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    You are Here: Masala Herb » Recipes » Chicken

    Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

    Oct 2, 2024 by Helene Dsouza

    27.7K shares
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    • Bluesky
    Helene Dsouza
    Easy Chicken Tikka Masala with a handful of spices so that you can recreate this dish at home. This is my quick weeknight dinner meal. The tomato-based curry is a real comfort meal.
    Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    marinating (optional): 30 minutes minutes
    2 servings
    RECIPE
    Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

    Chicken Tikka Masala is a classic, spiced, tomato-based curry.

    This curry is for you if you enjoy dipping your warm naan bread in a creamy butter chicken curry!

    Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe
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    After a long day at work, you just want to have a wholesome, comforting dish to feed your hunger.

    You want a dish that makes you happy, food which takes you over and which numbs your mind.

    When this happens, your smell, and especially your taste senses, go berserk. The solution? Homemade easy Chicken Tikka Masala!!

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients Overview
    • How to make it?
    • 📖 Recipe
    • Tips
    • Serving Ideas
    • Storing & Meal Prepping
    • What is Chicken Tikka Masala?
    • Related Recipes
    • 💬 Comments

    Ingredients Overview

    For the Marination

    • Chicken boneless — Breast or thighs.
    • Yogurt or curd
    • Cumin seeds powder
    • Coriander seeds powder
    • Black pepper powder
    • Turmeric powder
    • Cinnamon powder
    • Red chili pepper or cayenne pepper powder
    • Ginger & garlic — A paste of the two is my choice, but you can use crushed garlic and grated ginger too.

    To cook the curry:

    • Onion — white, yellow or purple, chopped.
    • Bay Leave
    • Tomato — diced
    • Butter or clarified butter
    • Tomato sauce — unseasoned
    • Table Cream or heavy cream
    • Water
    • Salt to taste
    Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

    How to make it?

    Step 1

    Combine in a bowl the marination ingredients, the yogurt, and spices, and coat the chicken with it.

    Step 2

    Sauté onion and briefly cook the bay leaf with the onion.

    Cook diced tomatoes soft.

    Step 3

    Stir in the tomato sauce, cream, and water to create the sauce base.

    Toss in your chicken marination and combine everything well.

    Step 4

    Simmer everything until the chicken is cooked and soft.

    Take out bay leaf and discard before serving your curry hot.

    📖 Recipe

    Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

    Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

    Easy Chicken Tikka Masala with a handful of spices so that you can recreate this dish at home. This is my quick weeknight dinner meal. The tomato-based curry is a real comfort meal.
    4.91 from 22 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Indian
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    marinating (optional): 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 2 servings
    Calories: 455kcal
    Recipe by: Helene Dsouza

    Ingredients

    For the marination:

    • 10.6 Ounces Chicken Boneless cut into cubes
    • ⅛ Cup Yogurt
    • 1 Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground
    • 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Whole
    • ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
    • 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Ground
    • ½ Teaspoon Cinnamon Ground
    • ½ Teaspoon Red Chili Pepper or Cayenne Pepper Powder
    • 1 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic *see Notes for options

    For the curry cooking:

    • 2 Tablespoons Butter or Clarified Butter
    • 1 Onion choped
    • 1 Piece Bay Leave
    • 1 Tomato diced
    • 5 Tablespoon Tomato Sauce unflavored
    • 3 ½ Tablespoons Table Cream or Heavy Cream
    • ½ Cup Water or Broth for extra flavor
    • To Taste Salt optional
    • Cilantro fresh, to top
    US - Metric

