RECIPE: Chicken tikka
Our chicken tikka is an easy to make home-cooked family recipe that is lightly spiced and full of delicious flavour.
Grills: basic principles
• For meat/poultry/fish/vegetables, you want a very hot grill, to immediately seal the outside of the food
• Marinades help keep meat and poultry tender when grilling. The longer the marination time the tastier and more tender the food will be
• Always oil the item to be grilled rather than the grill itself, to help keep smoking to a minimum
• Turn the item only once, if possible, to ensure best colour and to avoid the food drying out
• If further cooking is required grilled foods can be finished in a hot oven for a few minutes, to ensure the food is cooked through
Chicken tikka
Feeds 4
Ingredients
4 x 150g / 5oz chicken breast
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon chilli powder
Juice of 1 lemon
150g / 5oz natural yogurt
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small piece root ginger (5cm), peeled and grated
2 tablespoons melted butter (ghee) or oil
½ teaspoon salt
Handful of chopped coriander, to serve
Method
1. Cut the chicken breasts into large cubes and place in a bowl.
2. Mix together the spices and gently heat in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes. This is called ‘braising the spices’ and will bring out their full flavour.
3. Mix together the lemon juice, yogurt, garlic, ginger and spices.
4. Smear this mixture all over the chicken and leave to marinate for 6-8 hours. If you do not have time to do this, leave for as long as possible to tenderise the meat.
5. When you are ready to cook ensure your grill is very hot and if using an oven heat to 230C / 450F.
6. Place the melted butter or oil in a large baking dish (to allow for evaporation) and place the chicken in this.
7. Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes, turning once during this time. Then place under a hot griddle for a minute or two to brown before serving.
8. Sprinkle with coriander and serve with rice and wedges of lemon.
Rosalind’s tips
1. Grilling can be done on a griddle pan or using an oven grill
2. It is important to have the grill very hot before placing anything under it
3. For extra spice add more chilli powder.
