Homemade © J Sainsbury plc 2016 www.homemadebyyou.co.uk
Photograph: Catherine Gratwicke
Chicken tikka masala
Anjum Anand's chicken tikka masala from Sainsbury's magazine captures all the spice and flavour of Britain's favourite curry
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Ready in 1 hour 15 minutes, plus marinating
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Cooking time 50 minutes
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Prep time 25 minutes
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Serves 4
Ingredients
For the tikka marinade:
- 3 – 4 tsp lemon juice (depending on the tartness of the yogurt)
- 100 g Greek yogurt
- 2 fat cloves garlic, peeled and grated into a paste
- 10 g fresh root ginger (peeled weight), grated into a paste
- 0.25 – 0.5 tsp chilli powder
- 1.5 tsp paprika powder, for colour (optional)
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
For the curry:
- 6 boneless chicken thighs
- 20 g fresh root ginger, peeled weight
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 75 g butter
- 1 black cardamom pod
- 6 green cardamom pods (optional)
- 2 cm cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 500 g vine tomatoes, blended to a fine purée
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 – 4 small green chillies, whole but pierced
- 75 ml single cream, or to taste
- 1 tsp sugar, or to taste
- 0.25 – 0.5 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp paprika powder, or to taste
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 rounded tsp dried fenugreek leaves, crushed to a powder (optional)
- 1 small handful of coriander leaves, to serve
Method
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1
Mix together all the marinade ingredients with 1 tsp salt. Add the chicken and marinate, preferably overnight, covered, in the fridge.
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2
Blend together the ginger and garlic for the curry, using a little water to help. Heat the oil and half the butter in a large nonstick saucepan and add the whole spices. Once they have sizzled for 15 seconds, add the ginger and garlic paste; cook until all the moisture has evaporated and the garlic smells mellow and looks grainy. Add the tomatoes and tomato purée and cook down until the resulting paste releases oil; it should take around 20 minutes. Now brown this paste over gentle heat, stirring often, for 6-8 minutes, or until it darkens considerably. Pour in 250ml water, bring to a boil, then pass through a sieve, pressing down to extract as much liquid and flavour as possible from the tomatoes and spices. Discard the solids. Set the sauce aside.
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3
Heat the oven to 240°C, fan 220°C, gas 9, ideally with the grill on too, if your oven can do that. Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking tray on the uppermost shelf of the oven and cook for 8 minutes, or until slightly charred. Remove from the oven. The chicken will finish cooking in the sauce. Cut or pull the meat into large chunks.
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4
Heat the remaining butter and add the green chillies. Add the sauce, salt and a good splash of waterand simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken, cream, sugar, chilli powder and enough paprika to get a colour you like, then add the garam masala and the powdered fenugreek leaves, if using. Simmer, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes, or until the chicken is done and the sauce is lovely and creamy. You may need to add a little more water. Taste and adjust the balance to your palate by adding more salt, sugar or cream. Sprinkle over the coriander leaves and serve.
Kitchen secret: taste carefully while you cook, as the sweet / sour balance of tomatoes changes with the season and variety. Do not use plum tomatoes; they're too sweet. Serve with naan or paratha.
