Nothing beats a good chicken recipe. And like all other meats, there are several ways of making the same dish. I asked sometime back on Instagram what you, my readers would like to see for the month of September. One of my followers requested more chicken recipes and I remembered I wanted to share a tikka recipe for the longest time. I couldn’t think of a better recipe to kick off September.
Chicken Tikka Masala is a crowd pleaser. It is one of those things if on a buffet, will be the first to be cleared. It is spicy but not in a repulsive way. And because it is chicken it will always be delicious. You will enjoy this just as much as my sisters and I did.
Chicken Tikka Masala Ingredients
For the marinade
1 cup plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
3 cloves of garlic and 1/2 thumb sized ginger root, minced together
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
1 kg chicken breast cut into large bite-sized chunks
For the masala
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 thumb sized ginger root
2 tomatoes, grated
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of butter
1 heaped teaspoon of garam masala
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 lemon, juiced
1 red onion, finely chopped
Method
Chop up your chicken into bite size pieces. In a large bowl, mix together the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Marinate at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.
***
Place the butter and a small amount of oil in a frying pan and add the onions and ginger-garlic paste. Sautee them until they are soft. Then add the cayenne and the garam and cook this down for about 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes together with the tomato paste and 1/2 cup of hot water. Let this simmer for about 15-20 minutes. This allows the sauce to thicken and draw out all the flavors.
As the sauce is going, heat a frying pan and add the chicken when its nice and hot. Shake off the excess marinade but do not scrape every single thing off. Let this cook until the outside has just turned white. Then take it off the heat. Do not worry if it has not cooked all the way through during frying. This will be completed in the sauce. But also do not let it be too raw.
Add the chicken and mix it in the sauce.
Add the lemon juice and yoghurt, turn down the heat to low and allow it to and cook for about 10 more minutes.
Garnish with finely chopped fresh coriander (i did not have any :D) and serve.
Spicy, juicy and very much unforgettable. The lemon juice just makes all the flavors of the chicken tikka masala come alive. The marinated chicken goes so well with the garlic and the ginger in the sauce.
Serve with some starch and fresh veggies or salad to balance out its spice. Maybe you can have this chicken tikka masala+ geelrys + coleslaw or this chicken tikka masala+ chapati + fresh broccoli and cabbage. But whichever way you choose to have this, you will not be dissappointed.
Happy September!
– Miss KALUHI
Download the full recipe here:
All content and images are copyright protected by
Do not copy in part or whole without giving due credit.
Hey there! My name is Kaluhi and I love food! Through my blog, I am happy to share with you my self-taught recipes, steeped in nostalgia and the happiest of memories. I hope each recipe you try out is as addictive as the previous one and is shared on a table full of love and hearty laughs!
Wow I will definitely try this. It is different from how I do it. I have always marinated the chicken in all those spices plus natural yoghurt and then grill. It takes ages and I burn my fingers but it works.
I’d love to see more cauliflower, Broccoli, mushroom and sweet corn recipes. I am kinda obssesed with these
pisces22.com
Hey Grace, Glad you’re gonna give this a try. There are a million ways of marinating chicken, I am eager to explore many more of them with you in my future recipes. Plus, I have several broccoli, mushroom and sweet corn recipes already up on the blog. Have you checked them out? I am certain you will dig them just as much.
xx
Firstly,thanks for your cooking blog the steps are easy to follow and ingredients are readily available in the local shops.
Was wondering at what point do i use the yoghurt?
Thank you soo much L! I used the yoghurt during the very last phase when I added the freshly squeezed lemon juice too
hi at what time do you use the yoghurt and lemon during marinating or for the masala.
Both
Looks like an amazing receipe! Was just wondering if I could replace butter with vegetable oil? Not really a fan of the nutty flavour butter gives of.
Thanks!
yes you can
Hi which type of chicken is preferable for the recipe? Kienyeji or broiler?
broiler
Hi Kaluhi ☺️☺️☺️
I’d like to try out this recipe today,just had a question regarding the marination bit.
what else did you add in the marinade?
Any vinegar or water? Or did you just add the ingredients and let it be?
Just the ingredients as indicated. Please do not add water
Am a foodie n gal…your recepies are off the hook….Readily available ingredients, pocket friendly and easy to follow procedures… Had this for dinner together with coleslaw and your crispy rosemary garlic wedges…my hubby asked for a second round and he’s a chef. (said the food was amaizing)
Was abit hesitant to use maize flour as iv never used it before as Iv always used bread crumbs,bt the outcome was amazing..
Thanks for superb recipes…believe you me il make point of trying most of them by the end of the year.
Cheers to many many more my love!