Chicken Tikka, recipe with photo

Chicken Tikka

Ingredients

Chicken – 1-1.5 kg

Yogurt – 200-250 ml

Salt – to taste

Turmeric – 1 tsp.

Garam masala – 3 tbsp.

Ground red pepper – to taste

Garlic – 8 cloves

Ginger root – 6-8 cm

Lemon – 1 pc.

Vegetable oil – 1-2 tbsp.

Harissa or adjika – to taste

Cheese – 30-50 grams

Egg – 1 pc.

Photo of the finished dish

Check out the recipe

Step by step recipe with photo

Chicken Tikka is a popular dish of modern Indian cuisine. It retains all of the classic Indian cuisine’s inherent combinations of spicy rich flavors, bright contrasts, and pungent spices with a slight departure from the traditionally high level of spiciness.

The word “tikka” translates as “small pieces” and generally reflects the essence of the dish – small pieces of chicken or chicken fillet marinated in a spicy rich marinade.

In order to maximize the flavor of spices, the meat is kept in a marinade for at least 24 hours, and then baked in an oven or barbecue.

Cooked in such a spicy and rich marinade, enveloped in the aroma of Indian spices, the meat has a bright, spicy, deep flavor and turns out incredibly juicy and tender.

Prepare the ingredients. At first glance there are a lot of ingredients, but if you figure it out, there are only 3 types of components: meat, fermented milk product (kefir or yogurt) and spices. If the first two components are standard, then the third – spices – is the very essence, the soul of this dish. The rich bouquet of spices includes, among others, the popular Indian spice Garam masala.

You can use a ready-made seasoning or take the example of Indian cooks and make it at home in a few minutes.

Measure the yogurt into a deep container. Add the spices – garam masala, red hot pepper and turmeric.

Peel the garlic and ginger root and grind them to a paste. For this purpose, you can use a fine grater, blender or mortar – as long as both garlic and ginger are ground very finely and have juice. In fact, we are preparing a ginger-garlic paste.

Add the ginger-garlic mixture to the rest of the marinade and mix everything well.

Add the juice of half a lemon and a few tablespoons of vegetable oil to the marinade. The oil is added to dilute the marinade a little, but it also helps to retain moisture and makes the meat very juicy.

Stir the marinade thoroughly again, add salt and more seasonings and spices to your taste if needed. Dip the chicken pieces into the marinade.

The marinade should be very aromatic, bright, spicy and a little bit spicy. You can adjust the spiciness to your taste, I like spicy dishes and add 0.5 teaspoon of harissa to the red pepper.

Harissa is a very spicy oriental spice made of ground pepper with various additives. It is not a mandatory component. You can use only red pepper or add ajika to spice it up.

Keep the chicken in the marinade for at least 24 hours, and then bake it in the oven or on the barbecue until tender.

If you originally plan to bake the chicken in the oven in the marinade, you can additionally add a little grated cheese or chicken egg, this will make the taste more creamy.

Serve the finished Chicken Tikka hot, with fresh vegetables, herbs and sauces to taste.