Somewhere along the line this became a thing in eateries across the globe. But it’s never been a thing in any Asian, Pakistani or Indian household that I know of. This really has baffled me for years. I’ve even gone as far as trying it in a restaurant… once, that was enough. The luminousity was from another planet and I decided something needed to be done. So here’s my version of the curry that the world loves so much.
Prepare the Murgh Tikka
- Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees.
- Set the chicken, fresh coriander and chilli flakes to one side. Place the remaining ingredients into a blender (you can use a hand blender if you prefer). Blitz it all until there are no chunks visible. Finally, with a spoon, stir in the chopped fresh coriander and the red chilli flakes.
- Put the marinade and the diced chicken into a bowl mix thoroughly and, if you can, leave it to marinate overnight or for a few hours in the fridge. To cook, spread the chicken out into a deep sided baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes in the middle of the oven or until cooked through.
- Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with wedges of
If you find there is a lot of liquid left in the dish after cooking, simply put your baking tray (with the chicken still in it) on a high heat on your cooker and allow the liquid to evaporate, leaving a thick sauce behind. If you can’t put your baking tray over a naked flame then simply transfer the liquid into a pan and allow it to reduce that way.
Once done pour it over the chicken.
Ingredients (Serves 6-8 people)
- 2 kg boneless chicken breast, diced into 1 inch cubes
- ½ white onion, coarsely chopped 6 green chillies, coarsely chopped
- 1 heaped tsp. paprika powder
- 2 tsp. garam masala
- 2 tsp. salt
- 6 heaped tsp. ground coriander
- 2 tsp. ground pomegranate
- 2 heaped tsp. red chilli flakes
- 3 heaped tbsp. natural yoghurt
- 1 tbsp. tikka masala paste (optional)
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 1½ tbsp. fresh ginger paste
- ½ tbsp. fresh garlic paste
- 200 mls rapeseed/vegetable oil
- 1 handful fresh coriander, finely
For the Sauce
- Pour the oil into the pan and add the onions, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Cook over a low heat until lightly browned and softened, approx. 8 minutes.
- Stir in the cumin and klowanji seeds, ginger and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes over a medium heat.
- Stir in the tomato, yoghurt, salt, red chilli mix and all the dried spices and seasonings. Cook over a medium heat until thoroughly combined and sauce has thickened slightly.
- Remove the murgh tikka from the oven once cooked and gently add the chicken pieces into the pan, along with all the liquid and sauce from the baking tray. Gently stir in along with the green chillies (if using). Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Avoid stirring if you can.
- Remove from heat, decant into a serving dish and sprinkle over fresh coriander just before serving.
Note: If you like your chicken tikka masala creamy then you can simply stir in some double cream at stage 4 of the cooking process. Add as much or as little as you like, the more you add the more mild the curry becomes.
Ingredients (Serves 6-8 people)
- 50 mls olive oil
- 2 large onions, diced
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 3-4 bay leaves
- 1 tsp. garlic paste
- 1 tsp. ginger paste
- 2 green chillies, chopped (optional)
- 4 tbsp. tin tomatoes, blended
- 2 tbsp. natural yoghurt
- 1 tsp. garam masala
- 2 heaped tsp. ground coriander
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. red chilli mix
- ½ tsp. paprika
- ¾ tsp. klowanji seeds
- ½ tsp. cumin seeds
- 2 handfuls fresh coriander, chopped finely