Chicken Tikka Masala

America's Test Kitchen - Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

Chicken Tikka

• • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

  • 1 teaspoon table salt

  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts , trimmed of fat

  • 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (see note above)

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 2 medium garlic cloves, crushed

  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Masala Sauce

• • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 1 medium onion, diced fine (about 1 1/4 cups)

  • 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)

  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

  • 1 fresh serrano chile, ribs and seeds removed, flesh minced (see note above)

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

  • 1 tablespoon garam masala

  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

  • 2 teaspoons sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt

  • 2/3 cup heavy cream

  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1. Combine cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt in small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with spice mixture, pressing gently so mixture adheres.

  2. Place chicken on plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes.

  3. In large bowl, whisk together yogurt, oil, garlic, and ginger; set aside.

  4. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

  5. Add garlic, ginger, chile, tomato paste, and garam masala; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes.

  6. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and set to simmer stirring occasionally.

  7. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat broiler.

  8. Using tongs, dip chicken into yogurt mixture and arrange on wire rack set in foil-lined rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture.

  9. Broil chicken until thickest parts register 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer and exterior is lightly charred in spots, 10 to 18 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through cooking.

  10. Let chicken rest 5 minutes, then cut into 1-inch chunks 

  11. Stir the chicken and cream into the sauce and return to simmer. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm.

  12. Stir in cilantro, adjust seasoning with salt, and serve.

Serious Eats

J. Kenji López-Alt JUN 4, 2012

Ingredients

• • 5 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (breasts, legs, or a mix), skin removed

  • 3 tablespoons toasted ground cumin

  • 3 tablespoons toasted paprika

  • 2 tablespoon toasted ground coriander seed

  • 2 teaspoon ground turmeric

  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

  • 12 cloves garlic, grated on the medium holes of a box grater, divided

  • 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated on the medium holes of a box grater, divided

  • 2 cups yogurt

  • 3/4 cup fresh juice from 4 to 6 lemons, divided

  • Kosher salt

  • 4 tablespoons butter or ghee

  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced

  • 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, roughly mashed

  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems

  • 1 cup heavy cream

Method:

• 1. Place the chicken pieces on a cutting board with the flesh-side up. Score deeply at 1-inch intervals with a sharp knife. Place in a large rimmed baking dish.

  2. Combine cumin, paprika, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne in a small bowl and mix well.

  3. Set aside 3 tablespoons of spice mixture.

  4. Combine remaining 6 tablespoons spice mixture, 8 cloves garlic garlic, 2 tablespoons ginger, yogurt, 1/2 cup lemon juice, and 1/4 cup salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

  5. Pour marinade all over chicken pieces, using hands to coat every surface. cover loosely and refrigerate.

  6. Refrigerate and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours and up to 8, turning occasionally.

  7. Meanwhile, heat butter or ghee in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until melted and foaming subsides.

  8. Add onions, remaining 4 tablespoons grated garlic, and remaining 2 tablespoons ginger.

  9. Cook, stirring frequently, until dark and beginning to char in spots, about 10 minutes.

  10. Add reserved spice mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

  11. Add tomatoes and half of cilantro, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan with a spoon.

  12. Simmer for 15 minutes, then puree using a hand blender or by transferring to a tabletop blender in batches.

  13. Stir in cream and remaining quarter cup lemon juice. Season to taste with salt, then set aside until chicken is cooked.

TO COOK ON THE GRILL:

• 1. Light one chimney full of charcoal.When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over half of coal grate.

  2. Set cooking grate in place, cover gill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. 

  3. Clean and oil the grilling grate.

  4. Wipe excess marinade off chicken and place over hot side of grill, flesh-side-down.

  5. Grill without moving until well charred, 5 to 7 minutes.

  6. Flip chicken and cook until second side is charred, another 4 to 5 minutes. (Chicken will not be completely cooked through—this is ok).

  7. Transfer to cutting board and allow to rest 10 minutes.

TO COOK UNDER THE BROILER:

• 1. Line a broiler pan with heavy duty aluminum foil and preheat the broiler to high with the rack set 6 inches below broiler element.

  2. Wipe excess marinade off chicken and place on foil-lined pan, flesh side up.

  3. Broil until charred and blackened on surface, about 8 minutes (chicken will not be completely cooked through—this is ok).

  4. Transfer to cutting board and allow to rest 10 minutes.

TO FINISH:

• 1. Remove chicken from bone using a sharp knife and cut into rough bite-sized chunks.

