Chicken tikka masala is two dishes bolted together. First the tikka: chicken marinated in spiced yogurt and cooked hard and fast until the edges char. Then the masala: an onion, ginger, garlic, and tomato gravy, finished with cream, built in a separate pan while the chicken cooks. Fold one into the other and you have the most ordered restaurant dish in Britain and one of the most ordered in North America.
On the plate it is a full main course with every part pulling weight. Charred chicken as the centerpiece, basmati underneath, peas in the sauce and a cool cucumber raita on the side, and a gravy that carries every spice in the dish.
A Short History
Nobody fully agrees where it comes from, and that is part of the story. The best known claim is Glasgow in the early 1970s: a Bangladeshi cook, working late in a curry house, is said to have rescued a plate of dry chicken tikka for a complaining customer by stirring it into a quick sauce of tomato and cream, possibly starting from a tin of tomato soup. In 2001 a British foreign secretary called it a true national dish, a symbol of the way Britain absorbs outside influences.
The other view is that it is simply the British Indian restaurant version of a much older idea. Punjabi cooks in Delhi were serving murgh makhani, tandoori chicken in a tomato and butter gravy, by the 1950s, and the diaspora that opened restaurants across Britain carried that template with them. Either way, tikka masala is a diaspora dish: North Indian tandoor technique, adapted to a new country and its customers, and now a classic on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Four Components
- Protein. Boneless chicken thigh, marinated in spiced yogurt and broiled until charred at the edges.
- Starch. Basmati rice, long grained and separate, cooked with a little whole spice.
- Vegetable. Green peas stirred into the sauce, plus a quick cucumber raita on the side.
- Sauce. A spiced tomato gravy finished with cream, the heart of the dish.
Choosing the Chicken
Use boneless skinless thighs, not breast. Thigh meat has more fat and connective tissue, so it survives the acidic marinade, the fierce heat of the broiler, and the simmer in the sauce without drying. Breast will be chalky by the time it has picked up any char.
Cut the thighs into large pieces, roughly two inches, so they can take real color on the outside before the center is done. Buy thighs of similar size, or trim the big ones down, so a tray of them cooks evenly. If you can only get breast, cut it larger still, keep the marinade to an hour, and pull it the moment it chars.
The Technique That Makes It: Marinade and Bloom
The yogurt marinade does two jobs. Its acidity and its calcium loosen the muscle proteins so the meat stays tender, and its milk solids and sugars brown and char under high heat, which is where the smoky tikka flavor comes from. Give it an hour at least; overnight is better. Wipe off the excess before cooking so it chars rather than steams.
The sauce depends on blooming. Ground spices are full of fat soluble aroma compounds that are locked up until they hit hot oil. Cooking the garam masala, cumin, and paprika in the hot fat for thirty seconds before the tomato goes in wakes those compounds up and spreads them through the dish. Skip that step and the gravy tastes flat and a little dusty no matter how much spice you add. The other half is cooking the tomato hard, until it darkens and the fat separates at the edges, before the cream. Undercooked tomato is what makes a tikka masala taste sharp and raw.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Serves 4. Prep 20 minutes plus marinating, cook 35 minutes, total about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Ingredients
Protein and marinade
- 2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger and 3 grated garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
Starch
- 1 1/2 cups basmati rice, rinsed
- 2 green cardamom pods and 1 bay leaf, optional
Vegetable and raita
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 English cucumber, grated and squeezed dry
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt, chopped mint, and salt for the raita
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons ghee or neutral oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger and 3 grated garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/4 to 1 teaspoon cayenne, to taste
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Cilantro and salt
Method
Marinate
- Mix the chicken with the yogurt, ginger, garlic, cumin, paprika, turmeric, and salt. Cover and marinate at least 1 hour, ideally overnight.
Rice
- Cook the basmati in 2 1/4 cups salted water with the cardamom and bay, if using: boil, cover, cook on low 12 minutes, then rest 10 minutes and fluff.
Char the chicken
- Heat the broiler. Shake the excess marinade off the chicken and spread it on a rack set over a foil lined tray.
- Broil close to the element, turning once, until charred in spots and just cooked, about 12 minutes total. It will finish in the sauce.
The sauce
- Heat the ghee in a wide pan over medium. Cook the onion, stirring often, until deep golden, about 10 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Add the cumin, paprika, garam masala, and cayenne and stir 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer 12 minutes, stirring, until thick, darkened, and glossy with the fat starting to separate.
- Stir in the cream and peas, then add the charred chicken and any juices. Simmer 5 minutes to bring it together. Taste for salt.
