Parent thread: British Indian Restaurant (BIR) cooking
This incredible tikka recipe is a simplified version of the one in Misty Ricardo's Curry Compendium book. I can't overstate how delicious the results are which are easily as good as any restaurant version I've ever eaten. It can be served as a dish in its own right with some garnishes, stored as a precooked meat for use in dishes such as Chicken Tikka Masala or eaten directly off the rack as soon as it comes out of the oven from under the grill; many pieces met this fate before it cooled down for portioning and freezing.
The marinade has really penetrated the chicken. Oh, just looking at these pictures makes me want to go eat more from my freezer!
Ingredients
While breast meat is popular, I find the best and most succulent tikka in restaurants are always thighs, so that's what I use. You can use a commercial Tandoori Masala if you can't be bothered to make your own.
The chicken has already had a primary marination in the garlic and ginger paste plus some lime juice and has now undergone being covered in all the powdered ingredients. The reason we don't just add everything in the yogurt is because the spices will all end up mixed with it and left in the liquid remnant, plus the yogurt will all turn pink and your chicken won't.
Okay, now we can add in the semi-liquids:
After two days (you gotta stir it every half day or so) it will look like this and the yogurt will have tenderized the meat somewhat.
Right out of the grill. My younger son and I had eaten about a quarter of this within 5 minutes of it being ready. You can stick it on skewers prior to grilling if you like, but since I'm mainly precooking this for freezing, I didn't bother. Some recipes (including the original of this one) include a basting step where you brush the pieces with melted ghee, but I find that the brush just picks up the marinade and the oil doesn't stay on so I don't bother; doesn't seem to affect the taste and it ends up healthier I guess.
This incredible tikka recipe is a simplified version of the one in Misty Ricardo's Curry Compendium book. I can't overstate how delicious the results are which are easily as good as any restaurant version I've ever eaten. It can be served as a dish in its own right with some garnishes, stored as a precooked meat for use in dishes such as Chicken Tikka Masala or eaten directly off the rack as soon as it comes out of the oven from under the grill; many pieces met this fate before it cooled down for portioning and freezing.
The marinade has really penetrated the chicken. Oh, just looking at these pictures makes me want to go eat more from my freezer!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Kg boneless chicken cut into large (4-6cm) pieces.
- 1 tbsp BIR Garlic & Ginger Paste
- 1 tbsp lemon or lime Juice
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 3 1/2 tbsp BIR Tandoori Masala
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamon seeds (discard husk)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp red food coloring
- 2 tbsp mint sauce or equivalent dried mint
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- Put the cut chicken into a large mixing bowl with the garlic and ginger paste plus your citrus juice. Mix well and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Put all the remaining ingredients into a large mixing bowl EXCEPT the mint sauce and yogurt. Mix well to ensure the chicken is completely covered in everything.
- Once the dry powders have covered the chicken add the yogurt and mint, stir well, put into an airtight container and marinate in fridge for a minimum of 6 hours or up to 2 days.
- Preheat your grill (broiler) to its highest heat. Lay the tikka pieces out on a wire rack over a large oven pan and grill it for 5-6 minutes per side until it's just starting to blacken.
- Once cooled, portion it into bags for freezing (if there's any left!).
While breast meat is popular, I find the best and most succulent tikka in restaurants are always thighs, so that's what I use. You can use a commercial Tandoori Masala if you can't be bothered to make your own.
The chicken has already had a primary marination in the garlic and ginger paste plus some lime juice and has now undergone being covered in all the powdered ingredients. The reason we don't just add everything in the yogurt is because the spices will all end up mixed with it and left in the liquid remnant, plus the yogurt will all turn pink and your chicken won't.
Okay, now we can add in the semi-liquids:
After two days (you gotta stir it every half day or so) it will look like this and the yogurt will have tenderized the meat somewhat.
Right out of the grill. My younger son and I had eaten about a quarter of this within 5 minutes of it being ready. You can stick it on skewers prior to grilling if you like, but since I'm mainly precooking this for freezing, I didn't bother. Some recipes (including the original of this one) include a basting step where you brush the pieces with melted ghee, but I find that the brush just picks up the marinade and the oil doesn't stay on so I don't bother; doesn't seem to affect the taste and it ends up healthier I guess.
Last edited:
