Chicken Tikka Masala

Dinner | Indian

Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 1 hour Servings: 6

Chicken tikka masala is a rich, deeply spiced tomato and cashew gravy with chunks of charred yogurt-marinated chicken folded through it. There are a few steps but it's not too hard to make.

Now, I don't have a tandoor or an oven at home, and I'm guessing you don't either. There are a few options you've got for cooking the chicken in a tikka style: The best option for creating the charred, smokey flavour is using a charcoal or gas barbecue. If you don’t have one at home then using the broiler or grill function on your oven will do a similar job. The other option is to use a pizza oven as it gets incredibly hot and replicates the function of a tandoor in a very similar way. This curry is delicious the next day, so feel free to make a double batch and save the rest for work or school lunches.

Tikka Masala Tips

The two marinades

The first marinade (ginger garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli, lemon juice and salt) seasons the chicken and starts to tenderise the meat. The second marinade (yogurt, spices, tempered mustard oil and more ginger garlic paste) adds moisture and the deep spice flavour. Combine them and the lemon and salt from the first dilute into the second, and neither does its job properly.

Temper the mustard oil

Raw mustard seed oil is sharp and slightly acrid. Heat it in a small pot until it just starts to smoke, then turn off the heat and let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes. This burns off the volatile compounds and mellows the oil into a warm, nutty flavour. When it’s cool, mix it into the yogurt marinade. Don’t add it hot or the yogurt will split.

Blend for a silky gravy

Once the gravy has simmered for 30 minutes with the tomatoes, cashews, onions and spices, fish out the bay leaves and blend until smooth. The cashews give a rich, velvety texture that would otherwise take a lot more cream to achieve. Be careful blending hot liquid, use a stick blender straight in the pot, or a jug blender with the lid vented.

Ingredient Notes

Ginger garlic paste: Equal parts ginger and garlic, blitzed to a medium paste with a little neutral oil. If you cook Indian food often, make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks or freeze in ice cube trays. For this recipe you’ll need around 5 tablespoons in total across the two marinades and the gravy, so it’s worth making a full batch upfront.

Mustard seed oil: Sharp and pungent raw, mellow and nutty once tempered. Find it at Indian grocers or larger supermarkets. Heat it to smoke point before use in the marinade. Don’t sub in regular oil if you can help it, the flavour is part of what makes tikka masala taste like tikka masala.

Kashmiri chilli powder: Deep red colour, mild heat. This is what gives tikka masala its signature red-orange colour without setting your mouth on fire. Regular chilli powder isn’t a good substitute (too spicy, wrong colour). Look for it at Indian grocers.

Kasuri methi: Dried fenugreek leaves. It adds a slightly sweet, earthy aroma that can’t really be replicated with anything else. Indian grocers stock it. Don’t skip it if you can help it, it’s what sets a great tikka masala apart from a decent one.

Equipment

Small pot (for tempering the mustard oil)
Large mixing bowl (for the marinades)
Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Large Dutch oven or heavy-based pot
Blender or stick blender
Charcoal or gas BBQ (or oven with a grill/broil setting)
Wire rack
Wooden spoon
Tongs

Ingredients

First marinade
1 kg boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3cm pieces
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp salt
Second marinade
3 tbsp mustard seed oil
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp kasuri methi
1 tsp salt
2 heaped tbsp Greek yoghurt
Tomato gravy
1 tbsp ghee
4 green cardamom pods
½ tsp cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
2 red onions, sliced thin
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
½ tsp kashmiri chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp kasuri methi
30g raw cashews
4 tomatoes, diced
1 to 2 green chillies (Indian bird’s-eye or serrano), tops removed
small bunch of coriander stalks, washed
150ml water
salt to taste
To finish
1.5 tbsp butter
30ml cream
1 tsp honey (optional, depending on sweetness of tomatoes)
coriander, rice and naan to serve

