Go Back
–+ servings
Print Recipe
No ratings yet

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is a classic curried dish with soft, tender chunks of char-grilled chicken, simmered briefly in a delicious & super aromatic tikka masala gravy. The dish is comprised of two components – chicken tikka, and the masala, which is the gravy or sauce in which the tikkas are simmered.
The word tikka literally means a piece or chunk and here, chicken tikka are the grilled chunks of chicken that are first marinated in spiced & herbed yogurt and then char-grilled to perfection. These smoky, aromatic, and tender chunks are simmered in a creamy, delicious, and flavorsome onion tomato masala, known as tikka masala.
Many people think Chicken Tikka Masala, Butter Chicken, and Chicken Jalfrezi are all the same, but in fact, they are not. Chicken Tikka Masala is on the spicier side, is made with boneless chicken, and has a chunky sauce due to the usage of chopped onions. It is also cooked in oil and sometimes a small amount of butter is used. But authentic Indian Butter chicken has no onions and can be made with bone-in chicken and is essentially cooked in butter. The main characteristics of an authentic Butter chicken are its smooth and silky sauce and low levels of spice, with sweet notes but not prominently sweet tasting.
This Chicken Tikka Masala has a super addictive smoky flavor. It is spicy, creamy, flavorful, and crazy delicious! Serve it over basmati rice, Cumin Rice, or with Butter Naan, Roti, Paratha, or any flatbread of choice.
Servings: 4
Author: Swasthi's Recipes

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds boneless-skinless chicken thighs

Chicken marinade:

  • 7 ounces Greek yogurt 3/4 cup
  • 1½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
  • 1½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1½ teaspoon coriander powder
  • ¾ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1½ tablespoon kasuri methi
  • 1½ tablespoon ginger garlic paste
  • ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 1½ tablespoon oil mustard oil if you have

Tikka masala:

  • 3 tablespoons ghee or oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 green cardamom pods lightly crushed
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 2-inch piece cinnamon stick
  • 1½ cups red onions 150 grams fine chopped, 1 large or 2 medium
  • 1 tablespoon chipotle in adobe pureed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  • 1½ teaspoons cumin powder
  • 1 - 2 teaspoons sugar adjust to taste
  • 500 grams fresh tomato pureed, or 10 ounces / 1¼ cup tomato puree/ passata
  • 2 cups hot water more if required
  • 1 tablespoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • ½ cup whole cashews 45, or ½ cup heavy cream

Garnish:

  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream or any cream
  • 3 tablespoons coriander leaves finely chopped

Instructions

Marinate the chicken:

  • Mix together all of the marinade ingredients, except for the lemon juice, in a mixing bowl that is large enough to hold the chicken.
  • Cut the chicken into 1 to 1½ inch pieces and add to the bowl with the marinade.
  • Fold the chicken into the marinade to coat evenly.
  • Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for minimum of 8 hours and up to 48 hours. If you are in a rush, you may cut down to 3 hours.

Make Tikka Sauce:

  • Heat the ghee (or oil) in a skillet or braiser.
  • Add bay leaf, cardamoms, cloves, and cinnamon to the hot oil and stir.
  • Add the onions and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt.
  • Saute until deep golden.
  • Add the ginger-garlic paste and chipotle in adobo.
  • Saute until aromatic, for 40 to 60 seconds.
  • Reduce the heat to low.
  • Stir in the red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and cumin powder.
  • Pour in the tomato puree and cook over medium-high heat until the onion-tomato-masala mixture turns fragrant and becomes really thick and begins to leave the sides of the pan.
  • Stir in 2 cups of hot water, cover, and simmer until thick, yet of pouring consistency.
  • When the tikka masala turns thick, add the sugar and cream.
  • If using heavy cream, add it to the gravy and stir well. Cook for a few minutes until thick, creamy, and aromatic. Otherwise follow the instructions to make and incorporate the cashew cream as follows.

Make the cashew cream:

  • Grind the cashews finely in a grinder jar.
  • Add ½ cup water and continue to grind into a smooth, thick, and creamy paste. You will get a ¾ cup of cashew cream.
  • If you do not have a powerful grinder, you may soak the cashews in ½ cup hot water for 15 minutes and then grind them with the same amount of water to a smooth puree. I have tried both methods and they work equally well.
  • Remove ¼ cup of the cream and set aside as a garnish.
  • Scoop the remaining cream into the masala sauce.
  • Pour an additional 3 tablespoons of water into the grinder and swirl the jar to dissolve any remaining cashew cream.
  • Pour the remaining grinder contents into the gravy as well.
  • Stir well and cook for a few minutes until thick, creamy and aromatic.

Cook the chicken:

  • Just before cooking the chicken, add the lemon juice to the marinated chicken and fold to combine.

Grill in the oven:

  • Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Set a rack in the sheet tray and spray with cooking spray.
  • Thread the chicken onto metal skewers or soaked bamboo skewers and place them on the prepared rack.
  • Bake the chicken in a preheated oven at 450 F for 9 to 10 minutes.
  • Turn them to the other side with tongs and grill them for another 9 to 10 minutes.
  • To char the chicken, broil for 2 to 3 mins or until slightly charred.

Or In a Skillet:

  • Pour 1 tablespoon of oil to a skillet and heat it well.
  • Coook the chicken in batches, placing the pieces one by one and spacing them apart.
  • Cook on a medium high heat for 3 mins, turn them to the other side with a tong and cook for another 3 mins, until charred and not essentially fully cooked.
  • Remove to a plate.

Finish and serve:

  • Add the grilled chicken tikka and crushed kasuri methi to the gravy. (Make sure your gravy has reached a thick gravy consistency/serving consistency, before adding the chicken).
  • Stir and cook for 2 to 3 mins until chicken tikka is soft and tender.
  • Taste test and add more salt and sugar if needed.
  • Turn off the heat and garnish with cream and coriander leaves.
  • Serve chicken tikka masala with Butter Naan, roti, paratha, basmati rice or Jeera rice.

Notes

The Indian version of tikka masala has whole spices like bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms. 2 interesting ingredients you always find is the bell pepper & onions in the tikka skewers. However I have not added them here just to keep the recipe simple. You won’t find any of these in the British curry.
The Indian style Tikka Masala uses cashews to give that creamy and naturally sweet flavour. Very little quantity of cream is used at the end mostly for garnish and to adjust the flavours. The British tikka masala has a lot of cream and no cashews are used.
Indian masala makes use of fresh tomatoes (chopped or pureed) so your dish has more fresh flavours. The British chicken tikka masala is essentially made with passata/ bottled or canned tomato puree which imparts umami flavors. Some recipes even use canned tomato soup & tomato paste.
Indian chicken tikka masala has fresh flavors due to the use of fresh tomatoes. It’s creamy, rich and delicious and won’t make you feel bloated as there is a very small amount of cream used. Cashews impart a magical creamy texture and flavour without making you feel heavy.
The British tikka masala has more deep flavors due to the use of passata and you will love this if you love the delicious umami flavour. But this requires plenty of cream to balance the taste of passata else you will only taste tomatoes in the curry.
Over the years I have tested this recipe with fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes – fire roasted, bottled tomato puree/passata from different brands. So I have updated the recipe for both the versions and note that all brands of tomato puree or canned tomatoes won’t work here.
  • Avoid using canned tomatoes with citric acid added to it. This results in a metallic taste in the dish.
  • I use passata from Mutti brand. It is sweet (no added sweetener) and won’t make your dish overly sour/tangy.