Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

This is based on two recipes on Damn Delicious and Cafe Delites that were relatively quick and easy but I felt like didn’t taste enough. My partner asked me lately whether I prioritize the heat level of a (spicy) dish over its actual flavor, and I think it’s a false dichotomy. I love the taste of spice! I’m not a freak about eating the hottest peppers possible or whatever. I just think spicy things taste good and I love the warm feeling in my mouth and stomach when I eat spicy food 🙂

So this is my chicken tikka masala recipe! It’s not authentic, but neither is tikka masala. I know what I am and what I like. I’d love to add paneer to it, which was a suggestion by my partner to make the best tikka masala of both worlds (iykyk lol), but I need to figure that out first. No investigation, no right to speak!

Chicken Marinade

It’s best to marinade the chicken overnight, but I’ve done ~2 hours before. Just marinade for any chunk of time at all tbh. You’ll be sad if you don’t marinade it. I promise. That’s part of why the Damn Delicious recipe made me sad. You’ll need:

• 1 cup (ish) of plain, full-fat Greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp garlic
• 2 tbsp ginger
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp coriander
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1-2 lb. chicken thighs, cubed

I don’t think you need instructions for this. Put together the yogurt and spices in a big ziplock bag, cut the chicken thighs into cubes, and put the chicken in the wet bag. You can trim some fat, but you’ll be cooking the chicken real good and the fat will help the gravy taste.

This is the cooking part. I don’t know how long it takes. I’d recommend an immersion blender (thank you S!!!) because it makes the gravy really smooth and delicious, even if a stray sliver of onion is a pleasant surprise.

Ingredients

• 1 small white onion
• 2 tbsp butter
• Marinated chicken (above)
• 3 tbsp garlic
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 tbsp garam masala (maybe more, be generous)
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 1 tbsp tumeric
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper (trust the process)
• 15 oz tomato sauce
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Basmati rice (just buy a thing of it; make in rice cooker as needed) 
• Naan (make or buy separately)

Instructions

1. Dice onion.
2. Heat butter over medium heat, stirring constantly.
3. Cook chicken with marinade until it’s cooked and you get some nice residue on the pot.
4. Remove chicken and put on the side.
5. Add onion and garlic and cook until there’s residue from that (we’re fond of fond).
6. Add tomato paste and spices, stirring constantly to avoid burning the spices.
7. Add tomato sauce and chicken stock.
8. Blend that motherfucker until it’s smooth.
9. Put chicken back.
10. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Stir in heavy cream and cook for 1 minute.
12. Garnish with cream (to preferred heat level) and cilantro (optional) and serve over rice with naan.

On that last note: to modify the heat level, rather than using less cayenne pepper, I’d add more cream into your bowl.