Chicken Tikka

Stephen Green has been posting some fine Friday recipes lately. A couple of weeks ago, he posted his recipe for Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (it involves a lot of wine) and then yesterday he had a recipe for Szechwan Stir Fry. It sounds nice, I think I'll try it out sometime this week.

Seeing those recipes at Vodkapundit reminded me that I’d been wanting to post this recipe for Chicken Tikka ever since I put up the one for Pilau Rice a while back.

I love Indian food and I cook it a lot at home. It takes time and can seem fiddly, but it's usually worth the effort. A lot of the dishes I cook are a little too spicey for the two younger boys, but they just love Chicken Tikka. Next to my fajitas, and Mac’s Jerk Chicken Casserole, it’s their favorite way to eat chicken.

The measurements are in Imperial.

Chicken Tikka

1lb skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp salt
juice of ½ a lemon
few drops of red food colouring mixed with 1 tbsp tomato puree
2 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
½ inch cube of root ginger peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tsps ground coriander
½ tsp garam masala
¼ of a whole nutmeg finely grated
½ tsp ground turmeric
125g/5oz thick set natural yoghurt
4 tbsps vegetable oil
½ tsp chilli powder

Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes sprinkle with half the salt and the lemon juice mix well, cover and let stand for 30 minutes.

Blend the rest of the ingredients in a food processor then put the marinade through a sieve onto the chicken pieces, mix well, cover and leave to stand for 6-8 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/gas mark 8.

Line a roasting tin with aluminium foil.

Thread the chicken cubes onto skewers leaving ¼ inch gap between each, place the skewers in the prepared tin and spoon over half of the remaining marinade. Cook in the oven for 6-8 minutes.

Remove the tin from the oven turn the skewers over, spoon the remaining marinade over the chicken cubes and return to the oven for a further 6-8 minutes.

Almost forgot the Mint Raita to serve with it.

125g/5oz of thick-set natural yoghurt
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 fresh green chilli deseeded and chopped
¼ tsp paprika
½ tsp salt

Beat the yoghurt until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients except the paprika and beat again. Transfer the raita to a serving dish and sprinkle with paprika.