Tikka masala, often with chicken, is one of the most popular dishes given to the world by the Indian culinary Diaspora, especially in the UK. Here's my personal take on the dish that focuses on a blend of flavours less frequently associated with this "take-away favourite".
As with makhani or "butter chicken", this dish definitely does not originate in ancient Indian epicurean traditions. Unlike makhani that originated in India itself, tikka masala seems to have originated in the UK in the 1960s. Historians now battle it it out over whether it first appeared in Mrs Balbir Singh’s Indian Cookery (1961), arose from the efforts of a British Pakistani chef in a Glasgow restaurant around the same time or was the anonymous creation of Bangladeshi migrant chefs working out what appealed to British diners and sharing recipes that proved popular with a UK clientele. All are important. And no story is provable beyond any other.
More importantly, whoever created this dish, it became a British Indian classic and has spread around the world. Many of us have experienced the banal and mediocre versions at some point in out lives in too many global locations to list. But, when you get it right, it is utterly delicious.
My personal favourite version, tweaked over the years, ironically focuses more on the veggies. In the "original" versions best known in the UK it's basically a chicken dish with a little red bell pepper thrown in as the only discernible vegetable.
My recipe focuses on channelling the multiplicity of different "bitter" tastes, roughly the celery spectrum, balanced with the smoothness of baby corn and sweetness of tikka masala itself. That's why it works well even without the chicken.
Also, this is one of the dishes for which I suggest using the slightly more painstaking process of first cooking the chicken (if you are, indeed, doing a chicken version) and then adding it to the sauce towards the end of the cooking. Why? Well, the preferred veggies cook at different rates; all part of the process. And, if you use chicken as the base, it runs the risk of being overcooked. Trust me and go with the flow.
It also means you can use the basic veggie curry as something you can easily freeze, reheat and to which you can add other additional ingredients at a later stage without losing the "layered" cooking of a dish in which different vegetables are cooked to optimum taste.
This recipe serves 2 to 3 diners. Scale up as needed, but never scale down. Simply refrigerate or freeze and enjoy it another day.
Shopping list
The chicken
1 to 1.5 boneless chicken thighs per diner, cut into "bite-size" chunks. But this is also a great veggie dish (see below)
1 tspn garam masala
1 brown onion, cubed
2 tspns garlic and ginger paste
1 red chilli, sliced
The vegetables
½ a medium celeriac, cut into large, irregular "shapes". Tip: when you cut the celeriac into irregular shapes, sprinkle with turmeric. This supposedly reduces bitterness
1 large red bell pepper, cut into large, irregular "cubes"
7 or 8 baby corn, cut into fairly large segments
3 or 4 sticks of celery, cut into large "bite size" segments
The tikka masala paste
If you're making it from scratch:
5 cloves of garlic
1 large "finger" of ginger, roughly chopped,
1 hot fresh red chilli, deseeded, chopped
2 tspns ground cumin
2 tspns ground coriander
1 tspn turmeric
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn garam masala
4 cardamom pods's seeds
½ tspn fennel seeds
½ tspn ground dried fennel
½ tspn hot chilli powder
1 tspn ground black pepper
½ tspn cayenne pepper
The juice of 1 lime
Or, better still,
buy some good quality tikka masala paste and use about 5 to 6 tspns in the sauce
If you're making the tikka masala paste from scratch, add all ingredients to a food processor or a bowl with a handheld blender and blend until a rough paste. Add a little water as necessary. You can keep this in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for up to a month. Tip: I often spoon the paste into an ice tray, knowing I can defrost a few "blocks" at a time to create fresh dishes.
The rest
1 large (or two smaller) brown onions, diced
2 heaped tspns, garlic and ginger paste
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes, more finely chopped using a hand-held blender
175ml single cream
At leasts 6 tbspns peanut oil (or ghee as an alternative)
1 vegetable stock cube or jelly diluted in a cup of hot water; as needed
Cooking Method
the chicken
You can entirely bypass this section and jump ahead to 'the dish' if doing the veggie version.
In a kadai or wok, heat approx. 4 tbspns peanut oil (or ghee) on a high heat
Add two heaped tspns of garlic and ginger paste to the hot oil, stirring for approx. 2 to 3 mins. Add the diced onion. Mix all together until the onion begins to soften
When the onion softens, push it to the sides of the dish. Add the chicken pieces to the centre and allow to settle for at least a 3 mins. Sprinkle with the garam masala and chopped chili. Allow all to settle
Stir the chicken so that it initially seals on all sides, adding a heaped tspn of the (self-made) tikka masala paste (or ½ tspn of store-bought)
Stir regularly until the chicken sautés fully without being overcooked
Turn off the heat, cover and put to one side to rest
The dish
Heat a generous amount of peanut oil (or ghee) in a deep pot with a lid. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger paste, stirring. After a few minutes, add the diced onion and allow it to soften, stirring regularly
When the onion begins to become translucent, add the red bell pepper, stirring regularly. When this too changes—here you are waiting for a change in smell rather than consistency, but, really, you will smell it—add your tikka masala sauce and the finely chopped/blended tomatoes
Add the celeriac immediately and stir in as you bring the liquid to the boil, adding liquid vegetable stock as needed so that it is barely but entirely covered by liquid
Bring to the boil and boil vigorously for about 5 mins. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for a further 10 mins. Add the single cream, stirring constantly and adding a bit of additional diluted vegetable stock as needed
Add the celery and baby corn. Add an additional tbspn of the handmade tikka masala space (1 tspn if using store-bought) and top up with additional liquid stock. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for at least 10 to 12 mins depending on cooking heat
When the celery and baby corn are still al dente, but showing signs of softening—for example the celery appearing semi-translucent—reduce to a very low heat and add the chicken to the ingredients of the kadai/wok
Stir in and simmer for at least 6 or 7 mins (or until the chicken is re-heated fully)
Plate with basmati, pilau rice or naan breads and condiments to taste
Alternatives
This particular version of this "classic" Indian Diasporan dish is entirely born of cooking it with specific vegetables. So the veggie and vegan options are a no-brainer.
Veggies: simply increase the mass of the celeriac, celery and baby corn proportional to the chicken and you have it about right. Best part is that you cut out a cooking stage and lose nothing in flavour.
Pescatarians: what really works is replacing the chicken with prawns, langoustines or even lobster. I can testify this to be true. But, I haven't tried it with any other form of fish or seafood yet.
Vegans: the big stumbling block here is that this recipe uses and really benefits from single cream. I have made it without it and substituted it with crushed almonds and almond milk. The almond milk is a bit of a disaster. But, actually, if you add the pulverised almonds at the same time as adding the tomatoes and undertake the rest as per the recipe (without the chicken) and add additional veggies, you end up with a bloody great dish. Yes, a bit more tomato-facing, but still a fantastic vegan dish.
Pairings
I've only ever done it with beer. Karel shall be called in...
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