Your Recipe: Chicken Tikka Masala

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  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
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    Thank you for the recipes!!


    You know... I have made some absolutely delicious chicken tikka masala TWICE, out of dozens of attempts.

    But I didn't measure, and I had made it so many times different ways I couldn't remember what I did. I have an idea, I could video myself doing it, then record it later. (count up the pinches and half handfuls and all that).

    You guys are awesome.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    Some of it depends on the mood for me. Like some days I just can't get enough of the garam masala or I might add cloves or cardamom. It seems to make it more sweet. Other days I am all about pumping up the cumin and the heat. I just throw things in it until it tastes good. My kids eat it like crazy too.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    The "easier" version of Biryani: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/taunto/view/biryani-241390

    Salan. S thinner version of Korma, a bit different technique and taste. Korma is essentially the base that goes into a Biryani
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/taunto/view/salan-stew-221609
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    The "easier" version of Biryani: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/taunto/view/biryani-241390

    Salan. S thinner version of Korma, a bit different technique and taste. Korma is essentially the base that goes into a Biryani
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/taunto/view/salan-stew-221609

    Do you buy premade ginger paste or do you make your own? I want to make my own but I haven't tried to yet.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    Some of the commercial brands are good (Shaan. Seriously any indian/Pakistani cooking spice or ingredient made by them are awesome). But you can make it at home too. Its easy. Put just enough water in the ginger or garlic while in a blender to make it smooth
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    I have to bump this thread. I love cooking from scratch but have never tried Indian. I recently found a box mix in the all natural section of my grocery store. The brand is Gourmantra. We tried the Tandoori Chicken. OMG, we both agreed it was one of the best meals we have ever made. We also tried their Korma and tried the Butter chicken one last night.
  • JayByrd107
    JayByrd107 Posts: 282 Member
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    I'll have to try some of these this weekend.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    Biggest thing to remember for successful curry of any kind is that the order of steps really does matter. It's tempting to think you can seal the chicken before the base onion/ginger/garlic step, but ti makes a difference. It's tempting to think you can skip flavoring the oil first, but it makes a difference. It's tempting to think you can add the spices after the sauce instead of before but it makes a difference. It took me AGES to figure this out. I was using identical recipes but not adhering to the step order and they were coming out different each time. For what it's worth, the most successful order I found is:

    1) Flavor oil
    2) Onion/Ginger/Garlic base
    3) Seal chicken
    4) Add spices
    5) Add sauce and simmer

    Hope that helps everyone!
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    Butter Chicken

    Grind onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, garam masala, green chilis, red chili powder, bay leaves and a few strands of soaked saffron. Clean chicken and marinate it in a little salt, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder, mixed into yogurt (plain, non-fat works fine) In a little hot oil, fry a few fennel seeds, chopped onion and chopped tomatoes. Add the chicken and brown. Add the ground stuff, the yogurt marinade, and cook until chicken is done, and the gravy is thickened. Pour some melted butter over it and garnish with coriander leaves.

    My recipes are often not the "traditional" methods, but what works in a crunch.
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
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    Some of it depends on the mood for me. Like some days I just can't get enough of the garam masala or I might add cloves or cardamom. It seems to make it more sweet. Other days I am all about pumping up the cumin and the heat. I just throw things in it until it tastes good. My kids eat it like crazy too.

    The complexity of all this... I need to get used to, what "effect" certain spices will have. I know that I love Cumin... maybe my favorite just by sniffing it.

    But curry powder and garam masala... I know they are supposed to be in there but they are spice mixes so I don't really know exactly what effect they will have at any given point as I make a recipe. Like sugar is obvious and so is salt and pepper. Been with those all my life. These spices have so much potential I just have to learn how to use them. I think that if I make indian food often it will hopefully become second nature and I can start knowing how to tweak recipes.
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
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    Its too bad you all are so spread out. I'd invite you to an indian food fest.


