Rich, creamy and utterly indulgent, the king of Anglo-Indian food has to be chicken tikka masala. My family has been having Sunday night curries for years and someone always ends up ordering this dish. I love the texture of the smoky, charred chicken against the velvety soft gravy. For my version, I grill marinated chicken to get that tandoori feel and then add it into a lovely rich sauce that I make by shoving everything into a blender. If you can’t find coconut cream, use the thick part at the top of a can of coconut milk or double cream. This is a great do ahead dish, you can marinade the chicken overnight in the fridge and make the sauce a day ahead. Just cook the chicken under the grill and drop it into am already re-heated sauce.
Method
- Chuck the onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, cashew nuts, 2 tsp of the garam masala, fenugreek, chilli powder and a good pinch of salt into a blender. Blend until smooth and tip into a saucepan. Swirl 200ml of water into the blender and pour it into the pan.
- Bring the sauce to the boil over a medium heat. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until rich and thick.
- Meanwhile, preheat a grill to high. Chuck the chicken into a mixing bowl and add the yogurt, juice of a lime, remaining garam masala and a good pinch of salt. Mix well and place onto a grill rack. Grill for 4-5 minutes a side or until golden and a little crispy.
- Slice the chicken into bite sized pieces and add it into the sauce. Squeeze the remaining lime juice into the curry and add the coconut cream. Mix well and serve immediately with rice, breads and coriander to garnish.
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1 inch peeled ginger
30g cashew nuts
3 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1 tsp chilli powder
600g boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets
3 tbsp Greek yogurt
The juice of 1 ½ limes
120ml coconut cream
A handful of coriander leaves
Rice and breads to serve
Salt
