69 replies to this topic

[Simon Majumdar]

Even though it is about as Indian as Alec Guiness in Passage to India. I am making this for friends tonight and thought I would share the recipe. It is delicious and works really well

Anyway

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken
4 chicken breasts cut into big chunks
1 large piece ginger
7 cloves fat garlic
4 green chillies
1 bunch corriander
1 large tub yoghurt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground red chilli powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground fennugreek
Juice of one lime

For the sauce
1 tin tomatoes
1 large onions chopped
3 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground corriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground red chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground fennugreek
1 small carton cream

Method

blend the ginger and garlic into a paste in a grinder with some salt and a little water. Put half over the chicken and keep some for the sauce.

In a blender, mix the yoghurt, corriander leaves and chilles and lime juice and pour over the chicken. Add the lime juice and the dry spices and mix throughly. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least 5 hours ( better overnight )

When ready to cook, place the chicken on a foil layered baking tray and cook for 25 mins.

For the sauce just sweat the onion and ginger/garlic paste in oil and add the dry spices. Cook for one minute to allow the spices to lose their rawness. Add the tomatoes and a tinful of water and allow to cook for about 20 mins making sure it does not go too dry. When reduced to quite a thick sauce add the carton of cream and cook through gently.

Mix in the chicken chunks ( which should have been kept warm ) and warm through

Before serving, add corriander leaves and squeeze lime over the top

Very very simple and delicious

Hope you like it

S

[A Scottish Chef]

Looks great, Simon. Completly different to how I do the dish, but I am going to have a try at this and serve it up to my family tomorrow night. I'll let you know how I found the dish and how it went down with my mob.

Thanks.

[Suvir Saran]

Thanks for the recipe Simon.
Maybe you will take some pictures for us all to enjoy..

All the best. I am sure your friends are going to enjoy it thoroughly..

[Simon Majumdar]

Looks great, Simon. Completly different to how I do the dish, but I am going to have a try at this and serve it up to my family tomorrow night. I'll let you know how I found the dish and how it went down with my mob.

Thanks.

That's not fair. You do this for a living

I was just born there............

Love to see what a pro makes of it and to see how you make it

S

[A Scottish Chef]

It turned out a treat, Simon.

I used a dozen inner fillets from chicken breasts instead, charring them on a ribbed griddle pan before I baked them. I also blended the sauce prior to serving and thought the smooth finish suited the creaminess of the sauce very well indeed.

Layering 5 of the fillets centre plate, sauce drizzled around and finished with cracked black peppercorn and finely diced coriander stem also helped the dish look the part into the bargain. I took a pic and I'll see if I can find way to get it on here.

Incidentally, my fiancee is vegetarian so I used the same marinade for Quorn for her and served it with the sauce. Her verdict? Perfect! High praise indeed from the very fussiest of fussy ghetts to please as she is.

Finally, I'm not convinced about your claim that this isn't authentic (what is?) the sauce tasted and looked (once blended) incredibly similar to the Tikka Masala served in the New Annand Indian restaurant in Glasgow.

For anyone thinking about having a go at Indian, Simon's dish is as simple, and effective, as can be hoped for. Well done Simon

Edited by A Scottish Chef, 19 January 2003 - 03:48 PM.

[Jason Perlow]

well as to authenticity... wasn't the dish itself CREATED for Scottish footballers?

[A Scottish Chef]

well as to authenticity... wasn't the dish itself CREATED for Scottish footballers?

There is a debate about the origin of the dish. Some restaurant in Birmingham claim to have made it for a Swedish King and there is a restaurant in Glasgow who claim they were first.

I know nothing about the fitba player

[Gavin Jones]

I know nothing about the fitba player 

Gordon Ramsay invented Chicken Tikka Masala? Boy does he deserve those Michelin stars.

[Tonyfinch]

According to Madhur Jaffrey the dish IS authentic and was first served at the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi in the late 40s/early 50s. Their tandoori chicken was cut into pieces and put into a rich sauce of creamed tomatoes, butter and spices. It wasn't called Tikka Masala but the results were very similar to the dish we know today.

