A made-from-scratch Chicken Tikka Masala recipe with the signature yoghurt marinated chargrilled chicken smothered in an incredible spice infused curry sauce. It’s astonishingly straightforward – and no hunting down hard to find ingredients!
Chicken Tikka Masala is an Indian favourite along with Butter Chicken and Biryani. Serve with Basmati Rice, else add a side of chewy and fluffy Naan or basic Homemade Flatbreads to mop up the sauce!
Chicken Tikka Masala
There are various tales about the origins of Chicken Tikka Masala, and most are along the lines of the following: That a British aristocrat was served Chicken Tikka (chicken on skewers chargrilled in a tandoor) and sent it back to the kitchen, complaining it was dry. In response to which the enterprising chef added a curry sauce and sent it back out again where it was well received.
And thus, one of the most popular curries in the world was born. 🙂 And even though it’s not a traditional Indian dish, the roots of it certainly are!
Proper Chicken Tikka Masala served at good Indian restaurants is made with yoghurt marinated chicken which is then chargrilled so it has that gorgeous smokey flavour.
Regretfully, I don’t have a tandoor sitting in the middle of my kitchen. So this recipe aims to replicate the flavour using my good old stove.
How to make Chicken Tikka Masala
We start off with a Chicken Tikka yoghurt marinade for chicken thighs. Thighs, my friends. Not breast! We need juicy meat for this recipe because we’re going to blast it with some serious heat to replicate the char grilled flavour of Chicken Tikka!
Leave it to marinade for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Then heat your pan until it’s smoking hot – and I mean smokin’ hot!! – then cook those chicken pieces so the yoghurt coating gets chargrilled.
After that, we make the sauce, then toss the chicken back in to bring all the flavours together. And this is the vision that you will be bestowed with – your very own homemade Chicken Tikka Masala, made from scratch. With the signature deep orangey red sauce, wafting with aromatic curry flavour, smothering chicken with a beautiful chargrilled flavour.
Tikka Masala is deceptively easy!
This isn’t your everyday mid week meal. The ingredients list in the recipe looks alarmingly long, but it’s deceptive because there are duplicate ingredients. And we’re making a serious curry here! We can’t skimp on flavour!
And though the list might be long, here’s the best news – no hunting down unusual ingredients. You can get every single ingredient from the major supermarkets here in Australia (Woolies, Coles, Harris Farms, most Aldi’s and large IGA’s).
RECIPE REFERENCES
This recipe is the result of a mountain of reading, researching, tasting and cooking we did in pursuit of the ultimate Tikka Masala recipe for the home cook.
We visited some of our favourite Indian restaurants in Sydney just to taste the chicken tikka masala, and recounted our memories of curries we experienced in the UK and India.
We looked at existing recipes by authors both well known (Madhur Jaffrey and Heston Blumenthal) and unknown, including many Indian food bloggers. We even watched Youtube videos in Hindi and went to the library and dug up faded old Indian cookbooks!
We pulled out the best bits from every source of inspiration as well as adding our own ideas to come up with this recipe!
Difference between Chicken Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken
In case you are wondering about the difference between Chicken Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken, the main thing is the char grilled flavour of the chicken which Butter Chicken does not have. Also, the sauce of Tikka Masala is more intense and complex. 🙂
For curry lovers everywhere, it’s truly worth making your own curry from scratch at least once in your life. Like Thai Red Curry, a store bought curry paste (even a really great one) simply doesn’t compare. If I were to make this using a jar of paste, I would pimp it up quite a bit with fresh garlic, ginger and spices, and it would be not much less effort than making it from scratch!
I really hope you love this. This is a recipe that my brother and I developed together, tag teaming with the recipe until we “got it right” (meaning, as close as possible to good Indian restaurants). Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x
MORE GREAT CURRIES OF THE WORLD!
- Butter Chicken – one of the most popular curries in the world
- Rogan Josh – fall apart lamb in a rich creamy tomato sauce
- Biryani (it’s amazing!)
- Dal (Indian lentil curry)
- Thai Red Curry
- Beef Rendang
- Massaman Curry
- Goan Fish Curry (Indian) – an amazing seafood curry from the tropical beaches of Goa
- Browse the Curry Collection
ON THE SIDE
- Indian Tomato Salad
- Samosas – The perfect appetiser / starter. Or snacks and lunch tomorrow!
