A made-from-scratch Chicken Tikka Masala recipe with the signature yoghurt marinated chargrilled chicken smothered in an incredible spice infused curry sauce. It’s astonishingly straightforward – and no hunting down hard to find ingredients. To say this curry is stunning is an understatement!
“I had a mouse in the house!”, I wailed to my friends at the dog park yesterday, very near tears at the memory. “I was so terrified, I barricaded myself in the bedroom.”
My friends responded with sympathy. Then someone asked the obvious question – “Didn’t Dozer chase it out of the house?”
“Errrr….” I hesitated, contemplating whether to preserve what little remains of Dozer’s dignity. “Well actually, it came into the living room, I freaked out and leapt to my feet on the couch. Dozer launched himself at it once but then he leapt up onto the couch with me!”
You can just imagine the peals of laughter echoing all across Pittwater as everyone pictured this 40kg/80lb dog standing on the couch pressed up against me, both of us quivering in fear.
So embarrassing. (For him, of course. Perfectly acceptable for me.😂)
It doesn’t sound fun to be barricaded in the bedroom, having left the back doors wide open with the hope that the mouse would find its own way out rather than bringing in all his mates for a party (and thankfully, I think he did depart). But actually, it was very productive. I answered a stack of messages and made the video for this Chicken Tikka Masala sitting in bed!!! 🙂
There are various tales about the origins of Chicken Tikka Masala, and most are along the lines of the following: That a British aristocrat was served Chicken Tikka (chicken on skewers chargrilled in a tandoor) and sent it back to the kitchen, complaining it was dry. In response to which the enterprising chef added a curry sauce and sent it back out again where it was well received.
And thus, one of the most popular curries in the world was born. 🙂 And even though it’s not a traditional Indian dish, the roots of it certainly are!
Proper Chicken Tikka Masala served at good Indian restaurants is made with yoghurt marinated chicken which is then chargrilled so it has that gorgeous smokey flavour.
Regretfully, I don’t have a tandoor sitting in the middle of my kitchen. So this recipe aims to replicate the flavour using my good old stove.
We start off with a Chicken Tikka yoghurt marinade for chicken thighs. Thighs, my friends. Not breast! We need juicy meat for this recipe because we’re going to blast it with some serious heat to replicate the char grilled flavour of Chicken Tikka!
Leave it to marinade for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Then heat your pan until it’s smoking hot – and I mean smokin’ hot!! – then cook those chicken pieces so the yoghurt coating gets chargrilled.
After that, we make the sauce, then toss the chicken back in to bring all the flavours together. And this is the vision that you will be bestowed with – your very own homemade Chicken Tikka Masala, made from scratch. With the signature deep orangey red sauce, wafting with aromatic curry flavour, smothering chicken with a beautiful chargrilled flavour.
This isn’t your everyday mid week meal. The ingredients list in the recipe looks alarmingly long, but it’s deceptive because there are duplicate ingredients. And we’re making a serious curry here! We can’t skimp on flavour!
And though the list might be long, here’s the best news – no hunting down unusual ingredients. You can get every single ingredient from the major supermarkets here in Australia (Woolies, Coles, Harris Farms, most Aldi’s and large IGA’s).
For curry lovers everywhere, it’s truly worth making your own curry from scratch at least once in your life. Like Thai Red Curry, a store bought curry paste (even a really great one) simply doesn’t compare. If I were to make this using a jar of paste, I would pimp it up quite a bit with fresh garlic, ginger and spices, and it would be not much less effort than making it from scratch!
I really hope you love this. This is a recipe that my brother and I developed together, tag teaming with the recipe until we “got it right” (meaning, as close as possible to good Indian restaurants).
Happy weekend! – Nagi x
PS In case you are wondering about the difference between Chicken Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken, the main thing is the char grilled flavour of the chicken. Also, the sauce of Tikka Masala is more intense and complex. 🙂
PPS Chewy, truly restaurant style naan still alludes us. But we have not given up! Until then, try this No Yeast Easy Soft Flatbread. Perfect to use as naan.
Spice level: Low. Marinade time: 3 - 24 hrs. Recipe VIDEO below.
