Chicken Tikka Masala
Ive been cooking scratch built curries for more than 30 years so I have a pretty good feel for what’s needed to create a certain dish and Chicken Tikka Masala has always been a favourite so I set about creating a lower calorie version of this popular and very British curry. I follow my hero Pat Chapman curry bible recipes although his are definite special day curries full off flavour and calories too. For this recipe I took what I needed to create the taste and look but with far fewer calories.
Im very pleased to say that after 2 attempts I think I have it sorted. My regular dish started with a 72 hour marinade and then cooking real chicken tikka, This is very much a simplified version taking only 4-8 hours to marinade and an hour to cook.
Ingredients for 4 servings (we freeze 2)
Marinade
- 500gm chicken breast chopped
- 300gm low fat greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- half tbsp Coriander
- half tbsp Cumin
- half tbsp Garam masala (I make my own but you can buy jars in the supermarket spice cabinet)
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- half tbsp garlic powder
- half tbsp ground ginger
- half tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder (I make my own its easy and fun)
- Juice of a lemon or lime
Masala Sauce
- 2 large onions chopped
- Large tin of plum tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 red peppers sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic crushed
- half tbsp garam masala
- Fresh coriander
Raita side dish
- 150gm low fat greek yoghurt
- 2 tbsp granulated sweetener
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp mint sauce
Method
Combine the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and add the chicken diced into 1″ chunks. Cover and pop into the fridge for 4 to 8 hours. The longer the better really.
Chop and fry the onions in low cal spray oil for about 10-15 minutes until they turn a lovely brown tarka then add the garlic and garam masala and cook for a couple of minutes then add the marinated chicken into the pan leaving a little of the yoghurt marinade for the end. Once the chicken is starting to cook through add the tomato and the puree and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the sliced pepper and cook for another 5 minutes then the remaining yoghurt marinade and fresh coriander and cook on low for about 10 minutes to combine.
Today I cooked this on my kamado classic 3 using my cast iron Karahi and the accessory ring.
For the Raita just simply combine everything in a bowl.
Tips.
We served ours with rice and popadoms. Absolute weekend treat without the loaded calories.
If you cooked this or any of my recipes then please do let me know how it went, I would love some feedback.
