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Chicken tikka masala my own style
After scouting the net for a recipe I found too many variations so I experimented with basic ingredients myself, and came up with this version. So far I have had no complaints, even my 7-year-old daughter thinks it's scrummy. I have split the ingredients into 2 stages for ease, as this, like most curry recipes, is prepared in 2 stages.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- For the curry paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 handful fresh coriander
- 1 (25mm) piece root ginger, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 3 cardamom pods, seeds only (discard pod)
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 3 chicken breast fillets, cut into bite size pieces
- 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
- For the sauce
- 1 (400ml) tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 1/2 medium onions, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1/4 teaspoon caster sugar
- 250ml chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10ml lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons natural yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons double cream
- 1 generous handful fresh coriander
Method
Prep:30min ›
Cook:1hr ›
Extra time:3hr marinating ›
Ready in:4hr30min
- For the paste: Add all of the dry spices to a blender along with the roughly chopped ginger, garlic, coriander, cardamom seeds and 1 tablespoon tomato puree and blend to a smooth paste.
- Coat the chicken pieces in a large bowl with the paste and the 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt. Mix well so all of the chicken is coated, then cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour, preferably overnight.
- For the sauce: Strain the chopped tomatoes through a sieve. Add the tomato puree and stir.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the sliced onions to the pan with the cumin seeds and sugar and cook and stir until caramelised, about 10 minutes.
- Add half the chicken and stir fry until chicken is sealed; set aside. Add 1 more tablespoon of the oil, and stir fry the remaining chicken until sealed.
- Return all the chicken and onions to the pan and add the tomato mixture, half the stock, any leftover masala paste from the bowl you marinated the chicken in, 1 teaspoon of salt (or to taste) and lemon juice.
- Simmer on a low heat until the sauce thickens and the chicken is no longer pink at the centre, 30 minutes to an hour; add more stock little by little if sauce becomes too thick. The sauce should be a dark orange-red colour. Keep stirring every 5 minutes or so.
- Once the sauce has reduced and become a rich red colour, remove from heat. Stir in the remaining natural yoghurt, cream and coriander.
- Return to the heat to warm up again, stirring occasionally until you are ready to serve.
Serving suggestion
Serve on a bed of pilau rice or with freshly made naan bread and garnish with a fresh sprig of coriander.
Freezing tip
Suitable for freezing.
Make ahead
As with many curries, the longer you leave to marinate the meat the better. Also, once prepared, if you refrigerate overnight and eat the next day, the flavour will improve, making a much tastier dish.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(13)
Reviews in English (13)
This was absolutely delicious! The first Indian dish I have ever made and will be making it again and again! I used dried coriander, ginger and garlic for the marinade and I didn't need to use a blender. - 11 Sep 2011
this is such a tasty curry i made this for 20 people who all loved it, only thing i done different was add fresh chillies as we like more heat but was loved all round even by my 1yr old. thank you for putting this on here will be doing this all the time now. - 22 May 2013
As previous reviewer I also used ground spices. The chicken was lovely & tender after marinading overnight. It was quite quick the day of cooking as half the work was done in the marinade the day before. Did not strain tin of tomatoes & used less purée. Used chocolate instead of sugar, cooked all the chicken at once as have a big pan. Hubby liked it & so did I & will make again. - 13 Oct 2015