Nader's Chicken Tikka Masala recipe
This is one of my favorite dishes, and a lot of people who eat this tell me it's one of their favorite meals as well. They often ask for the recipe, so I decided to open source it. This will probably evolve over time as I improve and experiment with it. Enjoy!
Ingredients ℹ️
Chicken marinade 🐔
- 28 oz boneless and skinless chicken thighs or tenders cut into 1 inch cubes or so
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1.5 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 3.5 teaspoons chicken tikka masala seasoning (MDH, Shan, or Rasoi Magic brand)
- 1/3 teaspoon Kashmiri chili (or 1/4 teaspoon ground red chili powder)
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 3 tablespoons butter for sauteing / cooking the chicken
Sauce 🍲
- 5-8 tablespoons butter
- 3 small onions (or 1 - 1.5 large onion) finely diced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic finely grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger finely grated
- 3.5 teaspoons chicken tikka masala seasoning (MDH or shan brand)
- 12-14 oz tomato puree / tomato sauce
- 2 medium fresh tomatoes diced
- 1/3 - 1/2 teaspoon teaspoon Kashmiri chili (or ground red chili powder)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups of heavy or thickened cream
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water if needed
Instructions ℹ️
The chicken (Chicken Tikka) 🐔
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Put the chicken in a bowl with all of the ingredients of the chicken marinade, stir everything together well and let it sit for 10 minutes to a few hours
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When ready to cook: in a frying pan, add butter and saute the chicken until it is fully cooked and browned on each side. Set to the side until later.
The gravy (Masala) 🥣
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In a large and tall cooking pot, melt the butter and fry the onions until soft while stirring occasionally.
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Add ginger and garlic and let cook for just about 30 seconds while continuing to stir. Then add chicken tikka masala seasoning, chili powder, and salt.
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Add in tomatoes and tomato sauce. Let this simmer until the tomatoes start to break down.
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Once the tomatoes are breaking down, use a masher to crush the tomatoes and onions into a paste / sauce with no large pieces left. You can also use a blender.
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Add the heavy cream and the brown sugar, stir everything in.
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Finally, add the chicken and let it simmer for 5 - 10 minutes. From here, check the consistency and decide to your taste to add more cream or water.
Serve with butter rice or naan bread. 🚀
Grilled Chicken Tikka
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken
- 1 teaspoon or less salt (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Kashmiri Red chilli powder (for less spicy version, use 1/2 teaspoon, can substitute cayenne pepper)
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 to 1 ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala (skip if you don’t have)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper crushed or powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional, skip if your yogurt is sour)
- 3/4 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
- 1 tablespoon oil (mustard oil if you have, or olive oil)
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (hung curd)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons butter for brushing