Raita and plate
- Stir the squeezed cucumber into the yogurt with the mint and a pinch of salt.
- Serve the chicken and sauce over the basmati, cilantro on top, raita on the side.
Nutrition (per serving, estimated)
- Calories 975
- Fat 44 g
- Saturated fat 24 g
- Cholesterol 320 mg
- Sodium 890 mg
- Carbohydrates 85 g
- Fiber 6 g
- Sugar 16 g
- Protein 58 g
Get Ahead: A Timing Plan
- Up to a day ahead: marinate the chicken. Make the raita.
- Up to 3 days ahead: make the full sauce with the chicken in it; the flavor deepens. Reheat gently with a splash of water.
- Last 30 minutes: cook the rice, broil fresh chicken if you did not make the sauce ahead, and bring it together.
Wine Pairing
Spice and cream fight tannin and oak, so go aromatic or go for a soft, fruity red.
- Off dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer, whose faint sweetness and perfume sit beautifully against the garam masala.
- Grenache or a fruit forward Zinfandel, low in tannin, high in ripe berry, if you want red.
- Honestly, a cold lager or a hoppy IPA is the pairing this dish gets most often in its home restaurants, and it works.
Building the Meal Around It
Start with something crisp and fried to contrast the creamy main: vegetable pakora, samosas, or a hot, flaky pastry with a chutney. Warm naan or a flatbread on the side is close to required for mopping the gravy. If you want a vegetable beyond the peas, a simple cumin roasted cauliflower or a kachumber salad does it. Finish with something cold and milky, mango lassi or a scoop of pistachio kulfi. More starters in the appetizer collection.
Cooking for a Crowd
This is one of the best entrees on the site for a party because the sauce is actually better made a day or two ahead. Scale the sauce freely in a large pot. Broil the chicken in batches on two trays, or grill it. Hold everything combined in a low oven or a slow cooker on warm, loosening with a little water or stock if it tightens. Cook the rice in a large pot or two, and keep it covered off the heat until service.
Troubleshooting
- Sauce tastes sharp or sour. The tomato was undercooked. Simmer it hard until it darkens and the fat separates before the cream goes in. A pinch of sugar helps too.
- Gravy tastes dull despite lots of spice. The ground spices were not bloomed. Cook them in the hot fat for 30 seconds before the tomato.
- Dry, stringy chicken. Breast instead of thigh, or overcooked under the broiler. Use thigh and pull it while it still looks slightly underdone; the sauce finishes it.
- Sauce split or grainy. It boiled hard after the cream. Keep it at a bare simmer once the dairy is in.
Variations
- Paneer tikka masala. Swap cubes of paneer for the chicken; marinate 30 minutes, broil briefly, add at the same point.
- Chickpea (chana) version. Two cans of chickpeas in place of the chicken, simmered in the sauce 10 minutes.
- Lighter sauce. Use half and half instead of cream, or stir in 1/2 cup plain yogurt off the heat.
- No broiler. Char the chicken in a very hot cast iron skillet in batches, or on a grill.
Frequently Asked Questions
Breast or thigh?
Thigh. It stays juicy through the marinade, the char, and the simmer. Breast dries out somewhere along that path.
Why is my sauce sour?
Undercooked tomato. Let the crushed tomatoes simmer until they darken and the fat starts to separate at the edges before the cream goes in. Cream and a pinch of sugar also round it out.
Is chicken tikka masala Indian or British?
It is a diaspora dish. The technique and the flavor base are North Indian, close to Punjabi butter chicken, but the version most people eat took its final form in British Indian restaurants, and one popular origin story places its invention in Glasgow in the 1970s.
How far ahead can I make it?
The full dish reheats well for three days and freezes for three months. The flavor deepens overnight, so it is a rare main course that is better made ahead.
How do I make it milder or hotter?
The listed spices are aromatic, not hot. Control the heat with the cayenne, from 1/4 teaspoon for mild to 1 teaspoon or more for a serious kick, added with the ground spices.
What makes this an entree?
It is the main course, a substantial protein in a sauce served over a starch with a vegetable. That is exactly what entree means in North American usage.
More Entrees
Lamb Tagine, Salmon Teriyaki, Carne Asada, and the full entree recipe collection.
Who Is Writing This
Chef Alan Guerin spent 35 years in professional kitchens, from fine dining rooms to hotels and catering, and earned the Four Diamond distinction six times. He built Wine Drop Cookery to put that experience into plain guides anyone can cook from. More about Chef Alan.