Make this iconic curry at home!!! It's a stunner - and although there's an extensive looking list of ingredients, it's astonishingly straight forward. Far better than paste in a jar, less oily than restaurants, and you can get everything you need from supermarkets here in Australia!
Real chicken tikka is chargrilled yoghurt marinated chicken smothered in a spice infused tomato cream curry sauce. It's not possible to get the kind of smoky surface char that can be achieved with a tandoor in order to to reach the kind of temperatures needed for true chicken tikka. This recipe replicates the flavour as closely as possible by creating a similar char on the stove. We found this worked even better than using a gas BBQ or standard charcoal grill (it's hard to get char on yoghurt marinated meat without super high heat).
- 600 g/ 1.2lb chicken thigh (boneless, skinless), cut into 3cm / 2.2" cubes (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup plain yoghurt, full fat best (Greek is fine)
- 6 cloves garlic , minced (~1.5 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tsp garam masala (Note 2)
- 1 tsp each salt, cumin, coriander, paprika
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- Pinch black pepper
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 - 2 tbsp oil (Note 3)
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp garam masala (Note 2)
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp cardomon powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 tbsp / 65ml vegetable oil (Note 3)
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped (brown, white or yellow)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 6 cloves garlic , crushed or grated
- 1 tbsp paprika (not smoked)
- 400 ml / 1 2/3 cups tomato passata (tomato puree)
- 400 ml / 1 2/3 cups water
- 100 ml / 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp cream (thickened or pure is fine)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 50g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter
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Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl and mix. Add chicken and turn well to coat.
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Cover with cling wrap and leave in fridge to marinate overnight (3 hours minimum).
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Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non stick pan over high heat until smoking. Add half the chicken and spread out. Leave for 2 minutes or until charred. Turn each piece and cook the other side until charred - don't worry if not cooked inside. (Note 4, also Video helpful here) Remove into bowl.
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Scrape out charred bits left in pan and discard. Add more oil if required and cook remaining chicken.
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Wipe skillet with paper towels (or do this part in a pot as you need a lid). Turn heat down to medium high.
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Add oil and butter. When butter is melted, add onions, ginger and salt.
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Cook, stirring constantly to ensure it doesn't burn, until the ginger is starting to turn golden and the onions smell sweet, about 5 - 7 minutes.
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Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic and paprika, and cook for 2 minutes.
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Add the Curry Sauce Spices, and cook a further 2 minutes, stirring.
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Add tomato passata and water, and mix. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low.
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Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Pour curry into a bowl, then use a stick blender to puree until smooth (Note 5).
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Return sauce to skillet. Add cream, sugar and butter. Stir to melt the butter.
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Add chicken, stir. Simmer for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
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Optional: Sprinkle with a pinch of extra garam masala at the end.
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Serve over rice, sprinkled with coriander/cilantro if desired. Try this No Yeast Flatbread as a quick naan!
1. Please don't try this with chicken breast! The high temp cooking required to achieve the char grilled crust on the chicken will overcook it and dry it out.
2. Garam Masala is a spice mix that is found in major supermarkets in Australia (Woolies, Coles etc) that is commonly used in Indian cooking. It smells like curry powder.
3. Or canola, coconut, grapeseed or other neutral flavoured oil with a high smoke point. NOT olive oil.
4. Try to keep the charred coating on the chicken, but don't fret if most gets stuck to the pan - you still get the flavour. This is the reason I use a non stick pan - less risk of charred crust sticking to pan (though you can make this in a well seasoned cast iron pan which is brilliant for getting that charred crust).
5. Don't skip the blending. When all those caramelised onions cooked with the garlic and ginger gets whizzed up with everything else, it's magic. It's one of the steps that we felt made "all the difference" - and restaurants do this too. It's all about the silky smooth curry sauce!
I transfer into a bowl because it's difficult to use a stick blender in a skillet. If you're making this in a pot, you can probably tilt the pot to use a stick blender. Or let cool slightly and do this in a blender - do not blitz piping hot sauce in a blender, it might blow the lid off and curry sauce will hit your ceiling!
