Many people think that chicken tikka masala is an Indian dish, but as far as it’s known the dish comes from a restaurant in Glasgow in Scotland. It really doesn’t matter where it is from, but how it tastes. This dish really delivers in the “lots of taste” department. I think you should try my recipe for chicken tikka masala, and try something awesome.
Tikka masala is a borrowed word from Hindi टिक्का मसाला that means something like spiced pieces. Which is a pretty accurate description.
Full of lovely juice pieces of chicken in a thick spicy sauce. Probably a dish best suited for a cold day, but I think a good spicy dish is great on a summer day.
Why use chicken thighs in this chicken tikka masala recipe?
I’ve chosen to use the meat from the thighs instead of bread and filet because I think there’s much more taste in that meat.
The chicken breast and the filet are made from white meat and are not exercised a lot during the chicken’s life, but the thigh is the most worked muscle on the chicken, making it much more flavorful.
That means more taste. You could think that it would mean a less tender piece of meat, but that doesn’t really work the same way on poultry. No matter what the dish is long-term simmered, so it will be tender no matter what.
If you buy it bone-in, it’s a bit more work, so I usually opt for getting the already butchered version. I haven’t really noticed any difference in taste.
Homemade paste or from a jar?
Normally I am a big proponent of making your own spice blends. Both to put your own spin on a dish but also to accentuate what you think is important taste-wise.
In this recipe, I am using Patak’s tikka masala paste which has a great taste and will give you the right Indian feel.
If you are making this dish on a weekend, I’ll recommend making your own tikka masala paste. I have a recipe with a pretty long list of ingredients.
It’s not difficult to make, but a lot of people will probably not want to have this many spices laying around, not getting used.
The homemade paste is what makes the dish from great to amazing though.
Store-bought or homemade naan bread?
If you have the time and want to make this dish all day, you should make your own sourdough naan bread.
It’s freakin’ delicious and not hard to make.
It’s basically a hands-off dish!
Even though it takes an hour to make from start to finish, all you really need to do is chop onions, peel and slice ginger, crush the garlic, and cut the chicken in smaller pieces.
The rest of the time the dish will just be bubbling away on your stovetop. That’s how easy my chicken tikka masala recipe is!
I hope you’ll love it!
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Chicken Tikka Masala with naan bread
Ingredients
The marinade
- 60 g yogurt, plain
- 2 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 clove garlic
- juice of one lime
The dish
- 1 onion large
- 1 piece ginger thumbsized
- 3 cloves garlic
- 400 g chicken thigh meat skinless, boneless
- 1 can tomatoes
- 150 g patak’s tikka masala paste
- 1½ dl water
Raita
- 60 g yogurt, plain
- 1 lemon
- salt
- pepper
- ground cumin
Sides
- multi-colored chilies
- naan bread
Instructions
Marinate the meat
- Cut the chicken meat into bite-sized pieces.
- Mix the marinade of yogurt, crushed garlic, oil, and the juice of one lime.
- Put the chicken in a zip-lock bag and add the marinade. Massage it well until the marinade has been distributed well.
- Let it rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes, but overnight is better.
Make the dish
- Fry chopped onion, finely chopped ginger, and crushed garlic until soft.
- Add the meat and the marinade and brown the chicken.
- Add tikka masala paste, a can of tomatoes, and 1.5 dl of water and mix well.
- Let the dish simmer for 15 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered to thicken the sauce.
Get the dish together
- Make raita of yogurt, ground cumin, and lemon juice—season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Warm the naan bread in a 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 oven.
- Serve with finely sliced chilies, raita, and warm naan bread.
Noter
- If you are busy, you can drop the marinade. It’s still a great dish.
- Many people put cream in the sauce. I’m not a huge fan of that, but if that’s your thing, by all means, go nuts.
- I’d recommend serving the dish with a serving of delicious fluffy basmati rice.
