Smoked Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala a gorgeous Indian dish made of rich, creamy and very flavorful gravy with most luscious pieces of smoked chicken tikka.

Wish all the lovely people a very happy and a prosperous new year 2017. The year 2016 ended on a great note for me, delivered back to back cakes to some of my high profile clients. And the year end too calls for our 10 day annual road trip, the weather this time a great and pleasant everywhere and we can actually enjoy being outdoors. Going places & driving all day long is something which we enjoy, kids have been going with us when they were barely 2 and now they enjoy and do things they like. This time we decided to head towards Rajasthan and this state has lots to offer in terms of sightseeing, shopping. We planned to visit Jaiselmer – Jodhpur – Udaipur and then back (total around 3200 km) and trust me if you have not visited Jaiselmer you have not see what real Rajasthan is all about. Our trip was all about Jeep Safari at the sand dunes, experience a night in Swiss tent, mighty forts, visit huge palaces, staying with royal families, great rajasthani food and not to forget shopping artifacts which can only be found in Rajasthan. If you try to buy the same thing elsewhere then be prepared to pay hefty price for the hefty price for the same, plus you will not get the variety. It is impossible to sum up our trip experience in few words but I would say it as one of the best holidays till date. Hey I must tell you that we visited a haunted and abandoned village there in Jaiselmer considering my interest the Paranormal subject and I have to admit that it was an experience of its own. I intend to visit that place again in future and spend more time and understand things out there, but there are more such places in the world and lots of travelling needs to be done with of places to be discovered. As somebody rightly said “the best places in the world are between the pages of your passport”

Its me at the haunted village.

Enough of my travelling stories right, well now let’s talk about Smoked Chicken Tikka masala a dish which needs no introduction and the most popular after the very famous butter chicken. You know Butter chicken is the most popular dish with Athena & Arnav at home and they enjoy it thoroughly with some homemade garlic naan. My guests to love this to the moon and back, have you tried it?? If no, well then you must only to thank me later, recipe is on blog. The idea for using smoked chicken instead of the plain one in my tikka masala happened sometime back before going for our holidays to Rajasthan. Before travelling I had made these smoked chicken wraps for dinner and they turned out so finger licking good. These are pretty simple and I will share how to make them.

2017 will be all about loads of good food, healthy food, detox, bbq. Now that the weather is so good here in Pune and I’m totally refreshed after those awesome holidays, time to get my barbeque on roll and create some finger licking good food. With lots of ideas I see myself cooking more and more for VK, Athena & Arnav and not to forget my lovely friends. I love to host parties and I see doing that more and more.

Smoked Chicken masala that I made here is originally the recipe of the Michelin Starred Chef Vikas Khanna of the restaurant Junoon. He created this recipe for Masterchef Australia.

Coming back to my Smoked Chicken Tikka Masala, I must say that it was just mind blowingly delicious. My kitchen smelled heaven from that amazing smell of charcoal smoked chicken. After spending a lot of time in kitchen the efforts were all worth it. The final outcome of my work was this smooth, silky and so flavorful gravy with smoked chicken tikka. I paried it with some homemade garlic naans, salad and some steamed rice. A complete satisfying meal with the gravy that was rich and creamy but at the same time it felt light and that perfect hint of heat. A curry bursting with flavors and sure to do wonders to your palette and make you earn lots of praise. We loved it so much that I have made it twice in a week, I have made some alterations in the recipe according to my preference.

Thank you so much Chef Vikas Khanna for this amazing recipe, we loved it so much!!

Sharing the recipe.

Ingredients

· For the Chicken Tikka:

· 2 chicken breasts cut into cubes

· 1 medium onion cut into chunks and seperated

· 2 tsp ginger garlic paste

· 1 tsp coriander powder

· 2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

· 1 tsp garam masala

· ½ cup yogurt drained

· 1 tsp lemon juice

· 2 tsp mustard oil

· 2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped

· Salt as per taste

· For the tomato gravy:

· 5 medium tomatoes

· 6 cloves of garlic

· 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

· 3 tbsp oil

· 2 tbsp butter

· 1 medium red onion roughly chopped

· 1 inch fresh ginger roughly chopped

· 1 tbsp tomato paste

· ½ tsp cumin seeds

· 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

· 1 ½ tsp kasuri methi

· 2 tbsp fresh cream

· For the smoke:

· 1 piece of charcoal

· 1 small piece of cinnamon stick

· 1 black cardamom

· 1 tsp ghee or clarified butter

· For the coriander infused oil:

· 1 cup olive oil

· ¼ cup of dried red chillies

· ¼ cup of coriander seeds

· For garnish:

· Fresh cream

· Chopped coriander

Instructions

Wash the chicken breast thoroughly and chop into bite size pieces, add all the ingredients mentioned under chicken tikka and give a good mix. Refrigerate for 3 – 4 hours.

2. While the chicken is marinating we shall roast the tomatoes for our gravy. Take a roasting pan, add the roughly chopped tomatoes, garlic pods, coriander leaves and toss with 2 tbsp oil. Roast in the oven at 200 degrees C for about 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

3. Now let’s make our tikkas. Heat a grill pan and thread the marinated chicken pieces into a
skewer and grill till done. Alternately roast in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes at 200 degrees or till done.

4. Once the chicken tikkas are grilled, time to smoke them. Put the grilled chicken pieces in a
large bowl with a fitted lid. Heat charcoal on an open flame for about 10 minutes, once it is thoroughly heated through put it in a small bowl and place it in the centre of large bowl containing chicken tikkas, add the cinnamon, cardamom and 1 teaspoon of ghee and immediately cover with a tight fitting lid. Set it aside to smoke for about 6 -8 minutes.

5. Now for the gravy. Take a pan add 1 tbsp oil, once heated add the cumin seeds and let it splutter, add onion, ginger and cook stirring in between the onions begin to turn pink, will take about 5 – 6minutes or so. Now add the roasted tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, red chilli powder, kasuri methi, ½ cup water and cook further for about 5 – 8 minutes until the mixture comes together. Remove from heat, blend till smooth. Pass through a fine sieve.

6. Next put the pan back on medium flame and add 2 tbsp butter, once it begins to melt add the prepared sauce to it, add the garam masala and salt. Simmer for about 4 -5 minutes, check seasoning. Remove from flame and add the fresh cream, put it back on slow flame for about 2 – 3 minutes until heated through. Add the smoked chicken tikkas and give a good mix, set aside till serving.

7. Now for the chilli coriander oil. Pour the olive oil, dried red chilli and coriander seeds into a pan and heat thoroughly till the oil are just hot enough and not smoking. Stir in between and bash the chillies to allow them to release the flavor.

8. Upon cooling, pour the oil in the sterilized bottle and store. This process to be done 3 -4 days prior to all the flavors to infuse. Store and use as required.

9. Drizzle some chilli and coriander oil on top before serving and enjoy with some streamed rice, homemade garlic naan, some salad and there you have that perfect dinner ready

Signing off now for you to start cooking.

Thanks so much,