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Chicken Tikka Masala is not actually an authentic Indian dish. It is a dish that was created by Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom to cater to the perhaps less refined tastes of the British public. There are therefore a huge variety of recipes for this dish and no specific standard one. The principal is that the chicken be marinated in yoghurt based marinade and subsequently cooked in a spicy sauce in a tan door oven. It is one which any of us can make at home and because of the above, can be extensively adapted to suit our own tastes and still, strictly speaking, remain absolutely authentic.

Here is one such idea for making a very basic version of Chicken Tikka Masala, which should serve two people.

Ingredients for the marinade are as follows:

1 tablespoon of tikka masala powder

Curry paste to taste

6 oz of low fat natural yoghurt

Salt

Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly together in a large glass bowl before dicing two free range organic chicken breast fillets and stirring the pieces in to the marinade. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight for all the flavours to infuse.

Ingredients for the sauce

1 tablespoon of tikka masala curry paste

1 very finely chopped medium sized onion

Half a pint of double (full) cream

1 tablespoon of low fat natural yoghurt

1 handful of rough chopped cilantro/coriander leaf

The next day, remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and wipe off as much of same as possible with paper kitchen towels. Put the chicken pieces on to a baking tray and in to an oven pre-heated to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6 for ten minutes. This will just slightly char them on the outside and seal in the juices. Remove them from the oven and set aside for now.

Put the curry paste in to a large saucepan and heat gently. Add the onion and leave on a very low heat for five to seven minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cream and bring to a simmer before adding the chicken and simmering for a further five minutes to complete the cooking of same. Remove from the heat and stir through the yoghurt and coriander.

It is of course desirable to serve our Chicken Tikka Masala on a bed of freshly cooked basmati rice, perhaps with some sliced cucumber and tomato wedges.

This is therefore a simple way for us to make authentic Chicken Tikka Masala at home, without requiring access to a tandoor. I very much hope that you enjoy it even half as much as I did.

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
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