[Suvir Saran]

According to Madhur Jaffrey the dish IS authentic and was first served at the Moti Mahal restaurant in Delhi in the late 40s/early 50s. Their tandoori chicken was cut into pieces and put into a rich sauce of creamed tomatoes, butter and spices. It wasn't called Tikka Masala but the results were very similar to the dish we know today.

And we have on eGullet a family member of the Moti Mahal restaurant empire.
We have discussed this several times.
This dish is authentic Indian. But from the early days after the partition of India.
And yes Madhur does mention the same.

[Simon Majumdar]

It turned out a treat, Simon.

I used a dozen inner fillets from chicken breasts instead, charring them on a ribbed griddle pan before I baked them. I also blended the sauce prior to serving and thought the smooth finish suited the creaminess of the sauce very well indeed.

Layering 5 of the fillets centre plate, sauce drizzled around and finished with cracked black peppercorn and finely diced coriander stem also helped the dish look the part into the bargain. I took a pic and I'll see if I can find  way to get it on here.

Incidentally, my fiancee is vegetarian so I used the same marinade for Quorn for her and served it with the sauce. Her verdict? Perfect! High praise indeed from the very fussiest of fussy ghetts to please as she is.

Finally, I'm not convinced about your claim that this isn't authentic (what is?) the sauce tasted and looked (once blended) incredibly similar to the Tikka Masala served in the New Annand Indian restaurant in Glasgow.

For anyone thinking about having a go at Indian, Simon's dish is as simple, and effective, as can be hoped for. Well done Simon 

I am thrilled that you liked it and your Mrs too. I like the idea of char grilling first and blending the sauce. If I had actually liked the people I was cooking for, I may have gone to that trouble. As it was it was well received by all and the remains were even better the next day

Let's not get into the "authentic" argument. We have been down that route before and that way lies madness and the unedifying sight of Tony crying..........

S

[Simon Majumdar]

Incidentally, my fiancee is vegetarian so I used the same marinade for Quorn for her and served it with the sauce. Her verdict? Perfect! High praise indeed from the very fussiest of fussy ghetts to please as she is.

Sorry. This horror just filtered through the fug in my brain

QUORN TIKKA MASALA!!

And you are going to marry this woman??

Get off the board you charlatan

S

[Tonyfinch]

Sorry.  This horror just filtered through the fug in my brain

QUORN TIKKA MASALA!!

Well it is Scotland Simon. You've got to make allowances. They eat Mars Bar Tikka Masala up there.

[maggiethecat]

[quote name='Simon Majumdar' date='Jan 20 2003, 07:28 AM']
[/QUOTE]
Sorry. This horror just filtered through the fug in my brain

QUORN TIKKA MASALA!!

And you are going to marry this woman??

Get off the board you charlatan

S [/quote]
Simon: It has been noted elsewhere that this couple has been "engaged" for eighteen and a half years!

Perhaps you've hit on the reason that ScotsChef hasn't asked for the reading of the Banns.

[A Scottish Chef]

Gordon Ramsay invented Chicken Tikka Masala

Mr Mad of Ramsay has just risen considerably in my esteem. It's a Rangers thing

[A Scottish Chef]

Well it is Scotland Simon. You've got to make allowances.

Indeed. The biggest allowance we ask for is recognition that Angerland is stuck on our arse.

Mars Bar Tikka Masala? I wonder....

[FoodMan]

Quorn ????

Is this the same as Corn??

FM

[Simon Majumdar]

Quorn ????

Is this the same as Corn??

FM

No

Quorn is a brand of textured vegetable protein for thos who have given up on life

S

[Suvir Saran]

Quorn ????

Is this the same as Corn??

FM

No

Quorn is a brand of textured vegetable protein for thos who have given up on life

S

[Gary Marshall]

That looks good simon,

I'm going to try this recipe soon, i recieved a copy of 'Brit Spice' for christmas which was supposed to be authentic indian home cooking but has not yet been particularly successful, but this looks like the sort of thing i'm looking for.

Cheers

Gary

Ps Re: Quorn, i could never get my head around the fact that a 'food' could be made by a sudsidiary of ICI (imperial chemical industries) Have you ever seen a chemical plant!!!

Edited by Gary Marshall, 21 January 2003 - 02:50 AM.

