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Written by An easy Chicken Tikka Masala recipe for you to try your hand at by Gordon Ramsay.
I am a sucker for a good curry, it does not have to be a hot one but simply deliver on the flavour. I always used to think that curry was all about being hot, well it isn’t. It’s about warm, rich flavours that linger for a little while and then dissipate with a few sips of an ice cold lager. Gordon Ramsay’s Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe delivers!
Chicken Tikka Masala is more of a British dish than Indian and considered to be one of the UK’s national dishes.
There are a few possibilities as to the origins of Chicken Tikka Masala.
The first and most logical is that it was conceived by accident in India at a restaurant. Rahul Verma an expert on Indian street food in Delhi believes this to be the case and that it has developed from there
But there are strong claims that it is a British dish.
One claim is that a Pakistani chef, Mr Ali Ahmed Aslam of the Shish Kebab restaurant in Glasgow invented it when improvising with a sauce made from yoghurt, cream and spices.
One British MP, Mr Mohammed Sarwar believed quite strongly that this was the case and tabled a motion in the House of Commons that Glasgow be given European Protected Designation of Origin for Chicken Tikka Masala.
The motion was not debated and it has not been spoken of since.
Others in Birmingham and Newcastle have also laid claim to being the first to invent Chicken Tikka Masala.
A survey in the UK claimed that it is that country’s most popular restaurant dish. One in seven curries sold in the UK is chicken tikka masala. The cross-cultural popularity of the dish in the UK led former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook to proclaim it as “a true British national dish”.
With all that in mind, enjoy this Gordon Ramsay Chicken Tikka Masala recipe.
| Groundnut Oil | |||
| Onion | 1 | sliced | |
| Green Chillies | 2 | chopped | |
| Ginger | 5 | cm | chopped |
| Garlic | 3 | crushed | |
| Red Chilli Powder | 1/2 | ||
| Turmeric | 1 | teaspoon(s) | |
| Garam Masala | 2 | teaspoon(s) | |
| Brown Sugar | 1 | tablespoon(s) | |
| Tomato Puree | 1 | tablespoon(s) | |
| Chopped Tomatoes | 400 | g | |
| Boneless Chicken Breasts | 600 | g | cubed |
| Dried Curry Leaves | 10 | ||
| Plain Yoghurt | 6 | tablespoon(s) | |
| Fresh Coriander | 1 | handful(s) | chopped |
| For the Rice | |||
| Basmati Rice | 400 | g | |
| Cold Water | 600 | ml | |
| Salt | 0 | ||
| Pepper | 0 | ||
| Cardamom Pods | 3 | lightly crushed | |
| Star Anise | 2 |
Cooking:
1 . Heat up some ground nut oil in a pan
2 . Add the onions, chilli garlic & ginger
3 . Saute on a low heat until soft
4 . Add the chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala & sugar
5 . Cook for 2 minutes
6 . Add the tomato puree & chopped tomatoes
7 . Cook for a few minutes and allow to reduce a little
8 . Remove from the heat and pour into a blender
9 . Blitz until smooth
10 . Back to the pan add some more ground nut oil
11 . Brown the chicken pieces
12 . Pour the blended sauce back into the frying pan
13 . Add the curry leaves
14 . Simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. This will depend upon the thickness of your chicken pieces
For the Rice:
1 . Pour the rice into a saucepan
2 . Pour in the cold water
3 . Season with salt & pepper
4 . Add the cardamom pods & star anise
5 . Cover and cook for 10 minutes (check the rice packet instructions)
6 . Remove from heat and steam for 5 minutes
7 . Remove the cardamom pods & star anise
For Serving:
1 . Stir the yoghurt & 1/2 the coriander into the chicken
2 . Season
3 . Serve with the rice
A little wiki about Garam Masala
Garam translates as hot and masala as mixture and is a blend of ground spices common in North Indian and other South Asian cuisines. It is used alone or with other seasoning’s. The word garam refers to intensity of the spices rather than capsaicin content. Garam masala is pungent, but not piquant.
The composition of garam masaladiffers regionally, with wide variety across India. Varying combinations of these and other spices are used in different garam masala recipes in accordance to region and personal tasteand none is considered more authentic than another.The components of the mix are toasted, then ground together.A typical Indian version of garam masala is:
- black & white peppercorns
- cloves
- Cinnamon
- black & white cumin seeds
- black, brown & green cardamom pods
Some recipes call for spices to be blended with herbs, while others for the spices to be ground with water, vinegar, coconut milk, or other liquids, to make a paste. In some recipes nuts, onion or garlic may be added. The flavours may be carefully blended to achieve a balanced effect, or a single flavour may be emphasized. Usually a masala is toasted before use to release its flavours and aromas.
Garam masala is available as a commercially prepared ground mixture. Many such mixtures may include a higher proportion of less-expensive spices and may contain dried red chili peppers, dried garlic, ginger powder, sesame, mustard seed, turmeric, coriander, malibar leaves, star anise and fennel. While commercial garam masala preparations can be bought ready ground, like all ground spice they do not keep well and lose some of their aroma over time. Whole spices, which keep fresh much longer, can be ground when needed using a mortar and pestle or electric coffee grinder. When commercially ground garam masala is used in dishes, it is often added at the end of cooking so that the remaining aroma is not lost. Whole garam masala, however, is added early to the cooking fat, oil, or ghee for a more pungent flavour.
A little wiki about Tikka
The word comes from Persian (piece) and in Hindi and Urdu refers to a piece of meat, such as a cutlet, and the popular dish chicken tikka is made of chicken cutlets in a marinade. A westernised version, chicken tikka masala, a curry, is a widely popular dish in the United Kingdom. The marinade used in the preparation of chicken tikka is also sometimes called tikka; it is made from a mixture of aromatic spices and yoghurt. Paneer prepared in a tandoor is also known as Paneer Tikka.