    Good times, good food and outdoor games as the sun sets.


    sigh..
  • cateyjo
    cateyjo Posts: 108
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    this sounds really good. Have never tried it before.
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    Some of it depends on the mood for me. Like some days I just can't get enough of the garam masala or I might add cloves or cardamom. It seems to make it more sweet. Other days I am all about pumping up the cumin and the heat. I just throw things in it until it tastes good. My kids eat it like crazy too.

    The complexity of all this... I need to get used to, what "effect" certain spices will have. I know that I love Cumin... maybe my favorite just by sniffing it.

    But curry powder and garam masala... I know they are supposed to be in there but they are spice mixes so I don't really know exactly what effect they will have at any given point as I make a recipe. Like sugar is obvious and so is salt and pepper. Been with those all my life. These spices have so much potential I just have to learn how to use them. I think that if I make indian food often it will hopefully become second nature and I can start knowing how to tweak recipes.

    Heres the thing many people forget about Indian foods, Indian foods are spice heavy and wrong use of spice can upset your tummy really fast. Which is why if somebody eats at a place where the spices aren't mixed properly, a person not used to those spices will have a bad reaction to the bad mixture while a person who's been used to said spices will simply recognize bad taste but their stomach won't go crazy.

    Time spent cooking with these spices is the key. When I started cooking, I was seriously a horrible HORRIBLE cook. I knew the basic methods and my family have taught me how to cook Indian/Pakistani/Afghani/Arabic and I picked up some Italian cooking on my stay in Italy but didn't really put the cooking to use till I came to US. In the start I managed to turn water into Black tar lump. I have to this day no idea how I did it but it happened. Now I cook for my friends all the time and they dig it. Its all about spending time cooking and experimenting :)

    BTW, no Indian cuisine ever use curry powder. Curry powder is a british invention. Same for chicken tikka masala. Chicken tikka masala is a british dish, not indian :)
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    Some of it depends on the mood for me. Like some days I just can't get enough of the garam masala or I might add cloves or cardamom. It seems to make it more sweet. Other days I am all about pumping up the cumin and the heat. I just throw things in it until it tastes good. My kids eat it like crazy too.

    The complexity of all this... I need to get used to, what "effect" certain spices will have. I know that I love Cumin... maybe my favorite just by sniffing it.

    But curry powder and garam masala... I know they are supposed to be in there but they are spice mixes so I don't really know exactly what effect they will have at any given point as I make a recipe. Like sugar is obvious and so is salt and pepper. Been with those all my life. These spices have so much potential I just have to learn how to use them. I think that if I make indian food often it will hopefully become second nature and I can start knowing how to tweak recipes.

    You can make your own blends of either one, curry and garam masala. I have a bag of garam masala that a friend gave me that has much better flavor than what I was buying before. I don't make yellow curries often. I like tumeric but the flavor is strong to me so when when I make yellow curries I always use my own mix so I can play with the amount of tumeric that is in it.

    I worked with some IBM programmers this summer that were from India and one of them gave me this site when I told him I wanted to learn how to cook Indian food. http://www.talimpu.com/. I have eaten several of her recipes and she does a really good job explaining the steps. She has a recipe for masala popcorn that is just heavenly.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
    Options
    Some of it depends on the mood for me. Like some days I just can't get enough of the garam masala or I might add cloves or cardamom. It seems to make it more sweet. Other days I am all about pumping up the cumin and the heat. I just throw things in it until it tastes good. My kids eat it like crazy too.

    The complexity of all this... I need to get used to, what "effect" certain spices will have. I know that I love Cumin... maybe my favorite just by sniffing it.

    But curry powder and garam masala... I know they are supposed to be in there but they are spice mixes so I don't really know exactly what effect they will have at any given point as I make a recipe. Like sugar is obvious and so is salt and pepper. Been with those all my life. These spices have so much potential I just have to learn how to use them. I think that if I make indian food often it will hopefully become second nature and I can start knowing how to tweak recipes.

