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Chicken Tikka Masala
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
45 mins
Chicken Tikka Masala is creamy and easy to make right at home in one pan with simple ingredients!Full of incredible flavours, it rivals any Indian restaurant! Aromatic golden chicken pieces in an incredible creamy curry sauce, this Chicken Tikka Masala recipe is one of the best you will try!
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 5 – 6 people
Calories: 580 kcal
Author: Karina
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade:
28 oz (800g) boneless and skinless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon ginger
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili (or 1/2 teaspoon ground red chili powder)
1 teaspoon of salt
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons of vegetable/canola oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 small onions (or 1 large onion) finely diced
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic finely grated
1 tablespoon ginger finely grated
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
14 oz (400g) tomato puree (tomato sauce/Passata)
1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili (optional for colour and flavour)
1 teaspoon ground red chili powder (adjust to your taste preference)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups of heavy or thickened cream (use evaporated milk for lower calories)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 cup water if needed
4 tablespoons Fresh cilantro or coriander to garnish
Instructions
In a bowl, combine chicken with all of the ingredients for the chicken marinade; let marinate for 10 minutes to an hour (or overnight if time allows).
Heat oil in a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat. When sizzling, add chicken pieces in batches of two or three, making sure not to crowd the pan. Fry until browned for only 3 minutes on each side. Set aside and keep warm. (You will finish cooking the chicken in the sauce.)
Melt the butter in the same pan. Fry the onions until soft (about 3 minutes) while scraping up any browned bits stuck on the bottom of the pan.
Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant, then add garam masala, cumin, turmeric and coriander. Fry for about 20 seconds until fragrant, while stirring occasionally.
Pour in the tomato puree, chili powders and salt. Let simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens and becomes a deep brown red colour.
Stir the cream and sugar through the sauce. Add the chicken and its juices back into the pan and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick and bubbling. Pour in the water to thin out the sauce, if needed.
Garnish with cilantro (coriander) and serve with fresh, hot basmati rice.
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Made chicken tikka masala after not being satisfied with the chicken curry recipe earlier. This is basically curry, except that you marinate the chicken in yogurt first, and then fry the chicken first before putting it into the sauce. This DRAMATICALLY increases the flavor of the chicken, and the sauce because you have browned chicken bits being added into it, making it taste more savory and less… soupy.
I tried using breast meat and thigh meat — thigh meat absorbs the flavor better, and you don’t need the cleanliness from the breast meat. I did a quick brine of ~20 minutes for the breast meat in order to force some flavor into it.
I allowed the meat to marinate in the yogurt overnight, I think it enhanced the flavor. The yogurt marinade doesn’t need to be too salty — it was tempting to add more salt to the yogurt, but it just needs to be a mildly savory mixture. Also, cutting the meat in pretty small 1/2″ cubes allows the meat to stay pretty tender, absorb flavor quickly, and be a good size for spreading on rice. I don’t see the advantage of doing large chunks.
Frying in batches is a must over high heat, and a frying pan is better than a pot to allow faster heat transfer. We really want to brown/crisp the meat if possible.
I also subbed coconut milk entirely instead of cream — worked just as well, and added a sweetness to it. Didn’t add sugar since I thought the sweetness from the coconut milk was enough. I didn’t have Kashmiri chili, so I wasn’t able to add that, but it still tastes pretty robust. Would make it again, but it doesn’t require some care and love, otherwise, spices amounts suggested by the recipe are pretty robust.
Overview:
make yogurt marinade
marinade meat in yogurt
fry meat, set aside
fry onion, fry aromatics and spices
stir into tomato sauce, stir in coconut milk
add in chicken, simmer for ~ 15 min.