Chicken tikka masala
Serves: 6
Prep time: 1 hr 20 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Ant Duncan
Chicken tikka masala
Comfort comes easily with every mouthful of this warming curry. Serve with rice and chapatis, if you like
Serves: 6
Prep time: 1 hr 20 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
362Kcal
Fat
17gr
Saturates
10gr
Carbs
8gr
Sugars
6gr
Fibre
1gr
Protein
43gr
Salt
1.2gr
Nadine Brown
When Nadine isn't busy developing delicious recipes and using her experience as a health food editor to create healthy treats, she's munching and reviewing her way around her beloved home town of Tottenham. Find out what she's cooking and eating on Instagram @n0sh.17
See more of Nadine Brown’s recipes
Nadine Brown
When Nadine isn't busy developing delicious recipes and using her experience as a health food editor to create healthy treats, she's munching and reviewing her way around her beloved home town of Tottenham. Find out what she's cooking and eating on Instagram @n0sh.17
See more of Nadine Brown’s recipes
Ingredients
For the chicken tikka
- 1kg skinless and boneless chicken breasts, diced into bite-size chunks
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- 150g thick Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 15g root ginger, peeled and grated
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground cumin
For the sauce
- 1 onion, chopped
- 15g root ginger, peeled and chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 cinnamon stick (about 6.5cm long)
- 400g passata
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 80ml double cream, plus extra to serve
- fresh coriander, chopped, to serve
Step by step
- In a large bowl, toss the chicken with the lemon juice and salt and leave to sit for 15 minutes. Combine the yogurt with the tomato purée, ginger, garlic and spices and some black pepper. Pour this over the chicken and stir to coat. Cover the bowl with clingfilm, transfer to the fridge and leave to marinate for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight.
- For the sauce, add the onion, ginger and garlic to a food processor with a large pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of water. Pulse until finely broken down, on the verge of being a paste. Heat the ghee in a large sauté pan over a medium heat. Once melted, add the onion mixture. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until starting to turn lightly golden. Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until combined and deeper in colour. Add all the ground spices, except for the garam masala and fenugreek, and cook for a further minute, then add the cinnamon stick and passata. Swirl 300ml of water in the empty passata bottle and add to the pan. Stir together, bring to the boil then cover, reduce to low and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop the sauce sticking. The sauce should thicken, with oil starting to pool around the edges.
- Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the fridge about 20 minutes before cooking so it’s not fridge-cold. Heat your grill to the highest setting. Scrape any excess marinade from the chicken back into the bowl and skewer the chicken onto large metal skewers (about 4 should do it). Arrange the skewers on a foil-lined tray with a wire rack. Grill the chicken for 7-8 minutes each side, until starting to char on the edges.
- Return to the sauce. Scrape the excess yogurt marinade still in the bowl into the sauce and add the grilled chicken juices. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the garam masala, fenugreek and sugar, and stir into the sauce. Add the grilled chicken pieces and simmer for a few minutes to heat the chicken and make sure it’s entirely cooked through. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream. If the sauce is on the thicker side, add a splash or two of water – the sauce should cling to the meat but not be too loose. Season to taste.
- Garnish with fresh coriander and a drizzle of double cream, if you like.