GENERAL NOTES:
* Indian cooking uses a lot of oil. Don't be tempted to skimp on the butter and oil for this recipe, it really affects the resulting richness of the dish at the end. We were quite surprised at the difference it made. AT MOST you can reduce the cooking oil by 1 tbsp and omit the butter at the end (but taste it first!). And even using the full amount of butter + oil, it only works out at about 1.7 tbsp per serving which isn't as obscene as one might expect. 🙂
* You can use ghee instead of the oil/butter used to sauté the onion. I find oil + butter produces a similar end result. I do use ghee sometimes - if I have it on hand (which I usually don't).
* The dish is deliberately saucy because it's SO GOOD!
* The salt level looks high but curries need it. Generally, intense flavours = more salt required.
5. Recipe references: This recipe is the result of a mountain of reading, researching, tasting and cooking we did in pursuit of the ultimate tikka masala recipe for the home cook.
We visited some of our favourite Indian restaurants in Sydney just to taste the chicken tikka masala, and recounted our memories of curries we experienced in the UK and India (my brother, not me, I haven't been). We looked at existing recipes on the internet by authors both well known (Madhur Jaffrey andHeston Blumenthal) and unknown, including many Indian food bloggers. We even watched Youtube videos in Hindi and went to the library and dug up faded old Indian cookbooks!
We pulled out the best bits from every source of inspiration as well as adding our own ideas to come up with this recipe!
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings (excludes rice, naan etc).
More Curry For Curry Lovers
Thai Red Curry | Chickpea Potato Curry (Chana Aloo) | Beef Rendang | Vegetable Curry | Cauliflower Chickpea Curry | Queema (Indian Curried Beef Mince) | Chicken Satay Curry
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
Miserable, sulky post-swim hose down. No feeling sorry for him! He just spent the last hour swimming and rolling in sand!!!
Nagi is it ok to use coconut milk instead of cream?
Hi Shaki! It will work but it will give the sauce a slight coconut flavour that restaurant Tikka Masala doesn’t have 🙂 N xx
Wow did this ever turn out awesome. I can see using this curry for a lot of things and I will be experimenting with just that in the future. You knocked it out of the park again Nagi. Thank you so much.
Nagi is ther a way to make tomato passata at home?
Hi Shaki! For this one, just blitz canned tomato 🙂 N xx
The bomb! Excellent recipe.
My daughter’s boyfriend is from India and will be visiting in the summer. I need to practice some Indian recipes to get his approval, being I am a chef.
The only thing missing was the naan bread
Oooh, I’m honoured a professional made this – and approved! 🙂 Working on the naan recipe… working on it! It’s the chew… struggling to get that real chew! N xx
This was absolutely delicious! I made this today for my family which includes two picky children. We all loved it. The aroma from the spice combination smelled heavenly as I was cooking. It tasted so good. My husband said it was better than a restaurant’s versionvhe recently had. It will definitely be added to our regular dinner rotation. I love your recipes and videos, they never disappoint me.
Terrific to hear Kim! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it – N x
Hi Nagi,
If I was to replace oil and butter with ghee, how much ghee would I use.
Cheers
Hi Piranee! The same amount 🙂 N x
Oh my!! I made this last night. I was a bit nervous to make this to be honest. But it was not hard to make and it was truly amazing. So delicious. My husband loved it as well. I sent the recipe to my two daughters as well. Thank you.
That’s terrific to hear Marcia! I’m so glad you enjoyed this! N xx
I made this last night along with the flat bread and it was amazing! My husband and I used to meet up for lunch many years ago at an Indian restaurant and he’d always order this so I knew he’d be a tough customer. He couldn’t stop raving about it all through dinner. He said it was better than the restaurant! Thank you for another wonderful dinner recipe!
WOWEEE! That is such a high praise Cheryl! PS I adore the vision of regular date nights over Indian N xx
Wow! I just finished making this and it is delicious! Getting a nice deep sear on the chicken is key. I marinated my chicken for 2 days. Amazing recipe, thank you!
Yes! That char is everything, it’s what makes Chicken Tikka Masala different to butter chicken!! So glad you enjoyed this Kerry, thanks for sharing your feedback! N xx
Is this recipe possible to make a day in advance or will that impact the flavours in a bad way?
