How to Make The BEST Chicken Tikka at Home

Jun 21

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IMG_1954 2.jpeg — **Chicken Tikka** is among the most popular non-vegetarian starters in North Indian cuisine. There are several kinds of chicken tikka including tandoori, malai (creamy) and hariyali (minty-green) chicken tikka. My favourites includes a platter of all of them.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a tikka is “an Indian dish of small pieces of meat or vegetables marinated in a spice mixture.” Chicken Tikka can be made with dark meat such as boneless chicken thighs or white meat using chicken breast. Depending on the occasion, I cook it either way and it turns out delicious every time.

At my favourite Indian restaurants in India, I would always get a starter of a trio of chicken tikka. This includes the traditional tandoori chicken tikka marinated in yogurt and a mix of spices, which is what we’re making here. This starter also includes Hariyali chicken tikka, made with a marinade of fresh herbs and spices, and finally, Malai chicken tikka, which is made with a marinade of cream and cheese. Do let me know if you’d like me to make recipes of these other chicken tikkas in the comments below!

The Marination

First Marinade

The chicken is first marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, Kashmiri deggi mirch and salt. The lemon juice helps tenderize the chicken slightly and intensify the overall flavour from the spices. The marination is quick, only about 20-30 minutes. The chicken may become mushy if left too long in an acidic marinade as this.

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Second Marinade

The final marinade consists of yogurt, which helps to further tenderize the meat. Ginger and Garlic Paste combined with garam masala adds an underlying heat, while the deggi mirch adds a lot of color. NO FOOD COLOURING! Unlike other recipes, no artificial colour is used to achieve the classic red colour for tandoori chicken tikka.

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The chicken may get a bit spicy. If desired, you can cut the amount you use but remember that using less chili powder will affect the final colour of the chicken tikka. This chill powder is not at all as hot as regular chill powder, so use it responsibly to suit your tastes.

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Oven-Broiled Method

Usually a traditional tandoor oven (Indian clay oven) is used to prepare this delicacy, and the chicken tikkas, being boneless is ready within minutes. This recipe attempts to replicate the char and smokiness achieved in a tandoori using your oven broiler.

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This technique includes placing the marinated chicken pieces on a wire rack, over a baking sheet. The baking sheet is then placed at the top most shelf of the oven and broiled until charred.

The chicken tikka will be ready within 15-20 minutes. Along the cooking process, your oven may start smoking as the marinade drips from the wire rack to the oven rack and starts burning. To prevent this, simple pour some water directly on the baking sheet.

The tikkas are then tossed in butter to serve. You can skip this step if using chicken thighs as the dark meat is already extremely juicy. For chicken breast, however, I recommend you baste with butter during cooking and turning and brush a final layer of butter before serving. The chicken will turn out amazing and this recipe will completely change your outlook on what home cooked food means. I use this recipe to make my Murgh Makhani - Restaurant Style Butter Chicken and to make my tandoori chicken pizza.

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Oh, and after cooking, the wire rack may be a bit hard to clean. A nifty trick I use to clean would be to flip the rack upside down on the baking sheet, pour water and let it soak for a few minutes.

Pan-Seared Method

If you don’t have an oven or forgot to preheat it and you’re ravenous for dinner, this method can be a life saver! What’s great about pan-searing the chicken is that the meat cooks much faster. However, I have to warn you that there’s a more likely chance of the meat becoming dry, so be careful.

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I like to add a generous amount of oil, this will help keep the yogurt and lemon juice based marinade from sticking too much since both will caramelize. Simply add the chicken and cook on a medium high heat to give each side a nice sear.

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If the chicken has the colour you’re looking for but it’s still under-cooked, lower the heat and gently cook until cooked all the way through. Turn the chicken pieces as necessary to get an even sear. I showcased this method in my recipe for Britain’s favourite - Chicken Tikka Masala here.

Chicken Thighs or Chicken Breast?

Chicken thighs are definitely my first choice if I am planning a special meal. It is much more tender and tender. Also, due to the fat content, the thighs are practically self-basting and don’t require additional help like chicken breast.

Chicken breast, on the other hand is great if you want a quick lunch or if you are looking to get the extra boost of protein. I use chicken breast for my Deconstructed Tikka Masala Lunch Bowl. It still tastes great with this marinade and is an easy swap to make!

A combination of the two cuts of meat can work as well, just keep in mind that chicken breast and thighs have varying cooking times.

Watch How to Make The BEST Chicken Tikka at home Here:

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments! If you’ve tried this recipe, be sure to post it on social media and tag it with #cookingwithanadi and mention me @cookingwithanadi. Thank you!

chicken tikka recipe, oven chicken tikka recipe, Indian chicken tikka recipe, pan-seared chicken tikka recipe

Indian, non-vegetarian recipe, starters, poultry

Indian

Oven-Broiled Chicken Tikka | How to Make the BEST Tandoori Chicken Kebab | Chicken Kathi Roll Recipehttps://youtu.be/MnwNPEeJiacBaked chicken tikka recipe in the oven is the best way to make the delicious tandoori chicken kebab at home at home! Tandoori chicken tikka kebabs are a famous appetizer, but chicken tikka is also used in chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, and in this chicken kathi roll, which I’ll also be showing you how to make! Chicken kathi roll is chicken tikka wrapped in a paratha roll.2021-06-21

Yield: 2-4

Author: Anadi

How to Make the BEST Chicken Tikka at Home

Chicken Tikka is among the most popular non-vegetarian starts in North Indian cuisine. There are several kinds of chicken tikka including tandoori, malai (creamy) and hariyali (green) chicken tikka.

Prep time: 2 H & 30 MCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 2 H & 50 M

Ingredients

3 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 200g)

For the first marinade

3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp deggi mirch
1 1/2 tsp salt

For the second marinade

5 Tbsp plain yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 Tbsp deggi mirch
1/2 tsp salt

If serving as a side (not in a curry)

molten butter, as need
pinch of chat masala
lemon wedges
Cilantro Mint Chutney

Instructions

For the first marinade

In a medium sized bowl, add lemon juice, deggi mirch and salt for the first marinade and whisk well together.
Cut the chicken into 1 1/2 inch pieces and add to marinade. Mix well, cover and let marinate for 20-30 minutes.

For the second marinade

In the same bowl as the first marinade, add the rest of the ingredients for the second marinade.
Mix well, cover and let marinate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.

To cook and serve

Preheat oven at 450 F.
Take chicken out of refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking to take off the chill from the meat.
In the meanwhile, prepare the baking sheet by placing wire rack over the sheet. Place marinated chicken pieces on the wire rack, making sure to space the pieces apart.
Turn the oven to broil mode (top-most broiler if your oven has multiple broil modes). Carefully place the baking sheet on the top rack.
After about 5-7 minutes, pour about 1/2 cup of water directly on baking sheet to prevent excess marinade from burning and smoking.
Turn the pieces after about 10 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees and cook other side. This should take another 7-10 minutes. (Note: if you are making the chicken tikka as a side and not for a curry, during the last 10 minutes, baste with butter every 5 minutes)
If serving as a starter, toss with some molten butter, chaat masala, sliced onions, cucumber and a lemon wedge. Serve hot and enjoy!

Notes:

If using chicken breast, substitute chicken thighs in recipe with equal amount of chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks. Plain yogurt tends to work better with this dish than Greek yogurt. Although it can be substituted with Greek yogurt, the thickness tends to intensify the spice level in the marinade. If using, cut the amount of garam masala and deggi mirch. Cutting the deggi mirch may affect the final colour of the dish You may grease the wire rack with spray oil to help prevent the chicken from sticking.