Chicken Tikka Masala may not be an authentic Indian dish, but it’s served in many Indian restaurants and my husband Ben and I love it all the same. I’ve recently come to believe that as long as a dish tastes great, authenticity isn’t always of the utmost importance. I’d been wanting to make this creamy spicy heavenly dish at home but the spice mix was a mystery, so Ben and I attended a “Spices of India” class and it turns out that it’s easy to make. We still had to play around with the spices and ended up adding many more to get it to taste just the way we like it. We were very happy to discover that Cayenne pepper is the key ingredient to adjust the spice level of the dish since we love spicy!
Chicken Tikka Masala
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the Marinade
- 1 lemon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 4 teaspoons grated ginger
- 4 teaspoons minced garlic
- 4 teaspoons Tandoori spice mix recipe follows
For the Sauce
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 6 cardamom pods
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 whole cloves
- 56 ounces diced fire roasted tomatoes canned
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper adjust to increase or decrease spice level
For the Tandoori spice mix
- 4 teaspoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground tumeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
Prepare the Tandoori spice mix
- Combine all the spices in a medium sized bowl and whisk together well. Keep in an air-tight container for up to 6 months.
Marinate the chicken
- Rinse the chicken with cold water and pat them dry with paper towels. Season them on both sides with the kosher salt.
- In a large bowl or glass container, combine the lemon juice, red chili powder, yogurt, ginger, garlic and Tandoori Spice. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and marinate for at least 1 hour, or as long as 6 hours.
Broil the chicken
- Preheat the oven to Broil.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lay the chicken pieces on top in a single layer.
- Place the baking sheet in the middle oven rack and broil the chicken until the chicken chars slightly, about 10 minutes. If a lot of liquid starts pooling on the baking sheet, transfer chicken to a fresh baking sheet lined with aluminium foil and place back in the oven.
Make the sauce
- Melt the ghee in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. Stir fry until fragrant.
- Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add the cream, garam masala and honey and stir. Add the salt, paprika, cumin, coriander, ginger, tumeric, cloves, black pepper and cayenne.
- Stir to blend, then add the chicken. Cover the pot partially and simmer for 15 minutes on low.
- Serve with Basmati rice or Naan.