  2. Transfer chicken chunks to pot of sauce. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is just cooked through, about 10 minutes.

  3. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro, then serve immediately with rice or Grilled Naan

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/apr/24/how-to-cook-perfect-chicken-tikka-masala

The perfect chicken tikka masala  (Serves 4)

For the chicken tikka:

• • 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

  • Juice of 2 lemons

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 150ml plain yoghurt

  • 1 tbsp pureed ginger (use a pestle and mortar)

  • 1 tbsp crushed garlic (about 3 cloves)

  • 1½ tsp ground cumin

  • 1 tbsp garam masala

  • 1 tbsp smoked sweet paprika

For the sauce:

• • 2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter (or flavourless oil)

  • 2 small onions, chopped

  • 6 green cardamom pods,

  • 1 black cardamom pod (optional)

  • 2cm cinnamon stick

  • 4 cloves

  • 2 tbsp pureed ginger (use a pestle and mortar)

  • 8 garlic cloves, crushed to a puree

  • 400g chopped tomatoes

  • 1 tbsp tomato puree

  • 2 small green chillies, split

  • 1 tsp sugar

  • 50ml whipping cream

  • 1 tsp paprika

  • ½ tsp fenugreek leaves, ground

  • 1 tsp garam masala

  • 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

  • Small handful of coriander leaves, to serve

Method:

• 1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks and stir in the lemon juice and salt.

  2. Leave to marinade for 30 minutes.

  3. Stir the remaining marinade ingredients together and add to the bowl. Stir well to coat, cover and chill overnight, then bring to room temperature before cooking.

  4. To make the sauce, heat the ghee or other fat in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the onions.

  5. Fry until soft and golden brown, stirring regularly.

  6. Meanwhile, grind the seeds from the cardamom pods, the cinnamon stick and cloves to a smooth powder using a pestle and mortar.

  7. Stir the pureed ginger and garlic into the onions and fry for a couple of minutes, stirring, then add the powdered spices and fry for a minute or so.

  8. Tip in the tomatoes and tomato puree plus 300ml water, bring to a simmer, turn the heat down to medium and cook until the oil starts to pool around the sides of the pan.

  9. Meanwhile, heat your grill as high as it goes, and thread the chicken on to metal skewers, pushing the pieces well together.

  10. Put on a lined baking sheet as close to the grill as possible and grill for six to eight minutes on each side, until nicely charred at the edges.

  11. Puree the sauce until smooth, then, once the chicken is done, return the pureed sauce to the pan on a medium heat.

  12. Stir any remaining marinade into the sauce, along with the chillies, sugar, cream and paprika – you can add more of the latter if necessary to give the sauce a deeper colour.

  13. Add the chicken, fenugreek and garam masala and cook for about five minutes, then taste for seasoning.

  14. Add more salt or sugar or the lemon juice if you like, then serve with chopped coriander.

Urvashi Pitre for the Instant Pot

Ingredients (Marinade):

• • ½ cup Greek Yogurt (page 34)

  • 4 garlic cloves, minced

  • 2 teaspoons minced ginger

  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

  • ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

  • ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon Garam Masala (page 24)

  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

  • 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken (breasts or thighs), cut into large pieces

Method:

In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, paprika, salt, garam masala, cumin, and liquid smoke (if using).

Add the chicken and stir to coat. Marinate the chicken for 1 to 2 hours.

Ingredients (Sauce):

• 1. 1 onion, chopped

  2. 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

  3. 1 carrot, chopped

  4. 5 garlic cloves, minced

  5. 2 teaspoons minced ginger

  6. 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

  7. ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

  8. 1 teaspoon ground paprika

  9. 1 teaspoon salt

  10. 2 teaspoons Garam Masala

  11. 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Method:

• 1. In the inner cooking pot of the Instant Pot, mix the onion, tomatoes, carrot, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, paprika, salt, garam masala, and cumin.

  2. Place the chicken with the yogurt on top of the sauce ingredients.

  3. Lock the lid into place. Select Manual and adjust the pressure to High. Cook for 10 minutes.

  4. When the cooking is complete, use the quick method to release the pressure.

  5. Unlock and remove the lid. Remove the chicken and set aside. (If you like, you can brown it under the broiler or in an air fryer at this point.)

  6. Using an immersion blender, purée the sauce well.

Tip:

The spices for marinating and for the sauce are almost the same. To save time, you can add the marinade spices to a bowl and the sauce spices to the Instant Pot at the same time.