India / Britain · Main · Easy
Chicken Tikka Masala
Smoky spiced chicken folded into a creamy tomato sauce. Considered a national dish of the UK.
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Video by Aocarrington, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Chicken Tikka Masala, in 5 ideas
- Fry the paste in the fat first. Raw spice paste tastes dusty. Two minutes in hot oil wakes it up.
- Mango chutney is the quiet hero. It rounds out the heat with sweetness. Do not skip it.
- Yogurt goes in off the heat. Boiling splits it into a grainy mess.
- Thighs stay juicier than breast. Swap them in if you like.
- Better on day two. The sauce deepens overnight. Make extra on purpose.
What you need
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 25g butter
- 4 onions, roughly chopped
- 6 tbsp chicken tikka masala paste (shop bought or homemade)
- 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
- 8 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2.5cm cubes
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- 4 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 to 3 tbsp mango chutney
- 150ml double cream
- 150ml natural yogurt
- Chopped coriander leaves, to serve
- Homemade paste option: 5 garlic cloves, 1 large knob ginger, 1 red chilli, 2 tsp each ground cumin and coriander, 1 tsp each turmeric, paprika, and garam masala, seeds from 4 cardamom pods, blitzed with a splash of oil
How to make it
Directions
- Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy pot. Add the onions and cook over medium heat until soft and golden, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the tikka paste and red peppers. Cook 2 minutes, stirring, until fragrant and the oil starts to separate at the edges.
- Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat. Cook 5 minutes until the outside is no longer pink.
- Pour in the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, and mango chutney. Bring to a simmer and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
- Take the pot off the heat. Stir in the cream, then the yogurt. Return to very low heat just to warm through. Do not boil.
- Serve over basmati rice with chopped coriander scattered on top.
Taste before the dairy goes in. Get the salt, heat, and sweetness right in the tomato base first. Cream softens everything, so season boldly.