Indian Chicken Tikka Masala

Indian Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients:

4 skinless chicken breasts

Sauce

2 onions

5 cm piece of ginger

Coriander seeds

1 fresh red chili

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

Coconut/groundnut or vegetable oil

400g tomatoes

½ x 400g tin of light coconut milk

Fat-free natural yogurt (as much as needed to marinate all the chicken)

1 lemon

2 cups of water

Tikka Masala Marinade

1-2 fresh red chilies

2 cloves of garlic

5 cm piece of ginger

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons garam masala

1 ts turmeric

2 tablespoons oil

1 tsp salt

Preparing the chicken:

Slice the chicken lengthways into 2cm strips. Put the chicken in a bowl and add the marinade. Mix to make sure all the chicken meat is covered with the marinade. Put in a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour, but preferably over a night (12 hours). The marinade makes the meat really tender.

When the chicken has marinated: heat a frying pan and add a tablespoon of coconut oil. Fry the marinated chicken

Preparing the sauce:

To make the sauce, chop the chilies, then peel the garlic, onion and ginger and finely chop.

Place a frying pan over a medium-high heat and scatter in the cumin, cardamom and coriander seeds. Lightly toast for a few minutes, or until golden brown and smelling delicious than remove from the heat.

Add the toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine. If you don´t want to toast and grind your own spices, use grinded.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large casserole pan over a medium-high heat. Add the spices, the garlic, onions, chili and ginger. Cook for a few minutes, or until softened and lightly golden.  

In a food processor, grind the tomatoes and add to the spices and onions.  Add the water.

Add the marinated chicken and heat to boiling point. As soon as it boils turn down the heat and let it simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the meat is tender and the sauce has reduced, stirring occasionally.

When the sauce has cooked down add the salt, lemon juice and at the end the yoghurt.