Directions

First marinade
Combine the chicken pieces with the ginger garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli powder, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl. Mix well, cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
Heat the mustard seed oil in a small pot over medium heat until it just starts to smoke. Turn off the heat and leave to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
Second marinade
In a separate large bowl, mix together the ginger garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, cumin, kasuri methi, salt and yogurt.
Once the mustard oil has cooled to warm (not hot), pour it in and mix well.
Add the chicken from the first marinade, mix through so every piece is coated, cover and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours (or up to 6 hours if you have the time).
Tomato gravy
In a large Dutch oven or heavy-based pot over medium heat, add the ghee, cardamom pods, cumin seeds and bay leaves. Infuse for 3 to 4 minutes until fragrant.
Add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt. Cook for around 10 minutes, stirring often, until soft and starting to caramelise.
Add the ginger garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, kasuri methi and cashews. Stir through for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the diced tomato, green chilli, coriander stalks, another pinch of salt and the water. Stir well to lift any caramelisation from the base of the pot.
Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have completely broken down.
Grill the chicken
While the gravy is simmering, heat a charcoal or gas BBQ until very hot, or preheat your oven to grill/broil on its highest setting.
Place the marinated chicken on a rack. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until well charred on the outside. It doesn’t need to be cooked all the way through, it’ll finish in the sauce. Set aside on a tray with a wire rack.
Blend and finish
Remove the bay leaves from the tomato gravy. Let it cool for a few minutes, then blend until completely smooth. Be careful with the hot liquid, use a stick blender in the pot or a jug blender with the lid vented.
Return the blended gravy to the pot over low heat. Add the butter, cream and honey and stir until the butter has melted and everything is combined.
Add the charred chicken to the pot and stir through. Simmer very gently for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Keep the heat low so the sauce doesn’t split.
Taste and adjust with more salt if needed.
Serve over hot basmati rice with warm naan on the side. Scatter with fresh coriander leaves.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

Add cashews for creaminess

Raw cashews blended into the gravy do most of the work that dairy would otherwise do. They add a silky, velvety texture without any of the heaviness. If you skip them, you’ll need noticeably more cream to get the same mouthfeel.

Char the chicken hot, don’t cook it through

Get the BBQ or grill as hot as you can. You want char on the outside within 2 to 3 minutes per side. The chicken doesn’t need to be fully cooked at this stage. It finishes gently in the sauce, which keeps it tender and juicy. Cook it through on the grill and it’ll dry out in the final simmer.

Blend hot liquid carefully

A stick blender straight in the pot is safest. If you’re using a jug blender, let the gravy cool for 5 to 10 minutes first, and vent the lid (either use a blender with an open venting cap, or cover the lid with a folded tea towel and hold it down). Hot liquid trapped in a sealed blender can blow the lid off.

Storage

Chicken tikka masala keeps beautifully in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, and the flavour deepens overnight. Reheat gently in a saucepan over low heat with a splash of water or cream to loosen the sauce back up. It also freezes well for up to 3 months. Great for meal prep, scale up and portion into single serves.

FAQs

Do I really need mustard seed oil? It’s the ingredient that gives the marinade its signature flavour, so I’d try hard to find some (Indian grocers stock it). If you absolutely can’t get it, use a neutral oil like sunflower or rice bran, but the marinade will taste noticeably less like tikka masala. Don’t skip the tempering step even with the sub, though the effect will be smaller.

What if I don’t have a BBQ? Your oven’s grill/broil on its highest setting works fine. Place the chicken on a wire rack over a tray and put it as close to the element as it’ll go. 3 to 4 minutes per side is usually enough. You want colour and char, not full cooking.

Can I use chicken breast? Thighs are the better choice because they stay juicy through the two-stage cook (grill then simmer). Breast will work but reduce the final simmer significantly, 2 to 3 minutes rather than 5 to 10, to stop it drying out.

Can I make it milder or hotter? Kashmiri chilli powder is quite mild, and most of the heat in the finished dish comes from the fresh green chillies. Scale those up or down to control the spice. For mild, use one small green chilli or leave them out. For hot, add another one or two.