Chicken Tikka Masala
Tender, yoghurt-marinated chicken in a creamy tomato sauce with ginger, garlic and warm spices. Mild, rich and made for rice.
Method
Six steps · about 40 minutesMarinate the chicken
Mix the chicken with the yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of the spice mix and a pinch of salt. Leave for at least 15 minutes while you prepare the rest, or up to a day in the fridge.
Sear the chicken
Heat the oil in a wide pan over high heat. Sear the chicken in batches for 3–4 minutes, until golden at the edges. It does not need to be cooked through. Lift it out and set aside.
Soften the onion
Lower the heat to medium. Fry the onion in the same pan for about 5 minutes, until soft and golden. Add the garlic, ginger and carrot and cook for 2 more minutes.
Build the sauce
Stir in the rest of the spice mix and fry for a minute until fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
Simmer with cream
Pour in the cream and return the chicken with any juices. Simmer gently for 8–10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Do not let it boil hard.
Season and serve
Season with salt, lemon juice and the garam masala. Scatter with coriander and serve with basmati rice or warm naan.
From our kitchen
Notes for a richer flavourThe yoghurt marinade is what keeps chicken breast tender. Even 15 minutes helps, and overnight is even better.
Sear the chicken hard and fast. The browned edges are the closest a home kitchen gets to the tandoor that gives tikka its name.
The carrot is our Swedish shortcut. Finely grated, it melts into the sauce and softens the acidity of the tomatoes.
A squeeze of lemon and a pinch of garam masala at the very end wake the whole dish up. Taste before you add salt: spice mixes are often salty already.
- Energy
- 1510 kJ / 360 kcal
- Protein
- 39 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- of which saturates
- 6 g
- Carbohydrates
- 18 g
- of which sugars
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
- Salt
- 1.6 g
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All recipes →Every recipe cooked and tested at home — by Magnus & Lek