Chicken tikka masala (chicken tikka in a masala sauce)
The British-Indian workhorse, the way it's actually made: the chicken is marinated, cooked hard and dry (the tandoor step) until the outsides are charred and the insides are still a little dense, and then the masala sauce is built separately — onions, tomatoes, the dry masala fried in oil, cream at the end — and the chicken is dropped into it in the last two minutes of the plate. The chicken is not cooked in the sauce, and the sauce is not a thing the chicken is marinated in. That distinction is what separates the restaurant version from the home version, and it's the whole dish.
Inspired by
The chicken tikka masala on the British-Indian menu — the dish the UK made its own and the one the Indian restaurants of Britain do at least as well as the ones of India. It's a kind of plate, not a single house's, and the recipe below is written to that kind, the one on the menu you know.
Technique notes
Two articles do the heavy lifting here: the marinating article for the chicken prep, and the sauce-building article for the masala — the "fry the paste" rule in the Thai curry-paste article is the same logic as the onions being fried in oil before the tomatoes go in, and the dry masala being added to the hot oil and stirred for 30 seconds before the liquid is the same move as the paste in a Thai curry.
Why the restaurant does it this way
The chicken is cooked dry, not in the sauce, because the sauce is the thing that's supposed to have the flavor, and the chicken is the thing that's supposed to have the char. The marinate in the restaurant is a thin, yogurt-based one — the yogurt is the tenderizer, and the spices in it are the ones that go on the surface of the chicken and get charred, not the ones in the sauce. The masala is built in a separate pan — the onions fried until they're a deep, dark brown (the bhuna), the tomatoes added and reduced, the dry masala fried for 30 seconds to release its flavor, the cream added at the very end to cut the acid — and the chicken is dropped into it in the last two minutes, so it's hot in the sauce but not cooked in it. That's the mise en place of the dish: two pans, two stations, the chicken one and the sauce the other, and the plate is the two coming together at the pass. A home cook with one pan can do the same thing in sequence, and the same dish lands on the table.
Equipment
- A 26-cm (10-inch) pan for the chicken, wide enough for the pieces in a single layer, so they char instead of steam
- A 24-cm (9-inch) saucepan or a second pan for the masala
- A fine whisk for folding the cream into the sauce
- A bowl for the marinate
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 600 g (about 1 ¼ lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 3 cm (1-inch) pieces — the thighs are the cut the restaurant uses, because they stay moist through the sear and the sauce, and they're the one that doesn't dry out on the plate
- 60 g (¼ cup) plain yogurt (full-fat), for the marinate — the yogurt is the tenderizer, and the one that keeps the chicken moist through the sear
- 5 g (1 tsp) ground cumin, 5 g ground coriander, and 3 g (½ tsp) ground turmeric, for the marinate — the three that go on the surface of the chicken and get charred
- 3 g (½ tsp) ground chili (or to taste), for the heat in the marinate
- 8 g (1 tsp) salt, for the chicken — the salt in the marinate is what the chicken takes into the sear, and the one that keeps the surface from going grey
- 10 ml (2 tsp) oil, for the pan
For the masala
- 30 g (2 tbsp) oil, for frying the onions and the masala
- 120 g (about 1 large) onion, finely chopped — the onions are the base of the sauce, and the ones that go in first and get fried to a deep, dark brown before the tomatoes
- 60 g (about 4) garlic, grated or finely minced
- 40 g (bunch) ginger, grated or finely minced
- 200 g (about 2 large) tomatoes, finely chopped, plus 30 g (2 tbsp) tomato paste (or a 50 g (4 oz) can of tomato purée), for the body of the sauce
- 5 g (1 tsp) ground cumin, 5 g ground coriander, 5 g ground turmeric, 8 g (1 ½ tsp) ground chili, and 8 g (1 ½ tsp) paprika (a smoked paprika is the restaurant's move, and the one that gives the sauce its color and its edge), for the dry masala — the one that goes in after the tomatoes, and the one that gets fried for 30 seconds before the cream
- 200 ml (¾ cup) chicken stock, for the body of the sauce — the stock is what the sauce is cooked in, and the one that keeps the tomatoes from going dry
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) heavy cream, for the finish — the cream goes in at the very end, off the heat, and it's the one that cuts the acid of the tomatoes and gives the sauce its cream color. The restaurant does this, and it's the one move that separates the dish from a plain tomato sauce.
- 8 g (1 tsp) salt (plus more to taste), and 10 g (2 tsp) sugar — the sugar is the one that cuts the tomato, and the one the restaurant puts in the sauce before it goes to the pass
- 20 g (bunch) fresh coriander (cilantro), leaves only, for the plate — the coriander goes in at the very end, and it's the one that gives the dish its green on top
Method
- Combine the yogurt, the cumin, the coriander, the turmeric, the chili, and the salt in a bowl, and toss the chicken pieces in it until every piece is coated. Cover, and let the chicken marinate for 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge — the longer the marinate, the more tender the chicken is at the plate, and the overnight one is the one the restaurant does for the next day's lunch).
- In a wide pan, over medium-high, heat the oil until it shimmers, and add the marinated chicken in a single layer — every piece gets the pan, and none is steamed by the others. (The single layer is the move that keeps the chicken charred instead of steamed; the pieces that are on top of each other in the pan are the ones that come out grey and wet on the plate.) Leave the chicken alone for 3–4 minutes, until the outsides are a deep, charred brown and the insides are still a little dense and a little pink at the very center.