    Heres the thing many people forget about Indian foods, Indian foods are spice heavy and wrong use of spice can upset your tummy really fast. Which is why if somebody eats at a place where the spices aren't mixed properly, a person not used to those spices will have a bad reaction to the bad mixture while a person who's been used to said spices will simply recognize bad taste but their stomach won't go crazy.

    Time spent cooking with these spices is the key. When I started cooking, I was seriously a horrible HORRIBLE cook. I knew the basic methods and my family have taught me how to cook Indian/Pakistani/Afghani/Arabic and I picked up some Italian cooking on my stay in Italy but didn't really put the cooking to use till I came to US. In the start I managed to turn water into Black tar lump. I have to this day no idea how I did it but it happened. Now I cook for my friends all the time and they dig it. Its all about spending time cooking and experimenting :)

    BTW, no Indian cuisine ever use curry powder. Curry powder is a british invention. Same for chicken tikka masala. Chicken tikka masala is a british dish, not indian :)

    You and I need to be friends :) My aunt's family are from Saudi Arabia and she sent me a gigantic box FULL of spices to play with when I got into this region of cooking. I know I haven't used them to their full potential. She gave me some black salt that I have no CLUE what to even do with. She also gave me an enormous bag of za'atar which is one of my favorite things to eat now!
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
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    @ Taunto, I was familiar with chicken tikka masala being a british/indian dish. Some story about a cook (forget, maybe pakistani is the legend?) cooked for guests in britain and they complained chicken tikka was too dry. Turned out his creation would be loved by millions. It is the new british dish now I think, rather than fish and chips?

    Good to know about those though, because I thought those were a little bit "short cut" like, and using them makes it more confusing, especially when you buy a mix that you don't know what goes into it. If they ever stop selling it, you wouldn't know how to make the dish anymore exactly the same.
  • teriann1979
    teriann1979 Posts: 75 Member
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    bump...*drooling* love my indian food :happy:
  • Telugammayi87
    Telugammayi87 Posts: 170 Member
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    I'm in Memphis... we have India Fest every November.. Food from every region... it's AWESOME!! I got to cook there last year! haha... but I have more Indian friends than American ones..... LOL

    HAHA let's do this... we cook.. the guys play Cricket.. hahahahaha

    I just planned out my menu for the weekend... will blog it soon.
    I too don't measure spices, I just judge, taste, add.... so it's difficult to write down recipes. I just guess mostly when trying to share with someone else! ;)
    Its too bad you all are so spread out. I'd invite you to an indian food fest.


    Good times, good food and outdoor games as the sun sets.


    sigh..
  • Romans624
    Romans624 Posts: 822
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    I'm in Memphis... we have India Fest every November.. Food from every region... it's AWESOME!! I got to cook there last year! haha... but I have more Indian friends than American ones..... LOL

    HAHA let's do this... we cook.. the guys play Cricket.. hahahahaha

    I just planned out my menu for the weekend... will blog it soon.
    I too don't measure spices, I just judge, taste, add.... so it's difficult to write down recipes. I just guess mostly when trying to share with someone else! ;)

    Wow that is amazing never heard of such a thing. Would love to do that/something like it. Would be cool to see Memphis also, I will just have to see if I can get time off/finances for such a deal, were that to happen (not sure if you were even inviting me lol).

    Anyhow... that is really awesome. I just wonder how people are able to remember what they did, when they add 13 spices (maybe I was adding a lot of unnecessary ons, as I see these recipes don't necessarily have that many) its hard to keep in my brain approx amounts of all 10-20 of them. Plus I wouldn't just do the spice in the begininnning, I would continuously add stuff until I thought it tasted good or edible. But I will learn! These recipes will be great.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    I dont' know if it's been said, my friend use to make the curry using Greek Yogurt as the base. it was delicious. Not quite as heavy, and tasted really good.

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