Chicken Tikka Masala

 

Chicken Tikka Masala is such a famous Indian dish. Well there is a debate on who first made this dish the UK or India. Whoever it may be, I love this curry & we all know that this is also one of India's famous street food. You will see that this dish is always red in color however you can skip adding color to this dish & I bet it will taste the same. Traditionally Tikka's are made in Tandoor oven. Since we don't have Tandoori at homes, we can bake the Tikkas & than add them into the sauce. If you dont have an oven than you can pan fry the chicken. This recipe is again customised little bit to suit our taste buds at home. Well when it comes to cooking there are no set rules for me:) I mostly go with the follow depending on what ingredients I have. Only if it is a recipe that I have never tried or made a similar one, then I follow the recipe as it is. Like the latest one I followed with a recipe is Japanese Cheese Cake. The post is still pending & will be up soon. Coming back to Tikka Masala, You can actually make the sauce  ahead in advance & store it in the fridge. This recipe is healthier than the butter chicken or any other chicken curries. This is how I made it

Ingredients:

Tikka Marination

• 500 gms boneless chicken cubes
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbso ginger garlic paste
• 1/4 tspn cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp red chili powder
• 1/ 2 Tspn cumin powder
• 1/2 tspn coriander powder
• 1 tspn Kasoori methi
• 3 Tbsp thick yogurt
• Salt as per taste

For the Sauce:

• 2 medium Tomatoes
• 3 tbsp Tomato paste
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 3 Tbsp oil
• 1 tspn Cumin seeds
• 6 cashews nuts
• 1 tbsp Chili powder
• 1/2 tspn cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tspn garam masala powder
• Red color optional
• salt as per taste
• Coriander leaves to garnish
• 1/2 cup hot water

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients mentioned in the marinade for about 2 hours in the refrigerator
2. Now bake the chicken at high heat in the pre heated oven for about 20 to 30 mins. Add 1 tbsp of oil on top of the chicken before baking. Once they are done set aside
3. In a blender blend in 2 tomatoes, cashew nuts, ginger & garlic to a smooth paste.
4. In heavy bottom pan add oil, cumin seeds, Blended tomatoes mixture, tomatoes paste, & all other masalas mentioned in the sauce. Add some water in between if required. Close lid & cook until fat separation.
5. Now add in 1/2 cup of water & bring to a rolling boil.
6. Finally add in some color, baked chicken & cook it in low flame for about 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Garnish this dish with some coriander leaves.

Note:

• I dint add any color to chicken while baking. I just added 2 drops of color to the sauce. You can skip adding color.
• You can also make Paneer Tikka Masala the same way.
• This dish goes very well with both Roti & rice.

 

 

Here is the step by step picture. You can bake the Chicken on top of the silver foil to avoid the chicken sticking to the baking tray.