Easy Chicken Tikka Masala
I’ve always loved eating Indian food, but been too intimidated to try making it at home. The flavors are so rich and complex - surely, it has to be a time-consuming, laborious meal to make. NOT.
After looking at several Indian recipes online, I realized that Indian food tastes complex because of it’s ingredients, not so much because of it’s process. Most of the flavor comes from a unique mix of spices, and surprisingly, most of these spices are ones that I own already.
An added bonus to this recipe is that it’s easy to impress AND easy on the wallet. This is a pantry recipe - the only things I had to buy were the fresh ingredients: chicken, potatoes, lemon, ginger, heavy cream, and cilantro. You may have a bit more to buy if you don’t own the spices already. But if you need to, I suggest going to a Chinese, Mexican, or Persian market - you can buy the same spices you find at an American store but at a much lower cost.
Why is this called “Easy Chicken Tikka Masala”?
I don’t have a grill, so I sauteed the marinated chicken in a pan, and microwaved a potato to add into the sauce (I would have baked both if had the time. Let’s be realistic here.) Even if I did have a grill, I probably wouldn’t use it - it’s simpler and easier to cook in the same pan you’re going to cook the sauce in, and the chicken is more tender. Trust me, it turns out just as good!
Note: This is my version of Chicken Tikka Masala. I did change quite a bit from the original recipe.
- Because I don’t eat very much chicken, I swapped half of the chicken amount for potatoes, and added peas. Using all chicken or all potatoes is good too, though.
- I used ground nuts to thicken the sauce (I read this is a common way used to thicken Indian sauces), and brown sugar to balance out some of the flavors.
- If you do decide to follow the original recipe, do one thing: leave out the salt. Most of the reviewers suggested this - and I do too.
Anyway, don’t be scared of making Indian food at home. It’s easy, and to be honest, there’s not much that can go wrong with this one. Have fun!
See all the photos >
Original recipe from Allrecipes.com >
4 Servings | Modifications based on this original recipe
Chicken Marinade:
1 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
Gravy:
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1 large russet potato, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-2 teaspoons paprika (reduce for less spicy)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup pureed nuts (cashew, pine nut, etc)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Serve with:
Rice or naan bread
In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Microwave a potato until it’s soft, about 3 minutes (although this really depends on your microwave). Chop the potato into bit-sized pieces. Grind the nuts in a food processor until it turns into a thick paste. Set aside.
Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Add marinated chicken to the pan, browning on both sides. Season with 2 teaspoons of cumin and paprika.
Stir in tomato sauce, cream and brown sugar. Add potato chunks and nut paste into the pan.Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add peas. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Serve with rice and/or naan bread.
Spices used in this recipe: cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, fresh ginger, salt.
Chopping ginger.
Yogurt. This is usually how much I keep on hand - I love yogurt. I used this yogurt I picked up at a Persian market, any kind of plain yogurt will work.
Dumping all the marinade ingredients into a bowl.
Chicken in the marinade, after being chilled in the refrigerator.
Browning the chicken pieces in garlic, butter, and jalapeno pepper.
Garlic and jalapeno pepper. I took the seeds out of the pepper before chopping it.
Adding tomato sauce and heavy cream into the pan.
Done simmering! It smells amazing.
Deliciousness.
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I’m a huge fan of Indian food and I love making things from scratch. Bravo! If you’re ever in a pinch for time, Trader Joe’s makes a delicious Masala Simmer Sauce that’s quite authentic. It tastes just like what you get in Indian restaurants. Just cook your chicken or potatoes (I like shrimp) in the sauce and serve with rice, veggies, naan, etc. I much prefer the zen of making it myself like you, but occasionally the simmer sauce is just what I need.
@Girl Healthy
I’ll have to try that simmer sauce. I love Trader Joe’s - even their packaged food tastes homemade! Thanks for sharing.
I don’t like nuts, so I would have to see what they used in the original recipe. Other than that, I cannot wait to make this!! Thanks! I’ve been wanting to make Tikka Masala for a long time, and I have a big container of plain yogurt in my refrigerator begging to be used in this dish along with homemade naan! YUM!