Chicken Tikka Masala: High Temps for Flavor
Based on the recipe found in The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook
Equipment
Ingredients
For the chicken tikkas
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1” cubes
- 1 C whole milk plain yogurt a thick variety like Greek yogurt is best
- 1 Tbsp minced or grated fresh ginger
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro stems
- 2 medium garlic cloves minced
For the masala sauce
- 3 Tbsp butter or vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion minced
- 1 Tbsp garam masala
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 medium garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp minced or freshly grated ginger
- 1 serrano chile minced remove seeds and ribs for less heat
- 1 28-oz can of crushed plain tomatoes
- 2 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅔ C cream
- ¼ C fresh chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
- Flatbread and basmati rice for serving
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Mince the aromatics: cilantro stems, ginger, and garlic.
- Mix the yogurt with the spices, salt, and aromatics together in a large bowl.
- Add the chicken pieces and stir gently to fully coat the chicken.
- Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Prepare the sauce
- Heat the butter over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven.
- Add the onion to the butter and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion begins to brown, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garam masala, tomato paste, ginger, serrano, and garlic and cook, stirring, until very fragrant, about 45—60 seconds.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and stir everything to combine. Be sure to scrape up any nice brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. If you’re not doing a tandoor-style cook, preheat your grill or oven to 425°F (218°C). (Now is a good time to prepare the rice.)
- Once the sauce has simmered, add the cream and stir to combine. Return to a simmer, kill the heat and cover the pot until the chicken is done cooking.
- If you’re using a kamado-style cooker as a tandoor, preheat it at least a half-hour before preparing the food. Set up Billows® BBQ Control Fan connected to your ThermaQ 2 with the Hi-Temp Flexible Ceramic Fiber-Insulated Probe as the air probe. Set the Billows target temp to 700°F (371°C) and let the grill heat.
Cook the chicken
- Thread all the chicken pieces onto your skewers.
- If using the kamado tandoor as we did, lower the skewers in through the top vent hole of the cooker, angling the tip of the skewers so that they wedge in the gap between the grill and the wall of the cooker. You can put a few in at a time if you’re careful with the angles.
- Turn the skewers every 5 or 6 minutes.
- Cook the chicken until it’s internal temperature reaches 160°F (71°C)—at this temperature, the chicken is safe to eat after 16.9 seconds. We found that at the ~600°F (316°C) temperature we were able to maintain it took about 12-15 minutes to cook.
- Check the temperature of each skewer in a few places with your Thermapen® ONE.
- As each skewer reaches the pull temp, remove it from the cooker.
- When all the skewers are done cooking, remove all the meat from the skewers to the masala-sauce pot. Add the chopped cilantro and stir to combine.
- Serve over fragrant basmati rice with warmed flatbreads and garnish everything with more cilantro.
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