Chicken Tikka Masala is always a favourite with it’s marinated grilled chicken in a
creamy spice infused tomato gravy.
Don’t afraid to make this dish at home, it’s pretty simple to do.
Welcome to recipes by Carina where I show you how to make classic and simply delicious
recipes, make sure to subscribe for a new video each week.
To start you’ll need about 4 chicken thighs which is about 3-400 grams.
You can also use chicken breast here but I find thighs work much better as they tend
to have more flavour and not dry out as easily.
Cut the chicken thighs into large cubes about an inch or a few centimetres thick.
This recipe will be enough to feed about 4 but it freezes perfectly and is delicious
for leftovers so I would recommend to double or triple the recipe to make a large batch.
If you would like the full recipe for this chicken tikka masala it will be on my website
as well as the full measurements listed in the description box below.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever made curry from scratch.
It has the reputation of being quite an intensive project but the steps are actually pretty
easy.
Place your chicken thighs into a medium sized bowl.
Next we’re going to make a marinade for the chicken which it will be cooked in.
The best time to do this would be a day ahead of when you are going to make the curry but
of course you don’t always have that amount of time so if you are running short about
30 minutes will be just enough.
Like most recipes, the longer you leave it the better.
Season the chicken with about a teaspoon of flaky sea salt and squeeze over the juice
of half of a lemon.
Pour over the natural unsweetened yoghurt.
All of these ingredients is what is going to tenderise the chicken.
Currys usually have so much flavour and most of that comes from a few spices some of which
you probably already have in your kitchen.
You’ll need cumin, paprika, graham masala and chilli powder.
1 teaspoon of each cumin and paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder and graham masala
unless you like a bit of heat add a little more chilli.
One thing you may not know about graham masala is it’s not a spice on its own, but a mixture
of a few different ones.
Garam means hot and masala a mixture of spices.
Garam masala can differ quite a bit in different regions but if your just buying packaged spice
it’ll usually be much the same between brands.
Finally for this marinade we’ll need 2 cloves of garlic and about a thumb size piece of
fresh ginger.
If you don’t have one already I would recommend buying a microplane I use mine all of the
time.
I’ll have a link to some of my favourite kitchen equipment and serve ware in the description
box below including the curry serving bowls for this recipe.
Use a spoon to mix everything together until well combined.
Cover and place in the fridge.
Ideally overnight but if you are running short on time minimum of 30 minutes.
When you are ready to make the curry heat a large heavy based frypan over medium high
heat for a few minutes.
Add about a tablespoon of oil and start to add your chicken.
Using a large pan, you won’t need to do two batches as you should be able to fit all
of your chicken in.
Make sure each piece is touching the base of the pan so it can develop colour.
Also using a frypan with a heavy base like a cast iron means that you don’t need to
worry too much about over crowding the pan and losing the heat.
The cast iron absorbs the heat meaning it provides a constant temperature that thinner
pans just aren’t able to do.
Cook the chicken for about 3-4 minutes each side, check a few times to make sure it’s
not browning to quickly or turn the heat down a little.
You do want a good colour on this though as that’s whats going to provide great flavour.
While the chicken is cooking start to dice a medium sized onion.
It doesn’t need to be too fine, just a regular dice works well.
If you would like a video on how to cut an onion, as I know it’s one of the things
that most of us hate to cut, let me know.
I’m not a pro but I do know most of the best techniques.
By this point your chicken should be ready to turn.
Use tongs to turn each piece over and cook for a further few minutes on the other side.
If your chicken is getting little too dark in colour turn the heat down a little.
Most of mine are have just the right amount of colour so I’m going to keep my heat the
same while the chicken finishes cooking.
As well as the chicken being full of flavour, we are also going to add a few different spices
to the curry sauce.
In a small bowl measure out your spices.
You’ll need turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder and paprika.
You’ll need 3 teaspoons of coriander powder, 2 teaspoons of paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of
both chilli powder and turmeric.
All of these spices I already had in my pantry as they aren’t just used for making curries.
Paprika, coriander, and chilli are also used in making the perfect taco spice mix so if
you don’t have these don’t be worried that the only time you’ll use them is just
to make this recipe.
Remove your cooked chicken from the frypan into a bowl and set to the side while we make
the curry sauce.
This will be fine sitting covered at room temperature for 30 minutes while we make the
sauce.
If you’re not finishing the sauce now make sure to place your cooked chicken into the
fridge when it comes down to room temperature.
Add a few teaspoons of oil to the same frypan, if it has a lot stuck to it use a paper towel
to wipe out the inside but a little just adds extra flavour.
Add your onions into the frypan and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes or so to brown
the onion stirring occasionally.
While the onions are cooking slice up your tomatoes.
You can use tin tomatoes for this recipe if you can’t get fresh tomatoes where you live
because of the time of year but fresh really does work best for this recipe.
Use your knife to dice up the tomatoes, they don’t need to be uniform shape here as they
will cook down in the sauce.
Let me know in the comments below what your favourite curry is.
Chicken Tikka Masala, Thai Green Curry, Coconut and Chickpea, there are so many different
options all with completely different flavours.
My go to is usually thai green curry as I love the flavour but I want to get into make
a few different vegetarian curries as it’s a great meatless Monday dish.
When your onions have got a good colour to them use a microplane to grate in ginger and
a few cloves of garlic.
Stir these through, they don’t need too much heat as they will burn quickly.
Sprinkle the spices you measured out earlier over the onion, garlic and ginger and stir
to combine.
Turn the heat to low and cook for about 30 seconds or so just until you start to really
strongly smell the spices.
You don’t need much longer than that as toasting them for too long can ruin the flavour.
Add your chopped tomatoes to the pan and stir through, turning the heat back up to medium.
Cook for a few minutes, breaking the tomatoes down to produce a thick paste.
Season well with salt, about half a teaspoons worth and pour in your water.
Stir until combined, letting the sauce come up to a simmer before turning it down to low
and covering.
Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce has started to thicken.
There are two different options here, you can blend your sauce for a smooth gravy or
leave it as is if your prefer more texture.
I’ve decided to blend mine by placing the contents in a blender and processing until
smooth.
To finish your sauce off add about 1/4 cup of cream or yoghurt if you would prefer.
Mix well with a spoon and finally add about half a teaspoon of garam masala.
Add your chicken back in, heat through and your chicken tikka masala is ready.
Remember to subscribe for other great recipe and let me know if you would like to see any
other curry dishes.
Serve your chicken tikka masala with freshly cooked rice, naan, and maybe a side of yoghurt.
Thank you for watching, I hope you enjoyed this recipe and I will see you in my next
video.