Let me preface this post, by saying that I did not come up with this recipe. I have added and adjusted a couple things here and there, but honestly, it was almost perfect the way I found it… and “perfect” is totally subjective here. I am not from India, have no Indian cultural influence, and have never traveled there– so I can not say I’m any type of authority on what makes Indian food “good” or authentic. What I can say, however, is that I think this is the closest I’ve come to being able to replicate a restaurant-quality bowl of Chicken Tikka Masala. It’s on par with what I’ve had at Dishoom in London, and a couple favorite spots here in the US. Adam and I crave this all the time, and we end up making it a couple times per month… we’re so crazy about it, in fact, that we double the recipe so we can have several days worth of leftovers. So… without further ado, I’ll give credit where credit is due, and we can move on to the recipe! For the original, you can see Chris Bellers’ submission to allrecipes here.
Adam and I have made this so many times that we are now a well oiled machine, and barely need the recipe anymore… I just wanted to include it on my website so I could have a full anthology of our favorites, all in one place. In this post, I’ve tried my best to edit and simplify the recipe so that it’s as organized and straight forward as possible, so someone at any level can successfully make it! The tips and processes listed here reflect exactly what we do at home in order to optimize the process, and it has yet to let us down!!
Pro tip: get the first group of spices prepared ahead of time! I like to put them all in a small bowl, so I can dump everything in at once.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Equipment
- 2 heavy bottom skillets
- rice cooker
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp cumin (Group 1)
- 1 tsp salt (Group 1)
- 1 tsp ground ginger (Group 1)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (Group 1)
- ½ tsp cinnamon (Group 1)
- ¼ tsp turmeric (Group 1)
- ⅛ tsp Garam Masala (Group 1)
- 14 oz tomato sauce (1 can)
- 1 c heavy whipping cream
- 2 tsp paprika (Group 2)
- 1 tbsp sugar (Group 2)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ tsp curry powder
- Basmati rice
- garlic naan
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients in advance, by combining all spices from Group 1 into a small bowl, and then chopping your onion and chicken breasts.
- Heat ghee in a large skillet over medium heat. Once ghee has melted, stir in onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until onion becomes translucent.
- Add garlic, and continue to stir for about 1 minute. Pour pre-measured spice mixture from Group 1 over the onion and garlic. Fry for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Pour tomato sauce over the onion and spices, and stir to completely combine. Try to also scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and stir them into the mix as well. Bring the entire mixture to a boil, and then reduce heat. Simmer on low for 10 minutes.
- While sauce simmers, measure spices from Group 2 into the bowl you used earlier for Group 1. Set aside.
- Once sauce has simmered for 10 minutes, add heavy cream and spices from Group 2. Bring the sauce back to a simmer, and stir often, for 10-15 minutes.
- While your sauce continues to simmer and thicken, put your second skillet over high heat. Add 1tbsp vegetable oil, and allow it to get hot. Add chicken to the hot skillet, season with curry powder, and stir to evenly distribute. Continue to cook and stir the chicken until it has browned on all sides and is still a bit pink in the middle. Turn off burner, and set aside.
- At the 10-15 minute mark, when your sauce has thickened, add chicken and any juices. Bring everything back up to a simmer, and allow the chicken to finish cooking in the sauce for 25-30 minutes. Stir frequently.
- While the chicken simmers in the sauce, it's time to get the rice cooking. Choose a quantity that reflects your needs, and prepare according to package instructions.*If you have a rice cooker, set everything up in advance so you can turn it on as soon as you begin simmering the chicken and sauce mixture for the final 30 minute stretch. This way, it will be ready at the same time as the chicken!
- When there's about 15 minutes left on your sauce timer, preheat your oven to 350ºF. Lay your naan out on a baking sheet, and bake for 5-7 minutes to heat up.
- Once your chicken has cooked through, and sauce has thickened, turn off the heat and serve over Basmati rice, with a side of naan!