- Pakoras – Spiced Indian vegetable fritters
- South Indian-style Cabbage & Carrot Salad with Coconut
- Refreshing Cucumber with Lemon Yogurt Dressing
- Give this Everyday Cabbage Salad an Indian spin by sauteing garlic and cumin seeds in oil before mixing up with other Dressing ingredients
- Real Naan! Chewy, stretchy, fluffy – the ultimate homemade naan recipe right here
- No Yeast Easy Soft Flatbread. Perfect to use as naan, but simpler and without yeast so you can get it on the table fast!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Chicken Tikka Masala
Ingredients
Chicken Tikka Marinade:
- 600g/ 1.2lb chicken thigh (boneless, skinless), cut into 3cm / 2.2″ cubes (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup plain yoghurt, full fat best (Greek is fine)
- 6 cloves garlic , minced (~1.5 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger , grated
- 1 tsp garam masala (Note 2)
- 1 tsp each salt, cumin, ground coriander, paprika (sweet, normal or smokey)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- Pinch black pepper
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Cooking Chicken:
- 1 – 2 tbsp oil (Note 3)
Curry Sauce Spices:
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp garam masala (Note 2)
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Curry Sauce:
- 3 tbsp (65ml) vegetable oil (Note 3)
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter OR ghee
- 1 onion, finely chopped (brown, white or yellow)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp fresh ginger , grated
- 6 cloves garlic , crushed or grated
- 1 tbsp paprika (not smoked)
- 1 2/3 cups (400ml) tomato passata (tomato puree)
- 1 2/3 cups (400ml) water
- 100 ml (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) cream (thickened or pure is fine)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 50g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter OR ghee
Serving
Instructions
Chicken Tikka:
- Combine all ingredients except chicken in a bowl and mix. Add chicken and turn well to coat.
- Cover with cling wrap and leave in fridge to marinate overnight (3 hours minimum).
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non stick pan over high heat until smoking. Add half the chicken and spread out. Leave for 2 minutes or until charred. Turn each piece and cook the other side until charred – don’t worry if not cooked inside. (Note 4, also Video helpful here) Remove into bowl.
- Scrape out charred bits left in pan and discard. Add more oil if required and cook remaining chicken.
Sauce:
- Wipe skillet with paper towels (or do this part in a pot as you need a lid). Turn heat down to medium high.
- Add oil and butter. When butter is melted, add onions, ginger and salt.
- Cook, stirring constantly to ensure it doesn’t burn, until the ginger is starting to turn golden and the onions smell sweet, about 5 – 7 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic and paprika, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the Curry Sauce Spices, and cook a further 2 minutes, stirring.
- Add tomato passata and water, and mix. Bring to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour curry into a bowl, then use a stick blender to puree until smooth (Note 5).
- Return sauce to skillet. Add cream, sugar and butter. Stir to melt the butter.
- Add chicken, stir. Simmer for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- Optional: Sprinkle with a pinch of extra garam masala at the end.
- Serve over basmati rice, sprinkled with coriander/cilantro if desired. Try this No Yeast Flatbread as a quick naan!
Recipe Notes:
* Indian cooking uses a lot of oil. Don’t be tempted to skimp on the butter and oil for this recipe, it really affects the resulting richness of the dish at the end. We were quite surprised at the difference it made. AT MOST you can reduce the cooking oil by 1 tbsp and omit the butter at the end (but taste it first!). And even using the full amount of butter + oil, it only works out at about 1.7 tbsp per serving which isn’t as obscene as one might expect. 🙂
* You can use ghee instead of the oil/butter used to sauté the onion. I find oil + butter produces a similar end result. I do use ghee sometimes – if I have it on hand (which I usually don’t).
* The dish is deliberately saucy because it’s SO GOOD!
* The salt level looks high but curries need it. Generally, intense flavours = more salt required. 5. Storage / make ahead – Chicken can be marinated for up to 48 hours in the fridge, or pop it straight into the freezer then it will marinate while defrosting overnight in the fridge. Cooked curry will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freezer for 3 months (defrost then reheat in microwave or on stove with splash of extra water). However, unlike stews, curries are at their prime freshly made, when the spices are at their most aromatic. A good trick to freshen up curries is to add a pinch of garam masala when reheating. 6. Recipe references: See in post. 7. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings (excludes rice, naan etc).
Nutrition Information:
More Curry For Curry Lovers
Thai Red Curry | Chickpea Potato Curry (Chana Aloo) | Beef Rendang | Vegetable Curry | Cauliflower Chickpea Curry | Queema (Indian Curried Beef Mince) | Chicken Satay Curry
LIFE OF DOZER
Miserable, sulky post-swim hose down. No feeling sorry for him! He just spent the last hour swimming and rolling in sand!!!
I made this last night, and now I’m probably getting married 😂
But seriously this is the best meal I have ever made! Not only will my partner probably propose but 2 out of my 3 kids, miss almost 2 and miss 7 love it too! This will be a family favourite for years to come. Well for 4 of us. So far. I’ll keep working on miss 3 😀
Thanks as always Nagi!
