An Indian dish — now thoroughly Americanized in our version — made with cubed chicken marinated in spiced yogurt and covered in a yogurt-tomato sauce. Best served over jasmine rice or naan. (But if you can do good naan, you don’t need our recipe for tikka masala, I’m sure.)
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken, cubed
- 6 oz. plain yogurt
- 8 tbsp. tikka paste (see recipe in Sauces category)
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped or crushed
- 1 small can mild green chili peppers
- 3/4 in. ginger root, grated
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. melted butter
Directions
- Mix 4 tbsp. tikka paste with 6 tbsp. yogurt in a medium bowl.
- Add the cubed chicken to the bowl, covering well with the yogurt mixture. Marinate for 20 minutes.
- While marinating, heat the oil in a heavy saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chilis, and fry for 5 minutes.
- Once all the vegetables are soft, add the remaining tikka paste and fry for another two minutes, stirring often.
- Add the tomato paste and water, then bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, turn down the heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes.
- In a medium pan, fry the marinated chicken with the melted butter until golden. Stir often to avoid burning the yogurt.
- Remove the tomato mixture from heat and blend in a food processor until smooth. (Note: it should be quite smooth, as the vegetables should have softened into a nearly liquid state while cooking anyway.) Return to the saucepan.
- Simmer the cooked chicken with the tomato mixture in the saucepan for one minute.
- Add the remaining yogurt and the lemon juice, then simmer for four more minutes.
- Serve over rice or naan with appropriate garnish.
This recipe was submitted by tomdavidson on January 23, 2005.