4 Aug 2009

Chicken tikka


If you are only going to try one of my recipes, I recommend this one. It is subtle, tender and elegant. In essence it is the Audrey Hepburn of this blog.

To serve 2 people

Ingredients
  • 1cm square of ginger
  • 1 crushed clove of garlic
  • 2 teaspoons of turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons of coriander-cumin powder
  • 2 teaspoons of garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of chilli powder
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Small handful of chopped coriander
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 100 ml of fresh natural yogurt
  • 2 small skinless chicken breast fillets

Method
  1. Peel the ginger and finely grate it into a bowl.
  2. Add the crushed garlic, turmeric, coriander-cumin powder, garam masala, salt, chilli powder, lemon juice, coriander and oil and mix together thoroughly trying to remove any lumps.
  3. Add the yogurt and stir well.
  4. Wash the chicken breasts and cut into one inch pieces. Add the chicken to the yogurt mixture and ensure each piece of chicken is thoroughly coated with the mixture.
  5. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge to marinade for at least an hour.
  6. When you are ready to cook the chicken put the pieces on a baking tray and grill on a medium high heat for approximately 15 minutes or until cooked.
  7. Turn the chicken regularly and try not to overcook it as with care it will be wonderfully moist.
  8. Serve immediately as a starter with yogurt and mint sauce and a salad of cherry tomatoes and finely chopped spring onions.

This dish tastes even better when cooked on the BBQ.

10 comments:

  1. Wow. Your tikka masala looks beautifully presented! I made Chicken Tikka Masala and blogged about it a few days ago. My mom also asked me to make the dish for her when I came to visit her, and I made it the day before yesterday. I will have to try your recipe, though. YUM!

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  2. Hi Reena, we were wondering if this could be baked in an oven or will we have to wait for the summer since the grill isn't being taken out anytime before that.

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  3. Hi. I am concerned about baking the chicken as I think it will dry out. It really needs strong heat either directly above or below it to cook it quickly. If your oven has a grill facility I would use that or if not, then try a griddle. If your only option is to bake it then I would try wrapping the chicken in a foil parcel to keep it moist. Remove the foil for the last few minutes of cooking just to brown the outside of the chicken pieces. Let me know how it goes. Reena

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  4. This was beautifully easy to make and the taste was wonderful, really nice and tender. Could have eaten it all over again!!

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  5. Hi Reena,

    I finally tried one of your recipes! It was delicious, and left a buzzing spicy taste in the mouth. It was the first time I'd made curry from constituent components (i.e. not using Patak's paste) so I was surprised how all the ingredients came together so easily.

    Two revelations: 1) garam masala - never used this before but it looks and smells amazing, will definitely use this more in future and 2) it would never have occurred to me to grill the chicken (I stir-fry everything) and it was lovely and juicy.

    I will try one of your lamb dishes next - my locals asda is surprisingly well stocked with ingredients

    Hope you are well

    Charlie

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  6. Hi Charlie. Lovely to hear from you! Glad you enjoyed the dish. If Asda fails you, let me know and I'll get the elusive ingredients to you. Let's catch up soon. Reena

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  7. Threw this on the BBQ over the weekend and it was a great addition. A must have for those glorious summer days :)

    Andrew

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  8. Hi Andrew. Yes agreed - this is one of my favourite recipes on a bbq. Another one to try is the lamb shish kebabs - you can't beat that chargrilled lamb flavour. Hope you are well. Reena

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