Indian kitchen tribute continues with Tika Masala, an English-Indian recipe that British settlers evolved to European tastes.
Ingredients
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- 1 teaspoon ground cloves ,
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin ,
- 2 heaped teaspoons sweet smoked paprika ,
- 2 heaped teaspoons garam masala ,
- 3 lemons ,
- 6 cloves of garlic ,
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger ,
- 6 heaped tablespoons natural yoghurt ,
- 800 g. skinless boneless chicken breasts ,
- 3 fresh green or yellow chillies
For the sauce
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- 2 onions ,
- 4 cloves of garlic ,
- 1-2 fresh red chillies ,
- 30 g. fresh coriander ,
- olive oil ,
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander ,
- 2 teaspoons turmeric ,
- 6 tablespoons ground almonds ,
- 800 g. tins of plum tomatoes ,
- 1 chicken stock cube ,
- 800 g. tins of coconut milk
Instructions
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- Put the cloves, cumin and 1 heaped teaspoon each of paprika and garam masala into a small pan and toast for 1 minute to bring them back to life, then tip into a large bowl. ,
- Finely grate in the zest of 1 lemon, squeeze in all its juice, crush in the garlic, peel and finely grate in the ginger, and add the yoghurt and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. ,
- Cut the chicken breasts into 5cm chunks, then massage all that flavour into the meat. ,
- Skewer up the chicken chunks, interspersing them with lemon wedges and chunks of green or yellow chilli, but don't squash them together too much. ,
- Place on a tray, cover with clingfilm and marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
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- Peel the onions and garlic, then finely slice with the red chillies and coriander stalks (reserving the leaves for later). ,
- Put it all into a large casserole pan on a medium-high heat with a lug of oil and cook for around 20 minutes, or until golden, stirring regularly. ,
- Add the ground coriander, turmeric and remaining 1 heaped teaspoon each of paprika and garam masala. Cook for 2 minutes, then add and toast the almonds. ,
- Pour in the tomatoes, crumble in the stock cube and add 300ml of boiling water. ,
- Simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in the coconut milk. Simmer for a final 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, then season to perfection.
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- When you're ready to cook the chicken, drizzle it with a little oil, then grill on a hot barbecue, in a screaming hot griddle pan or under a hot grill, turning until it's very golden and gnarly on all sides. ,
- Slice the chicken off the skewers straight into the sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes and serve with fluffy basmati rice.