Chicken Tikka Masala (CTM)
The not-so-classical-nor-traditional classic. TIKKA, not “teeka.” Like a tick. You can say “tick,” right?
This might be a shocker for some of you, but chicken tikka masala is not a traditional desi dish. Not Indian nor Pakistani. It evolved/was developed to appease to the Brits ruling over India who wanted more saucy/gravy-ish masala with their chicken tikka.
Anyway. Yes, I’m posting this on Pakistan’s Independence Day. No there’s no deep meaning or symbolism here. I just happened to create this video around this time and figured I should let people know this isn’t even an authentic Pakistani nor Indian dish. It’s like British-Indian, or something.
On to my recipe!
Ingredients
Marinade
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch thick fillets
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
Masala Sauce
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
1/2 large onion, diced
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt (close to double if using kosher salt)
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
14oz can whole peeled tomatoes (crushed is fine, too)
2 cups chicken stock/broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
Recipe
In a large bowl, mix the ingredients for the marinade. Coat the chicken pieces in it, plastic wrap the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours if not overnight. Alternatively, you can use a large gallon ziploc bag instead of a bowl and plastic wrap.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. I used a cast iron but a nonstick will work great, possibly better. Once the oil is shimmering hot, place the chicken fillets carefully in the pan, being careful not to crowd it. I cooked about 4 pieces at a time.
Each side should take about 4-5 minutes. Let them brown a bit, so that the marinade cooks into a soft-but-kind-of-crispy layer. Set the pieces aside to cool a bit.
In a 4qt pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is heated, add the diced onions and let them brown a bit.
While the onions are cooking, cut the chicken into roughly 1 inch cubes.
Add the ginger and garlic pastes along with the dry spices and salt. Stir, and let them bloom a bit in the oil/onions.
Now pour the can of tomatoes into the spices and stir. Break up the whole tomatoes a bit so that they cook up nicely with the spices. Let this mixture cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally and letting it thicken.
When the kitchen’s beginning to smell irresistibly spicy (and the tomato + spice sauce has thickened), slowly pour in your chicken broth/stock. Bump the heat up to high and let this mixture boil and cook down a bit, about 5-7 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, blend the spicy tomato soup until completely smooth in texture. Alternatively, you could pop this in a blender that is appropriate for hot liquids (be careful, PLEASE).
Let the smooth soup thicken over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to check for your desired consistency. I like my masala sauce thick, not watery.
When it looks close to how you want it, pour in the heavy cream and stir until combined. You can cook it down more if it isn’t as thick as you’d like.
Lastly, add the cubed chicken to the masala sauce. Give it a good stir and serve with fluffy basmati rice or naan!