Chicken Tikka Masala

I have been thinking of starting a food blog since long. As a teenager, I used to be an occasional visitor to the kitchen. Nothing changed much even after I got married, as I stayed with R's parents. And my work never gave me any spare time either. And of course, my MIL was as good a cook as my Mom.

But when we moved to the US of A we were on our own and had no option other than trying things out. There started my cooking experiments...

Pachakam.com was always a good reference for me. A few months back, one of my friends introduced me to the world of food blogs and I was (am) so fascinated. I have been trying out a lot of dishes from food blogs. Also was thinking about creating one to publish my experiments since then. Today I finally got out of all my laziness to create one - Thattukada

I hope I will have all the support from my fellow bloggers and non-bloggers which will make me go forward with this....

Here is my first Recipe - Chicken Tikka Masala... That is the one dish that we order whenever we go to an Indian Restaurant. It is so popular in Britain that CTM is claimed to be invented in UK. It is said to have a Punjabi origin. It is a popular dish throughout the world and my family's too...

Here goes the list of Ingredients & method of cooking for Chicken Sisha Masala (That is how my 2 year old son calls the curry):

For Chicken Tikka:

- Boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs – 1 lb (cut into small cubes)
- Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
- Red Chili Powder - 1 tbsp
- Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
- Cumin Powder – 1 tsp Yogurt - 3/4 cup
- Tandoori Masala - 2 1/2 tsp (I used Shaan)
- Green Chilies (chopped) – 2 no:s (increase/decrease depending on spice levels)
- Ginger & Garlic Paste - 4 tsp
- Salt - to taste
- Oil - 1 tbsp

1. Make a paste of the all the above ingredients except Chicken.
2. Once the paste is well mixed, add Chicken cubes to it and marinate for a minimum of 2 hours in refrigerator. If you can keep it overnight, that would be great.
3. Preheat the Oven for 5 minutes in the Broil mode.
4. Arrange the marinated chicken in skewers and broil for 10 minutes.
5. Take the chicken out and spray some oil and turn it around.
6. Broil it for another 10 mnts.

Your tikkas are now ready for the masala! It is good without the masala also.

For Chicken Tikka Masala:

- Green chillies - 2-3 no:s (chopped)
- Ginger & Garlic Paste - 4 tsp
- Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp (use Kashmiri Chilli/Piriyan Chilli powder)
- Cloves - 5-7nos
- Cardamom - 4 nos
- Salt - to Taste
- Tomato puree - 12oz ( I got the canned ones from Wal-Mart - make cooking easier)
- Butter-3tbsp
- Cream - 3/4 cup
- Fenugreek leaves - to Garnish
- Ginger julian - 1 inch piece

1. In a sauté pan, add Butter and let it melt.
2. Add green chillies and ginger-garlic paste to the melted butter and sauté it until the raw smell goes.
3. Add Cloves and Cardamom and sauté for a minute.
4. To this add Red Chilli Powder and sauté for another minute.
5. Now add the Tomato puree to this and add enough water and let it boil.
6. Add cream to this and stir it in.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Add Chicken Tikkas to this gravy.
9. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes.
10. Garnish with some crushed Fenugreek leaves and ginger julian.
11. Remove from stove.

Chicken Tikka Masala is now ready to eat. It goes well with Naan, Roti, Jeera Rice or Pulao.