- Turn the pieces and cook the other side for the same length of time. The chicken is done when the outsides are charred and the insides are still a little dense — the center of the piece is about 75 °C / 165 °F for a safe, still-moist chicken, and the char on the outside is the one that gives the dish its smoky, tandoor-note that the sauce is going to pick up. Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside, not covered, so the steam doesn't soften the char.
- In a second pan (or the same one, washed), over a medium heat, warm the oil and add the chopped onion. Fry the onion slowly, stirring every 30 seconds, for 10–12 minutes, until it's a deep, dark brown — the bhuna, the one that gives the sauce its sweet, deep base. (The onions are the base of the sauce, and the ones that go in first. If you shortcut this step, the sauce is a tomato thing with onions in it, not a masala, and the depth is gone.)
- Add the garlic and the ginger to the onions, and stir for 30 seconds until they're fragrant — the garlic and the ginger go in after the onions, not before, because they burn faster than the onion, and the 30 seconds is the window between "fragrant" and "bitter."
- Add the chopped tomatoes, the tomato paste, and the dry masala (the cumin, the coriander, the turmeric, the chili, and the paprika), and stir for 30 seconds over a medium heat until the dry masala is fragrant and the whole pan is moving. (The dry masala goes in after the tomatoes, and the 30 seconds of the stir is the window where the flavor of the spices is released into the oil — the same logic as the "fry the paste" rule in the Thai curry. Too short, and the spices are raw on the tongue; too long, and they're bitter.)
- Add the stock, bring the sauce to a simmer, and let it reduce for 8–10 minutes, until the oil is starting to separate from the edges of the sauce and the color is a deep, even red-orange. (The reduction is the move that concentrates the tomatoes and the masala into the body of the sauce, and the oil separating at the edges is the signal the sauce is ready for the cream.)
- Take the pan off the heat, let the sauce cool for 30–60 seconds, and stir in the cream, the salt (to taste), and the sugar, until the sauce is smooth and the cream has melted into it. (The cream goes in off the heat, for the same reason the miso goes in off the heat in the Japanese section and the cheese goes in off the heat in the mac and cheese: the protein and the acid in the cream separate if the sauce is still at a rolling boil, and the sauce goes from creamy to curdled in a sentence. Off the heat, the cream melts cleanly into the sauce.)
- Bring the sauce back to a gentle simmer, and drop the chicken pieces into it, one at a time, so they're hot in the sauce but not cooked in it. Let the dish sit in the sauce for 2–3 minutes, just long enough to heat the chicken through, and scatter the coriander over the top.
- Serve with a good rice (a basmati, cooked per the rice article), a piece of fresh naan, and a little plain yogurt on the side for the diner to cool the heat of the chilies. The dish is hot, and the yogurt on the side is the one that keeps the heat from going to the plate before the diner is ready for it.
Common failures
- The chicken is dry and the sauce is thin and watery. The chicken was cooked in the sauce from the start, and the juices ran out of it into the sauce, thinning it and drying the chicken out at the same time. The order is the reverse: the chicken is cooked dry, and the sauce is built separately, and the two come together in the last two minutes of the plate. That's the whole dish, and it's the one that separates the restaurant version from the home one.
- The sauce tastes flat, like tomatoes with a little spice in them — the depth is gone. The onions weren't fried to the deep, dark brown (bhuna), or the dry masala wasn't fried for the 30 seconds that releases its flavor into the oil. The bhuna is the base of the sauce, and the dry masala is the one that gives the dish its color and its edge. Do both, and the sauce is the one on the menu you know.
- The cream has curdled, and the sauce is stringy and separated. The cream went in while the sauce was still at a rolling boil. The same rule as the miso and the cheese: off the heat, cool for 30–60 seconds, then stir the cream in. The sauce is meant to be smooth and even, not stringy.
- The dish is very hot on the tongue, and the sweetness is gone. The chilies went in the marinate and the masala, and the sugar didn't. The sugar is the one that cuts the tomato and the chili, and the restaurant puts it in the sauce before it goes to the pass. A little more, and the dish is the one on the menu, not the one on the tongue.
Variations & substitutions
- The cut of the chicken. Bone-in thighs are the restaurant's move, because the bone is the one that keeps the meat moist through the sear and the sauce, and the bone is the one that gives the meat its depth. Boneless is the home version, and the one that dries out faster, so the sear is shorter and the sauce is the one that keeps the chicken moist on the plate.
- A different heat. The chili in the marinate and the masala is the restaurant's, and the one that gives the dish its color. A milder version is the same dish with less chili in the marinate, and the one that lands on the table the same way, only sweeter. The sweet version (a meetha) is the one the diner does when the table is full of people who don't do the heat.
- The rice. A basmati is the one the restaurant pairs with the dish, and the long, dry grain is the one that cuts the richness of the cream. A shorter, stickier one (a jeera rice, or a plain short-grain) is the home version, and the one that lands in the sauce in a different way — the grains are separate, and the sauce is the one you spoon over them, not the one you stir them into.
What to serve with it
A basmati rice, cooked the way the rice article says (the long grain, steamed, in a dish with a loose lid), and a piece of fresh naan, a raita (a plain yogurt with a little mint, and a pinch of salt, for cooling the heat of the chilies), and a little kachumber (a cucumber-and-tomato salad with a lemon dressing) for the diner who wants the plate to have a green on it.