    Instructions

    • For the marination, place chicken cubes into a large bowl. 
      10.6 Ounces Chicken Boneless
    • Add in the yogurt, coriander seed powder, cumin seed powder, black pepper powder, turmeric, cinnamon, red pepper powder/cayenne powder, and ginger garlic.
      ⅛ Cup Yogurt, 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Whole, 1 Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground, ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground, 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Ground, ½ Teaspoon Cinnamon Ground, ½ Teaspoon Red Chili Pepper, 1 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic
    • Mix everything well so that the chicken is evenly coated with the marination. The longer you keep it marinate the better for the flavor, however, if you are in a hurry just marinate it as long as you can spare time and then continue with the preparation.
    • For the cooking process, heat a deep pan and add the butter. Add in the onion and cook soft.
      2 Tablespoons Butter, 1 Onion
    • Add a piece of bay leaf to the pan and let it cook for a minute. This will bring out the bay leaf flavors.
      1 Piece Bay Leave
    • Throw in the diced tomato and stir cook until a bit soft. Don't let them burn on.
      1 Tomato
    • Add in your tomato sauce with the cream and mix the whole pan contents well. Pour in the water, mix again, cover and let it cook until the tomato has softened considerably.
      5 Tablespoon Tomato Sauce, 3 ½ Tablespoons Table Cream
    • Now you can add in the chicken with the marination, and the water and salt. Mix it all well!
      ½ Cup Water, To Taste Salt
    • Cover and cook on medium heat until chicken is soft.
    • Pick out and discard bay leaf.
    • Garnish with fresh cilantro (aka coriander)

    Notes

    Use homemade Ginger and Garlic paste or finely grated ⅓ Ginger and chopped ⅔ Garlic. You can also prepare ginger and garlic pastes separately. OR simply buy ginger garlic paste. Store-bought ginger garlic paste is convenient but the homemade version tastes better. The homemade paste is my choice because it tastes pure and mixes into the curry.

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 455 Calories from Fat 234
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 26g40%
    Saturated Fat 14g70%
    Cholesterol 164mg55%
    Sodium 620mg26%
    Potassium 1274mg36%
    Carbohydrates 18g6%
    Fiber 4g16%
    Sugar 9g10%
    Protein 36g72%
    Vitamin A 1980IU40%
    Vitamin C 26.2mg32%
    Calcium 93mg9%
    Iron 3.3mg18%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Tips

    For the best chicken tikka curry masala: The longer you marinate the chicken the more flavorful it will turn out.

    For the quickest chicken tikka curry masala: Marinate the chicken for 5 minutes and move on to cooking it.

    I adjusted the recipe over the years to make it easier for you while retaining all the flavors.

    I skip garam masala in my chicken tikka curry because, to be honest, you don't really need it. The other spices with the yogurt add a lot of amazing complex flavors to your chicken.

    Serving Ideas

    We make this with Indian flat bread. Either plain roti or a cheesy nan. We prefer roti because they are easier to prepare.

    Alternatively, steamed or boiled rice is a great addition to your chicken tikka masala. In that case, I still prefer lemon rice or cilantro lime rice because they are aromatic.

    Storing & Meal Prepping

    You can prep this meal in advance for the workweek in batches. I like to use rectangular glass containers for that because the food can be directly reheated in them.

    The tikka masala with chicken is good for about 3–5 days in your fridge. Depending on the best before date mentioned on your chicken cuts.

    Or freeze the meal after you are done preparing it. It will remain good for at least 1 month in your freezer.

    Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

    What is Chicken Tikka Masala?

    Chicken Tikka Masala is a flavorful spicy tomato based creamy curry.

    A combination of spices is used to marinate the chicken before the meat is cooked in a gravy-like spiced sauce.

    Origins

    Chicken Tikka Curry Masala was created by North Indian Punjabis. There are numerous claims from the British and Indian side.

    I think the curry meal was made popular by Punjabi immigrants in the UK because chicken tikka masala is better known in the UK and not in India.

    Hence, why chicken tikka curry masala is the national dish of England (I'm not kidding!)

    People will claim that chicken tikka masala is Indian, but to be fair, it's not. The dish rarely appears on Indian menus (and I traveled all over the country).

    That is why this chicken tikka curry is a British Curry house dish, just like Chicken Balti and Chicken Pathia Curry.

