is a dish that started in the Indian subcontinent. It comprises barbecued pieces of chicken cooked in a tomato-based sauce.

The dish can be tracked down in Indian cafés the world over and is presently frequently tracked down on Western tables.

It has been professed to have begun in England as a transformation of a customary Pakistani recipe called Kari Chicken which was brought to England by Pakistani migrants during the 1960s and 1970s.

The English variant was developed at the Shish Mahal café in Glasgow, Scotland by a Punjabi cook named Ali Ahmed Aslam. It is accepted that chicken tikka was made coincidentally one evening, after an excess of pureed tomatoes at the café and insufficient lamb tikka, to put on top of the chicken curry.

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Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

Ingredients:

• 800 g boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tsp chopped ginger
• 1 to 1 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• Two chopped garlic cloves
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
• One medium onion, finely sliced
• 125 g peeled tomatoes
• 2 to 3 tbsp thick cream
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• Salt to taste

How to make Chicken Tikka Masala:

1. In a bowl, combine chopped ginger, chopped garlic, garam masala powder, red chili powder, and salt. Mix well.
2. In a large bowl, mix 1/2 cup of yogurt and 1 tbsp of the ginger-garlic masala mixture from the previous step.
3. Add the chicken pieces and mix well to coat. Let it marinate for 5 minutes.
4. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat.
5. Fry the marinated chicken pieces for 3 to 4 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Remove from the pan.
6. Add oil to the same pan and sauté the onions for 2 minutes.
7. Add the remaining ginger-garlic mixture and tomatoes. Stir well.
8. Add cream and the remaining yogurt. Mix everything together.
9. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes.
10. Add the chicken pieces back to the pan and cook, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes.
11. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with jeera rice or naan bread.

Notes

If needed, instead of frying the chicken pieces, you can also grill them in an oven or tandoor.