Serves 4 as a main dish
Often called Britain’s “national dish”, some people refuse to order anything else but Chicken Tikka Masala on a visit to an Indian restaurant. Chunks of Chicken Tikka are cooked with green peppers and tomatoes and simmered in a mix of Base Curry Sauce, Tikka Marinade, yoghurt and cream.
What you need…
For the Chicken Tikka…
• 800g chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 recipe Tikka Marinade
For the Masala…
• 240ml Base Curry Sauce
• the leftover Tikka Marinade
• 2 Tablespoons yoghurt
• 2 Tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 0.5 green pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1–4 chillies, depending on how hot you want your curry, chopped
• small handful fresh coriander (chop up the stems to add to the curry and set aside the leaves for garnish)
• 2 tomatoes, cut into segments
• 100ml double cream
• salt to taste
How to make it…
1. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken, rub it in well and leave for 15 minutes. This will degrease the chicken and also helps the chicken absorb the marinade.
2. Shake off the excess lemon and coat the pieces in the Tikka Marinade. Leave for at least 15 minutes but preferably 24–48 hours.
3. Preheat your oven to 170 C. Place the pieces on a baking tray (keep the remaining marinade), ensuring all the pieces are kept well apart and cook for 12 minutes, turning once. The chicken should be mostly white on the inside but not fully cooked. Set aside and cover to keep warm.
4. Heat a pan to a medium heat and add the Base Curry Sauce, the leftover Chicken Tikka Marinade, the yoghurt and tomato ketchup and mix well.
5. Add the pepper, chillies and coriander stems and cook until the peppers start to soften. This should take about 5 minutes.
6. Add the chicken, tomatoes, cream and salt and cook until the chicken is fully cooked.
7. Serve, garnished with the coriander leaves.
Curries generally need seasoning with salt, like most dishes, so don’t be afraid to use it. If you do overdo it then lemon juice can neutralise the salty taste.
If you like this you should try our…
A make-up company has been experimenting with curry. It’s come up with something called Chicken Tikka Mascara.
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