    To add to the confusion, the Chicken Tikka Masala curry is a derivation from the Indian Chicken Masala dish (curry meal), the Chicken Tikka (boneless dry tandoori chicken tikka) and the all famous butter chicken.

    The Indian Chicken Masala is usually prepared with a nut (cashew or almond base) or tomato base. Besides, they don't taste the same at all.

    This is the major difference between the Indian chicken masala and the British chicken tikka masala. YES, there is a difference!

    Related Recipes

    • Mushroom Masala
    • Cashew Tikka Masala Curry Paste
    • Matar Paneer (Green Peas & Indian Cottage Cheese Curry)
    • Basic Chicken Tandoori Paste
    Easy Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe
    27.7K shares
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    I am Helene, and I created Masala Herb in 2011. Here you will learn to cook with spices and herbs. I share from scratch, international food recipes and my mission is to teach you to cook flavorful food at home. Read More…

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    Comments

      4.91 from 22 votes (12 ratings without comment)

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    1. Rae says

      September 06, 2023 at 12:45 am

      Could you use coconut milk instead of yogurt?

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        September 06, 2023 at 1:42 pm

        Yes, you can switch out the yogurt, but instead of coconut milk, I recommend using coconut cream because it's much thicker in consistency compared to coconut milk. Coconut cream would compare better to yogurt in this marination recipe.

        Reply
    2. Elizabeth Laskowska says

      September 18, 2021 at 4:08 pm

      Hi Helene,

      could You please specify : 1/3 ginger from how big ginger and 2/3 garlic, is it from whole head of garlic or 1 clove of garlic ?
      I have never make this dish. So thirst time I would like make it correctly.

      Thank You,
      Elizabeth

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        September 19, 2021 at 4:49 pm

        Hi Elisabeth, sorry for the confusion. You need a Tablespoon of ginger and garlic finely chopped or in paste form. You can grate the ginger too. So for 1 tbs of both together, you will need about 2 normal-sized cloves of garlic (or one super large one), and about 1 centimeter or 1/2 inch ginger. This is an estimate, the easiest way to get this right is to use ginger and garlic paste. Some online stores and special Asian stores sell ginger and garlic, either as one paste or as two separate pastes. Ginger and garlic paste mixes in well into the curry and ginger has the ability to thicken a sauce. You can also prepare your own ginger and garlic paste at home with my recipe.

        Reply
    3. Mercy says

      January 31, 2021 at 7:11 am

      Thanks a lots for your meal

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        January 31, 2021 at 9:34 am

        You are welcome 🙂

        Reply
    4. Sae says

      December 14, 2020 at 1:44 pm

      what kind of yogurt?

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        December 15, 2020 at 1:07 pm

        any, whichever you like. In India they use curd which is a thinner yogurt variety (without the cultures) but I tried it with greek yogurt too and it turned out nice and thick, simply amazing.

        Reply
    5. Yeye Ighofose says

      August 15, 2020 at 12:01 pm

      5 stars
      So easy to

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        August 19, 2020 at 3:01 pm

        thanks for your feedback! 🙏

        Reply
    6. Ilka Kasten H. says

      July 11, 2020 at 6:56 am

      5 stars
      I made mine with Tofu and added Bok choy and used chicken broth instead of water and heavy whipping cream. I had to double up kind of on the spices, because I felt like my portions were more than the recipe called for and it was a good move! Delicious!!

      Also, instead of adding cilantro as a topping I lightly fried the white rice with onion and Cilantro and the pairing was amazing.

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        July 11, 2020 at 3:46 pm

        Thanks for sharing your version Ilka, that gives us some space to get creative in the kitchen. 🙂

        Reply
    7. Kogulaveni Kogulathilagam says

      June 17, 2020 at 4:04 pm

      5 stars
      😋😋 love the outcome.

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        June 20, 2020 at 1:09 pm

        Awesome! 🤤

        Reply
    8. Natacha says

      May 16, 2020 at 8:53 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you so much! A wonderfully easy recipe with an incredible taste. Immediately became a family favorite and if a week passed without your Chicken Tikka Masala, the kids start protesting!

