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!
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!
REAL CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA
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.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA
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.
TIKKA MASALA IS DECEPTIVELY EASY!
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).
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.
We looked at existing recipes by authors both well known (Madhur Jaffrey and Heston 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!
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TIKKA MASALA AND BUTTER CHICKEN
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 which Butter Chicken does not have. Also, the sauce of Tikka Masala is more intense and complex. 🙂
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). Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x
MORE GREAT CURRIES OF THE WORLD!
- Biryani (it’s amazing!)
- Dal (Indian lentil curry)
- Thai Red Curry
- Beef Rendang
- Massaman Curry
- Browse the Curry Collection
ON THE SIDE
- Indian Tomato Salad
- Give this Everyday Cabbage Salad an Indian spin by sauteing garlic and cumin seeds in oil before mixing up with other Dressing ingredients
- 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!
- 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, ground coriander, paprika (sweet, normal or smokey)
- 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
-
Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl and mix. Add chicken and turn well to coat.
-
Cover with cling wrap and leave in fridge to marinate overnight (3 hours minimum).
-
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.
-
Scrape out charred bits left in pan and discard. Add more oil if required and cook remaining chicken.
-
Wipe skillet with paper towels (or do this part in a pot as you need a lid). Turn heat down to medium high.
-
Add oil and butter. When butter is melted, add onions, ginger and salt.
-
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.
-
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic and paprika, and cook for 2 minutes.
-
Add the Curry Sauce Spices, and cook a further 2 minutes, stirring.
-
Add tomato passata and water, and mix. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low.
-
Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-
Pour curry into a bowl, then use a stick blender to puree until smooth (Note 5).
-
Return sauce to skillet. Add cream, sugar and butter. Stir to melt the butter.
-
Add chicken, stir. Simmer for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
-
Optional: Sprinkle with a pinch of extra garam masala at the end.
-
Serve over rice, sprinkled with coriander/cilantro if desired. Try this No Yeast Flatbread as a quick naan!
1. Chicken: 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. Oil - Or canola, coconut, grapeseed or other neutral flavoured oil with a high smoke point. NOT olive oil.
4. Charring - 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. Storage / make ahead - Chicken can be marinated for up to 48 hours in the fridge, or pop it straight into the freezer then it will marinate while defrosting overnight in the fridge. Cooked curry will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freezer for 3 months (defrost then reheat in microwave or on stove with splash of extra water). However, unlike stews, curries are at their prime freshly made, when the spices are at their most aromatic. A good trick to freshen up curries is to add a pinch of garam masala when reheating.
6. Recipe references:Â See in post.
7. 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!!!
I wish I could give this 10 stars! This was first time trying my hand at a traditional Indian dish, let alone chicken tikka masala. Because of the complex flavors to this dish, I was so worried about getting it wrong. I don’t think your instructions or your recipe could be any better! My chicken turned out perfectly using your method (getting the oil to its smoke point prior to charring in the very hot skillet) and the sauce was beyond my own expectations. I wasn’t going to use an onion (because I generally don’t like onions) but as I read and re-read your instructions, I was convinced I was wrong. I was so intimidated by this dish, but it was just perfect. I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you so much.
Ms. Nagi, I am thrilled I found your web site and I have just begun to try your recipes. Last week was Asian Marinated Chickem, it was great, tonight Chicken Tikka Masala. It was fun to cook and it came out great. I appreciate the heat was subtle aand came to life late in the taste. (Here in California the taste is often over powered but the heat.)
Questions: if want to increase the heat a little how would you suggest I go about it?
Thank you
Glad you enjoyed this Dennis!! To increase heat, add more cayenne pepper. – N x
Nagi,
Let me say that the recipe is delicious.
However, I find it almost impossible to get the kind of char that you do in my home kitchen. I’m not sure my gas burners are hot enough. Nevertheless the recipe is overall great.
Dear Nagi,
Without a doubt you do my favorite food blog. The recipes are unfailing delicious. I usually tweak recipes but yours I confess I do not–sometimes because I am unfamiliar with the style of cooking and now because I realize you have it down! Please do a cookbook!
Best,
Claire (from Oregon, USA)
PS I tell everyone I can about your recipes. I’m a one woman promotion!
Hi there! First off, this was great! The thing is though, we didn’t have thighs at home and the wife had already pulled out breasts from the freezer. So I did not use the pan searing method, rather, I did pieces on a skewer and right up under the broiler. I’m sure it’s way better your way, but just wanted to say that it can be done with white meat too…
That’s great! So pleased you enjoyed this John – N x
Simply love your recipes. This one comes out well. Every single time.
Was wondering if I can try the same recipe with Paneer( Indian cottage cheese)
Can you please share a curry based paneer recipe?
Hi Dee! If you could pop the request in the Recipe Request post then I will get to it! Paneer has been on my personal list for ages! N x
This is absolutely fabulous! Thank you for this delicious recipe and your useful notes. This is our new family favorite!
Thanks for this great stuff. Really liked your way of cooking and description of contents
You’re so welcome! 🙂
Hi! I’m from the US, and hoping you see this soon. For the coriander, is that dried cilantro leaves, ground cilantro leaves or ground cilantro seeds? I’ve read that we call it different here. I want to be sure to use the correct ingredients.
Hi Amber! it’s ground coriander in the spice mix 🙂
When I first tasted the sauce a bit while cooking I was afraid that I had over seasoned it and it would be overpowered with cumin flavor. But after letting it finish and putting it over some rice the flavor is perfect. Thank you for sharing this!
Hi Nagi,
Thanks for all the sensational recipes…not one has been blah!!
I have a query re: the paprika in the Tikka masala: do you use sweet paprika or the spicy one?
Thanks!
Cath
PS I’ve introduced my daughter in Texas to your site – she’s a huge fan now too!!
I use sweet, normal or smokey. Thanks for picking that up Cath! Will update recipe! N x
Hi Nagi
We cooked this and it was fantastic thanks – Interestingly we cooked it in early August 2018. We went to cook it again on the 3rd of September and the recipe had changed – No fenugreek / methi or capsicum etc.
I’ve lost the print out of the old recipe. Is there any chance you have a record of it? If so, would it be possible for you to email please.
We’d be very grateful to you. Loved the Rendang as well.
Thanks
Mark and Caroline
Hi Mark! 100% promise this has not changed. It never had fenugreek or capsicum in it. Promise!!!
Nagi this is the 4th time im making this using your recipe, you are amazing I cant thank you enough. All other recipes I have tried were off or too bland, but yours is perfect!
Love that you enjoyed this Luna! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Tikka masala is my go-to dish when I go to indian restaurant. However when I make it myself (I tried several different recipes), it never come near my expectations. Sauce not creamy enough (never thought of blending it), chicken not half as tender as in restaurants (I always marinade it for at least 24hr AND I use thighs), sauce a little to blend… I absolutely love the way you describe your way of making it, all the notes and the passion of cooking. The marinade is in the frig, can’t wait for tomorrow! Thx Nagi 🙂
Absolute winner here Nagi! I ran out of paprika so I subbed with Kashmiri chilli powder – it probably made the dish a tad spicier, but we weren’t complaining. The sauce was so good that I almost didn’t care about the chicken! Served with your flatbread, this was a brilliant dinner.
I’ve made this twice now and it’s delicious. Thanks so much for the cool recipe
Thanks for such an awesome home made recipe!
nice blog that i ever seen. thank you
Thank you fore the compliment Talha! N x