tikka masala
Posted on by friendlyVI

Tikka masala

When you can’t go out to an Indian restaurant, bring the Indian food right in your kitchen.  I simply love all Indian foods, the blend of spices, creamy sauces and very tender meat and especially the possibility to eat it as spicy a possible!

It is not very difficult to prepare Tikka masala, all you need is to have the special spices, but once you buy them they will last for months!

tikka masalaTikka Masala
Servings: 6
Time: 1.5-2 hours
Difficulty: easy

Ingredients

For chicken marinade

  • 800g or 1 kg boneless and skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 yogurt
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp of preferred chili
  • 1 tsp salt

For the sauce

  • 2 tbsp of oil
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion finely diced
  • 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 400g tomato puree (can be more)
  • 1 tsp chili (I am personally using habanero, but that turns out very spicy)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 100 g heavy cream (can also be more)
  • 1 tsp brown sugar

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine chicken with all of the ingredients for the chicken marinade and let marinate for 1-2 hours.
  2. Fry the meat in few batches until browned. Set aside and keep warm. I often use chicken breast instead of thighs. The way I make them tender and not dry is frying then on a smoking hot pan with a bit of oil in it on each side for 1-2 min. It will get beautifully brown and almost fully cooked. Don’t worry, you’ll cook it more at the end.
  3. Melt the butter in the same pan and add the onions until soft (about 3 minutes).
  4. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant, then add garam masala, cumin, turmeric and coriander. Fry for about 20 seconds until fragrant.
  5. Pour in the tomato puree, chili and salt. Let simmer for few min and add the sugar, too.
  6. Add the chicken and into the pan and cook for an additional 15 min.
  7. The last step is the addition of the heavy cream: add it bit by bit and stir slowly. Cook for maximum 2 more min.
  8. Serve with rice.