Spicy Chicken Tikka Masala

I was so pleased with the way this recipe worked out. I'm only interested in putting the best recipes on my blog that work well. So when i'm adding a curry blog to here, it's not gonna be any old curry recipe, it's going to be restaurant standard. Now that sounds like i'm totally blowing my own trumpet here but I don't mean to. All the credit goes to the recipe, I'm just the one who experimented and tried it out. The original came from thedomesticman.com.

From start to finish, it takes pretty much an hour exactly. And that's even with me making naan breads because who doesn't love a naan with a good curry? Especially these homemade naan that are soft, flaky and healthy unlike normal naan that are fatty and filled with empty carbs.

I will not claim this curry as "authentic" since this isn't actually an indian curry, it's a British take on it. Nevertheless, it's filled with flavour and much healthier than your average takeaway.

And due to my obsession with spicy food ( I practically put tabasco on everything ) I decided to put a spicy twist on the classic chicken tikka masala and add a whole chilli in there. But no worries if you don't like spice, just leave it out.

So its creamy, naturally sweet, healthy and not the most complicated dish in the world... So lets begin!

Spicy Chicken Tikka Masala

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For the marinade

• 2 small chicken breasts, cut into chunks

• 1 heaped tsp garam masala

• 1 heaped tsp turmeric

• 1tsp hot chilli powder

• 1tsp coriander seeds, crushed

• 1tsp cumin powder

• salt and black pepper

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1/2" ginger, grated

• 120g greek yoghurt

for the curry

• knob of butter, roughly 15-20g

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 1 red chilli, finely minced

• 1 heaped tsp tomato paste

• 1tsp garam masala

• 1tsp coriander seeds, crushed

• 1/2tsp cumin powder

• 1/2tsp hot chilli powder

• 200g tomatoes, chopped

• 20 cardamom pods

• 120ml single cream

• salt and black pepper, to taste

• coriander leaves, torn

Method

- Combine all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover and put it in the fridge to marinate over night.

- When ready to make dinner, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Once hot add the onions and stir occasionally.

- After about 7-10 minutes, the onions should be soft and sweetened. Make sure they don't burn as this will ruin the taste. Add the chilli and fry for a further few minutes until fragrant.

- Add in the tomato paste, tomatoes, spices and seasoning. Stir to ensure the spices coat everything. Let everything fry until aromatic. Add a splash of water to cover everything. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 40 minutes.

- Meanwhile, line a tray with baking paper.

- Remove the chicken from the fridge. Thread the chicken onto skewers. Try to scrape some of the marinade off and into the bowl.

- Place the skewers onto the tray. Add the remaining marinade from the bowl and into the frying pan with the curry sauce. Stir everything.

- Preheat the oven, on grill setting, to the middle setting. My grill goes up to 3, so I had it at 2.

- Make sure to keep stirring the curry sauce since it will begin to stick to the bottom of the pan as it thickens.

- Place the chicken skewers into the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, flipping them half way. After 15 minutes, cut into the biggest chunk to see if it's cooked. If not, continue to grill them.

- Once the sauce is to a desirable thickness, add it to a blender and blitz the sauce until as smooth as you can get it. Mine wasn't completely smooth due to the spices.

- Add the sauce back to the frying pan and stir in the cream. The heat should be very low, only to keep the curry warm while the chicken cooks.

- Once the chicken is cooked, slide it off the skewers and mix it into the curry sauce.

- Serve with a garnish ( love that word ) of coriander and beside rice or naaannn. Enjoy this amazingly tasty chicken tikka masala.

( Blitcz the curry again if you want it smoother )