Chicken Tikka Masala

The Curry Paste

The back bone of this Chicken Tikka Masala recipe is the curry paste. You can tailor the heat level with the type and quantity of peppers. I choose to use jalapenos mainly because of availability and the mild heat level they provide. If there is any room for creativity or experimentation in this recipe, it's here. You could really get creative with the peppers and spice mixtures and tweak them to your preference. The key building blocks are garlic (lots of it), ginger, a spicy pepper of some variety, and spices. Other than keeping those components, the rest is open to interpretation. If you make this, please let me know how you make your paste. I'd love to see what you come up with!

The Chicken

There a few ways to approach getting an adequate amount of char on the chicken in a home kitchen. Traditionally, this is cooked in wood-fired tandoor ovens that reach upwards of 900°F. This is pretty much an impossible feat to replicate at home. Some recipes call to broil the chicken on wire racks over foil-lined baking sheets. While, this does a good job of charring the chicken, it's messy and leaves you with yet another dish to clean. Plus you leave out the ability to create any fond (the brown stuff that sticks to the pan that is paramount to making pan sauces). I have found this to be key to adding depth to the sauce.

I have found that the easiest (and tastiest) way to make this is to simply sear the chicken in a heavy bottomed skillet. This sacrifices some of the deeper charring you get with the other methods, but it accomplishes a few things: a good level of browning/charring on the meat, and it leaves a good base in the pan for the sauce. You will need to cook the chicken in batches, so be sure to let the pan heat back up in between to make sure both batches sear evenly.

Quick tip: I like to make sure that the excess liquid from the marinade thickens adequately after each batch of chicken has been removed from the pan.

The Sauce

After much experimenting, testing, and tweaking, I've landed on using tomato paste in lieu of other canned tomato products. I understand that this might not be "classic" or "traditional", but it really does provide the smoothest texture with the least amount of effort. Here is a quick breakdown of my experiments and their results:

• Whole canned tomatoes need to be broken up by hand or a spoon (or blended), then strained. The other option is to use an old school, manual food mill. This breaks down and strains the tomatoes all at once, but who still owns one of those?
• Diced tomatoes need to be strained or blended as they tend to leave pieces of peel in the sauce. Blending adds too much air to them, giving the sauce a pink-ish hue.
• Crushed tomatoes are smooth, however, they tend to leave too much liquid in the pan. This takes extra time to simmer off.
• Tomato sauce is slightly better than crushed tomatoes, but still requires some simmering to reach the right consistency.
• Tomato paste is already smooth and has a fantastic concentrated flavor. Plus, it combines beautifully with the curry paste and heavy cream.

Tomato paste is the clear winner in my book. It doesn't need to be simmered forever and it doesn't require any further processing. It lends a fantastic concentrated tomato punch to the dish that adds depth and flavor. It's a beautifully elegant solution in my humble opinion.

The Rice

There is only one rice to serve with Indian food: basmati. You can use other varieties if you don't have it on hand, like white rice. The rice variety is not nearly as important as the chosen cooking method. You can use either a pot on the stovetop, a rice cooker, or a pressure cooker. I don't own a rice cooker (yet), so I opt for the pressure cooker method. It's an easy, no-fuss method that gives me consistent results time and time again. Just be sure to wash the rice with cold water before cooking.

I do like to add whole cardamom pods while the rice is cooking, but that is entirely optional. It adds a subtle layer of complexity to the dish that would otherwise be missing. I typically have whole cardamom on hand just for this recipe. A jar is a bit pricey, but it should last you well over a year. I feel the price is justified since it lasts so long.

What pairs with Chichen Tikka Masala?

To round out this meal, I like to serve it with fresh, Easy Garlic Butter Naan and a Refreshing Mango Lassi. This also pairs really well with any dark beer. I prefer stouts, porters, or even a black IPA if you can find one.

Did you make this recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala?
Let me know in the comments below how yours turned out, and don't forget to leave a rating!

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