The best Chicken Tikka Masala recipe

Chicken tikka masala. Take me back. I am so excited. I love this and all of these amazing spices I cannot wait. Oh, I know it's so you can't go wrong with a curry I reckon and I do like to there's nothing wrong with using a curry powder But you know what it is nice to kind of use the individual spices Don't you think? I love this and because I think a lot of people at home find Indian cooking a little bit daunting They think so many spices so many steps But I think you're going to show them today that Indian can be cooked at home Easily and be just as amazing as takeaway. I totally agree. No less talking. We're in action. Oh Give me something. I need you to do a job for me. Can you slice the onions? I sure can slice rather than dice. I got ya. I got ya. So you're using chicken thighs I'm using chicken thighs because they're a bit more flavorful There is a little bit more fat in a chicken thigh, but that's what keeps it really really moist That's right, and they're a bit more forgiving than chicken breast too because you can dry out a chicken breast really easy Exactly, and you know what you get more minerals. There's more iron and zinc in the chicken thigh Oh, so yeah, I'm a fan. I think it works really well. Onions are done Do you want me to do something with the ginger as well now? I find if it's really fresh ginger you can actually just finely chop it But if you don't like chunks of ginger and your food then by all means grate it if it's an older ginger Then grate it because you'll get rid of some of that woody part, but that looks nice and fresh I think it's nice chopped Okay, I think that's browned enough, so I'm just going to remove my chicken from the pan because I don't want it to overcook This browning stage is really important because it seals in the flavor in the chicken And it stops it just from poaching in the sauce which is not what we want. I've still got plenty of oil in that pan So I'm just going to add my onions. Love it. And lots of onions work really really well Okay, so I'm going to throw in here some garlic be generous with your garlic Are you ready for some ginger action? I'm ready for your ginger. Do you want to throw it straight in the pan for me? So we're being very very generous with the spices. I think that's the trick to a curry. Don't hold back No, go for it. What's incredible about spices, you know, we think of them just as about flavoring your food But when you look at a lot of Eastern medicine and they use them in a much more medicinal way Yeah, and science is catching up with that now and actually analyzing and looking at what is in all of these spices and what might Be really good for us and that's what's incredible. So there are lots of different not just antioxidant but anti-inflammatory effects They're really good for your heart, for your gut, reducing inflammation in your body So there's a whole load even antiviral and antibacterial kind of effects. So I'm popping in some cayenne That's the spicy one. Bring the heat. Bring the heat. So if you like more heat, more cayenne, less heat, use less cayenne This is just a lovely paprika This one is a mixture of cumin and coriander Like a classic curry mix. You can't do a curry without cumin and coriander. They're probably the two I use the most You've probably heard about turmeric because it's become a popular supplement, right? You get turmeric lattes and turmeric. Turmeric really is anti-inflammatory So it's got some fabulous effects, but it also gives that classic Indian curry color Because it gives that gorgeous orange and then just make sure you fry off your spices You'll know that they're cooking because you'll smell them in the air. I love it Really important to toast off your spices because it really helps to bring out all of those flavors. It's gorgeous Okay, so now I'm gonna start putting in my yogurt Perhaps you can make me up some stock Tim. Yeah So I'm just gonna add the yogurt slowly a spoon at a time just so that it combines really well with my spices And then I'm just adding a can of tomatoes And then just use back of your spoon to break up the tomatoes Combine it into the sauce That's only been going for a couple of minutes and look at that amazing color already, isn't it? That's your classic classic curry sauce and this is just a chicken stock and I've used one of those lovely concentrated packets Might not need it all. Mm-hmm. I'm just gonna see because I don't want there to be so much sauce Chicken goes back in the pot. The other great thing about curry is it's always better the next day. Yes It's just had time to sit overnight and develop those flavors for now I'm just gonna pop that lid on and cook it for at least 20 minutes Preferably half an hour at least until the chickens cooked through but you could leave it longer That's what's great about curry love as long as you need to leave it We're ready for my curry Tim How clever is this So this is just a wholemeal basmati mixed with some wild rice and whole grain rices give you that extra fiber the extra nutrients But they do take longer to cook. So I think this is just a really clever way of making it so convenient It's ready two minutes in the microwave Two minutes. I know so good. So and it's that mixture. I love the way it's got the whole if you've never tried wild rice It's beautifully nutty and and kind of gives fabulous texture. I think to the rice So we've got our curry ready now Those chicken thighs. I loved how you've left them in big chunks. So you don't lose them. Yeah, I like that, too You know, I think there's a tendency sometimes with chicken to chop it up too small and then it just dries out Absolutely, and you know, you could serve some wholemeal roti bread on the side of that some Papa Dom's Papa Tom's I would serve actually and I would do a dal with some lentils to serve on the side You know If you're gonna do an Indian feast and pop all the dishes in the center of the table So you've got the rice you could have a raita. I would serve some greens So, you know, I've just put some fresh greens with this But it could also just be some gorgeous spinach or okra or any of those kind of more Indian type vegetables And you know what? That's gonna be a family favorite. I reckon dig in Tim dig in Mmm That chicken is so tender That sauce is so flavorful not too spicy. So I think this is something that the kids could really enjoy as well Yeah, I think so. And if you want less heat just take down the cayenne is the thing to do I think your Scotland brethren would be very very proud of you right now. Who'd have thought a Scottish curry?