Utterly delicious, better than anything we could dream of ordering in x
WOOT!!! I love hearing this Angela!! N x
This was given rave reviews by my husband & 4 & 7 year old daughters. Thank you Nagi!! Apparently it is the best curry I’ve ever made… The flat breads were also very much enjoyed and useful in wiping the bowls clean!! Rogan Josh is next on the list & can’t wait. I love how straightforward all of your recipes are.
Woah what a great compliment, thanks so much Jane! N x
Hi I want to make this but I don’t have yoghurt or cream all I have is sour cream can I use this instead
Hi Rachelle, sour cream would be ok to sub for the yogurt – but it would change the flavour to add it to the curry – try coconut cream instead. N x
Was so excited to try this recipe, for some reason it turned a bit too tomato-y than I would like (the tomato really over powered anything) def going to try this out again- what should I do different this time? Thank you so much!
As An indian I don’t do a lot of indian cooking but I really want to try making ur chicken Tikka masala .. I’m Canada and have Been able to find passata (but not the mutti brand u posted) I don’t have access to blender or hand blender … how important is this step? Can i skip it ?
Hi, are all the spices used for the marinade and sauce grounded i.e. cumin and coriander?
Can’t wait to try!
Hi Ann-Marie, yes that’s correct! N x
So I’m buying a few of the ingredients for the tikka masala recipe and thinking, okay, I could buy Indian takeout for this. Then I’m making it, and it’s labor-intensive, not gonna lie. My family and I finally sit down to eat, and the reaction was pretty flippin’ awesome. It was SO GOOD. We LOVED it. All that research you and your brother put into the recipe really showed, and you make even a complicated recipe simple and easy to follow. . The way you write your recipes (little notes by the ingredient list, step-by-step guidance, the “Note” section) is so clear and easy to understand. Thank you, Nagi. I never thought I would ever be able to make as good as or even better than restaurant quality tikka masala (and on my first go!). You’re the best.
Homemade will always trump takeout Olivia!! I’m so glad you gave it a go! N x
We love curry and have made lots over the years, but I have to say this is by far the best we’ve ever tasted.
It’s well worth the extra effort to make your own and the flavours are amazing. Thanks Nagi, Ihad a great time making it and it will become our go to curry. By the way I’ve also made your Butter Chicken and completely agree with you about the different flavours….this one is our favourite though.
YES!!! I LOVE hearing this! N x
Many thanks for the recipe and instructions. The Recipe notes were invaluable. Found is simple to follow and the achievement was even amazing. So thank you very much.
I usually don’t comment on recipes, but after trying a lot of tikka massala recipes I found this was by far the best!! served it with rice and flatbreads, really enjoyed it!
Thank you Nagi for your efforts, and your clear and easy to follow recipes 🤓
You’re so welcome Hanane! N x
Absolutely delicious
Easy to follow recipe
Huge hit with the family
That’s great to hear Jody!! N x
Divine! A perfect nurturing meal for a cold, ‘quarantine’ evening and went so well with your ‘Easy Soft Flatbread’ which is now much-loved in this household. Love the sauciness too!
Yes!! I love ANYTHING saucy! 😂
Has anyone just made the chicken with marinade and made a sandwich out of it? Too lazy to make the curry sauce.
I like my chicken tikka masala to be very spicy. Should I just incrementally increase the amount of the cayenne pepper until I find the right spice level? Or do you have another suggestion?
Hi Melanie, yes just increase the cayenne to taste – N x
Well I made the mistake of not reading all the way through before I made it and I used chicken breasts but it was amazing. So delicious and easy to follow the recipe. My kids loved it too.
I’m so glad you still enjoyed it Lana, thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Does ‘cumin’ in the recipe refer to cumin seeds or ground cumin?
Hi Mae, ground cumin here – N x
We are south Indian and we ALWAYS get this at the Indian restaurant! This recipe rivals that of local restaurants and would easily be at par with them!! Thank you for your time and dedication in researching the best combination of ingredients!! You did not let me down!! Marinate the chicken overnight folks!!
I’m so glad you loved it Hailey (and home cooked is sooooo much better than store bought!) N x
Made this for my family who has never tried any type of Indian food before and they LOVED it! My father in law couldn’t stop eating it lol and he was the most skeptical of the bunch.
Will be making this many more times.
You’ve totally converted him Destinie, that’s great! N x
Made this with my (malaysian) boyfriend, who’s very picky when it comes to curry and we both LOVED it. Great recipe!
WAHOO!!! That’s awesome Marine! N x
I made this a few nights ago & it was delicious!! My husband said it was just as good if not better than our local Indian take away. We are going to be fighting over the leftovers today, thank you Nagi for another great recipe.
Wooo what a compliment!! Thanks so much Jacinta!