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        May 16, 2020 at 11:46 pm

        Wow thank you Natacha! I'm so happy to read that your family enjoys the chicken tikka masala as much as we do. Thank you for your feedback!

        Reply
    9. Renée Jacques says

      May 09, 2020 at 1:51 am

      5 stars
      One of my most favorite Indian dishes. This recipe is delicious. As true to traditional flavor from other recipes I have made in the past.

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        May 09, 2020 at 2:54 pm

        Thanks so much for your feedback 🙏

        Reply
    10. Neacsu Rebeca says

      April 06, 2020 at 8:55 pm

      5 stars
      Yummy ♥️

      Reply
    11. Desiree says

      January 27, 2020 at 1:26 am

      5 stars
      Excellent recipe! Flavors were popping!

      Reply
      • Helene Dsouza says

        January 27, 2020 at 6:46 am

        Hi Desiree, thanks for your feedback. I'm happy to read that you enjoyed the chicken tikka masala. 🙂

        Reply
    12. Madhu Mantena says

      October 24, 2016 at 4:27 pm

      5 stars
      Really good chicken tikka masala.

      Reply
    13. pravin says

      September 17, 2016 at 7:26 pm

      Chicken Tikka Masala is heavenly. 🙂 In india, you'll see how crazy people are for this this dish! I'll try your recipe next time I make this.

      Reply
    14. Gary Glen says

      May 01, 2016 at 5:14 am

      5 stars
      Looks great! I just perfected my chicken tikka masala a couple of weeks ago. Wish I had seen your version. It would have saved me a lot of time.

      Reply
    15. mjskitchen says

      April 27, 2016 at 8:14 am

      First bite, second bite...all of the way to the last bite, I would be in heaven with each one. Such a beautifully rich looking sauce!!!

      Reply
    16. cheri says

      April 26, 2016 at 9:18 pm

      Hi Helene, I love dishes like this, so much flavor and color.

      Reply
    17. Michelle | A Dish of Daily Life says

      April 26, 2016 at 6:08 am

      This is one of my favorites to order when I eat out at an Indian restaurant, but I've never made it myself! Thanks for the inspiration!

      Reply
    18. Shashi @ RunninSrilankan says

      April 25, 2016 at 8:40 pm

      I couldn't agree more "Good food has a magnetic effect on us" for sure! And this chicken tikka sounds wonderful Helene! So satisfying on so many dimensions!!

      Reply
    19. laura@motherwouldknow says

      April 25, 2016 at 8:58 pm

      I love chicken masala but have never made it at home. This recipe looks so simple and yet, it has complex flavors. Can't wait to try it.

      Reply
    20. John/Kitchen Riffs says

      April 24, 2016 at 8:00 am

      This is one of those dishes I've never made! I've had it numerous times in restaurants, but just haven't gotten around to making it. I will though -- and use your recipe. 🙂 Thanks!

      Reply
    21. Eva Taylor says

      April 22, 2016 at 7:17 pm

      I am very interested in your ginger paste. The recipe I use does not encourage you to cook the chicken WITH the marinade, which is such a loss in flavour (although, I ALWAYS do!). I am looking forward to giving your recipe a try, we have so enjoyed your Palak Paneer recipe which I have made several times when we do an Indian-themed dinner party. Everyone raves about it.

      Reply
    22. Healthoop says

      April 22, 2016 at 7:45 am

      5 stars
      Chicken! I like it. I also love this food. Thanks! 🙂

      Reply
    23. Angie@Angie's Recipes says

      April 21, 2016 at 11:36 pm

      I would lick the whole bowl clean!

      Reply

    Welcome

    Hi there! I'm Helene and here you will learn how to cook with spices and herbs. Discover global food and learn to season your food like a pro. Read more about my work and mission or head over to my food ingredient space, Unknownbite.com, and our travel space, Paulmarina.com!

    More About Me ->








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