Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is one of our favorite dishes and in my opinion one of he best curry recipes ever. This special curry is of course inspired by the fantastic Indian cuisine, but actually it is Anglo-Indian recipe, which was created t suit British palates. Already the preparation will make you super proud an happy, it’s fun to marinate, grill and use all the different spices. So different to all the curry powders and curry mixes you used before. When you have prepared your curry like that, you won’t use normal curry ever again.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 level teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 level teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 heaped teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
• 2 heaped teaspoons garam masala
• 3 lemons
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
• 6 heaped tablespoons natural light yoghurt
• 800 g skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 3 fresh green or yellow chillies
• For the sauce:
• 2 onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1–2 fresh red chillies
• 30 g fresh coriander
• olive oil
• 1 level tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 level teaspoons turmeric
• 6 tablespoons ground almonds
• 2 x 400 g tins of plum tomatoes
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 2 x 400 g tins of light coconut milk

Put the cloves, cumin and 1 heaped teaspoon each of paprika and garam masala into a small pan and toast for 1 minute then out them into a large bowl. Finely grate in the zest of 1 lemon, squeeze in all its juice, crush in the garlic, peel and finely grate in the ginger, and add the yoghurt and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Cut the chicken breasts into 5cm chunks, then massage all that flavour into the meat. Skewer up the chicken chunks, interspersing them with lemon wedges and chunks of green or yellow chilli, but don’t squash them together too much. Place on a tray, cover with clingfilm and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.

For the sauce, peel the onions and garlic, then finely slice with the red chillies and coriander stalks (reserving the leaves for later). Put it all into a large casserole pan on a medium-high heat with a lug of oil and cook for around 20 minutes, or until golden, stirring regularly. Add the ground coriander, turmeric and remaining 1 heaped teaspoon each of paprika and garam masala. Cook for 2 minutes, then add and toast the almonds. Pour in the tomatoes, crumble in the stock cube and add 300ml of boiling water. Simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in the coconut milk. Simmer for a final 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, then season to perfection.

Drizzle the chicken with a little oil and grill in a hot griddle pan. Slice the chicken of the skewers into the curry sauce.  Swirl some yoghurt into the curry, sprinkle with the coriander leaves – ready to serve!

Most curries, as this one, contain turmeric, cumin, allspice, cardamon, ginger, garlic and capsicum – spices with strong anti-bacterial properties.

Studies have found that garlic, cinnamon and cumin can destroy up to 80 per cent of meat-borne bacteria, while ginger can slow bacterial growth by 25 per cent.