[Simon Majumdar]

I thought Brit Spice was a bit grim, sorry

This recipe is a hybrid of my own marinade for the chicken and a masala sauce from a "Curry Club" book

It takes a small amount of prep but the cooking is simplicity itself and the results are, even if I say so myself, fabulous

S

[Gary Marshall]

I didn't realise it was one of your publications.

It's a bit disjointed, it looked v simple starting with the basics spices/pastes etc and moving onto the recipes which i assumed would dovetail back into the basics, but the recipes don't seem to refer to exactly which 'basic' you should be using.

As a novice of indian cooking it was difficult to see what would be appropriate. However all will be forgiven if the CTM recipe works out !

cheers

matt

[Simon Majumdar]

I didn't realise it was one of your publications.

Er, it isn't you pratt, matt

[FoodMan]

I love this stuff but never cooked it at home. I printed the recipe yesterday and made a batch of yogurt. I will marinate the chicken tonight and Tikka Masala will be for dinner tomorrow.

No

Quorn is a brand of textured vegetable protein for thos who have given up on life

S

Thanks for the clarification



FM

[Suvir Saran]

I love this stuff but never cooked it at home. I printed the recipe yesterday and made  a batch of yogurt. I will marinate the chicken tonight and Tikka Masala will be for dinner tomorrow.

No

Quorn is a brand of textured vegetable protein for thos who have given up on life

S

Thanks for the clarification



FM

FoodMan, your desire to try new things and the frequency with which you do so is very inspiring. I am sure your significant other is quite the happy one.

Will you remember taking photographs for us of the Chicken Tikka Masala?

How did you make the yogurt?

[FoodMan]

FoodMan, your desire to try new things and the frequency with which you do so is very inspiring. I am sure your significant other is quite the happy one. 

Will you remember taking photographs for us of the Chicken Tikka Masala?

How did you make the yogurt?

It would be my pleasure to share pics of the Tikka Masala (unless I burn it or something ).

I make yogurt the same way my mom does and has been doing for as long as I remember. I made my first batch about a couple of years ago using store bought yogurt as a starter. I heat up the milk until it is pretty much boiling then let it cool down until it is still hot but not so hot as to kill the live yogurt culture, the test I learned from mom is that it should be hot enough so that you cannot keep a -!!clean!!- index finger in the milk for more than 10 seconds (or you can use a thermometer but I don't). Then I just mix in the store yogurt (about 1/4 cup starter to a half gallon milk) with the milk in a glass or ceramic pot with a lid, wrap in a wool cloth, and leave at room temp over night. Come morning time I have fresh and very tasty yogurt with a texture that resembles a smooth soft custard-- works every time. Then I remove about 1/4 cup fresh yogurt and freeze it in a small plastic container to use next time as a starter , and I never have to buy yogurt again (make sure it is defrosted before using).


FM

[FoodMan]

Well as promised here is the Chicken Tikka Masala from Simon's recipe:



I served it with white rice and homemade "naan" from the recipe in Monica Bhide's book. The chicken was delicious, the only thing I would change next time is maybe to add a little more tomatoes to get a deeper pink color and a little more tomato flavor.
Thanks for posting this fantastic recipe Simon.


FM

[Suvir Saran]

The picture is great. Thanks FoodMan!
The sauce you prepared looks quite authentic actually. In India we often enjoy sauces of this color more than the very red ones.
You can certainly add more tomatoes if you like a more acidic sauce, but you really ought not to do it on account of color.
You achieved a great color.. very authentic.
Many chicken tikka masala dishes in restaurants tend to be more reddish since often they use food coloring in the marinade.

Again, thanks for the pic.

[Simon Majumdar]

Foodman,

That looks spot on.

I would warn against adding any more tom's. not just, as Suvir said, the sauce should not be too bright red, but also as it would overpower with tomato flavour.

One thing you can do is add a little ground Kashmiri Chilli ( only these, no other will do ) to the chicken marinade and that will give both intensity of flavour and more colour

S

[FoodMan]

Thanks for the suggestions and advice guys, I just wasn't sure if I got it right since the versions I've seen in restaurants are more reddish than this one. So I thought maybe Simon used a larger tin of tomatoes than the one I used or something.
Food coloring??!!! Didn't know that. The idea of adding a little Kashmiri red chilli sounds very appealing though.


FM