I’m thinking of making this at home and take it with me to the cabin beceause we don’t have running water there and a limited kitchen compared to home.
If this dish is suitable for reheating it would be great – have you tried it before?
Gosh YES! It’s even great for freezing – I made so much of this leading up to sharing it, plus for the video and photos I had stacks in the freezer as well. So from the fridge, heat using whatever method you want (if using stove, add a touch of water otherwise sauce will get too thick). From frozen, defrost then reheat. I microwave covered in cling wrap 🙂 N xx
Is this recipe possible to make a day in advance or will that impact the flavours in a bad way?
I’m thinking of making this at home and take it with me to the cabin beceause we don’t have running water there and a limited kitchen compared to home.
If this dish is suitable for rehating it would be great – have you tried it before?
Hi Nagi
Thanks for sharing this, it looks delicious! Do you think I could use fish or prawns instead of chicken as I’m a non-meat eater? Thank you!
OMG YES YES YES!!!!!!!!! You won’t need to marinate overnight, just coat the fish or prawns in the marinade, leave for 20 minutes, then proceed with recipe and obviously cook very quickly because fish/prawns cook so fast. OK, basically you just inspired me to make this using prawns and/or fish….
Brilliant! Thank you 😊😊
Wow, this was really good, Nagi! I’ve made Chicken Tikka Masala many times, with different recipes, and this one topped them all. Mr. Fussy agreed that it was truly restaurant quality. Great flavor. I had a bit less chicken than the recipe called for, so I only added cream to half the sauce and saved the rest for another meal. The chicken would be great on its own too. (I’ve made several other of your recipes recently, adapting Chicken Shawarma to serve at my Passover Seder (with Chermoula sauce because I wasn’t using dairy) and then made the Cottage Pie for us during Passover. All received Mr. Fussy’s praise!
YES YES YES!!! I’m so super happy to hear that Marlene, thanks so much for letting me know!! N xx
PS Say HI to Mr Fussy from me! N xx
OMG! This chicken Tikka was unbelievable! Like all your other recipes Nagi, this one did NOT disappoint. Ya it was my first time making an Indian curry. Ya it took me 3 hours to make it. But when everything was said and done, I had successfully wooed my girlfriend and that’s exactly what it’s all about at this point of my life. I will continue to use your recipes as regular staples in my monthly cooking adventures. Thank you so much.
YES YES YES!!! I’m so super happy to hear that Jeff, thanks so much for letting me know!! N xx
Wow!!!!!! This meal was totally amazing. The flavours were incredible and so much sauce. The sauce was out of this world.
Also made your flat breads to go with it and rice.
My son in law begged to take the few leftovers to work to next day.
A really enjoyable family meal was had by all.
I love opening my emails to see what new delights you have in stall for us.
You really do inspire me to go to the next level in my meals.
My family are truly thankful.
I LOVE HEARING THAT!!! Your son in law is lucky…. N xx
Made this over the weekend and it was DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. This is going to be a regular on our weekend dinner menu.
And Dozer … we love him!!
WHOOT! I love hearing that! Thanks so much for letting me know Vim 🙂 We worked really hard on this recipe so it’s especially great to hear when people enjoy it! N xx
This looks fantastic and I can’t wait to give it a try! I wonder if you’ll ever grace us with your take on a simple/easy Vindaloo recipe? 😀
YES YES YES! It’s on our list 🙂 Curries are hard, they take ages to develop cause you can’t just tweak them at the end by adding more of this or that, gotta get it right from the very beginning. 🙂 N x
My favorite Indian restaurant closed and I have been searching for a Chicken Tikka Masala recipe that came close. This is the best I’ve made! Your recipes never fail me. Made it tonight for my husband and my mom and it was a huge hit. Now that I have all of the spices in my cupboard this will become a regular on the dinner menu. Thank you! You and Dozer came through again.
(And I know it is not the least bit authentic, but the throw in a couple of handfuls of frozen peas at the end. It adds color and a tiny taste of sweetness that my kids always liked. )
WHOOT! I’m so thrilled to hear that Judi! And actually, pops of peas is something you definitely see in Indian colours, great for colour and pops of sweetness! N xx