Who doesn't love chicken tikka right? And there are so many different marinades to try out! Though nothing tastes as good as chicken tikka made in a tandoor (a traditional clay oven commonly used in India), a garden BBQ grill comes close, and an electric home oven isn't too bad. Since this is a quick (if you exclude the marination time) and easy (but delicious) chicken tikka recipe, we'll use our kitchen oven.
Prep Time: 4 hr
Cook Time: 50 min
Total Time: 4 hr 50 min
Ingredients
Boneless chicken breast/thigh meat - 500g
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Ginger - 5 inches
Garlic - 12 cloves
Green chilli - 1
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - 1 tbsp
Salt
Black pepper - 1 tsp
Olive oil
Bamboo skewers
Instructions
Dice the chicken into chunky pieces
Prick the chicken with a fork
Blend the ginger, garlic and chilli together in a grinder
Spoon the yogurt into a mixing bowl
Add the ginger-garlic-chilli
Sprinkle turmeric powder
Grind a tsp of black pepper
Add salt to taste
Mix thoroughly with a spoon
Add the kasoori methi and mix again
Now add the chicken pieces and coat evenly with the marinade
Cover and place in the fridge. Ideally overnight, but 3-4 hours will do too. For 30 mins at least, if you really don't have the time!
Pre-heat your oven at 180 degrees celcius for 10 mins
While your oven is heating up, soak your skewers in water for about 2 mins
Then skewer your chicken pieces
Arrange them on a roasting tin, resting them on the edge, so they can drip into the tin
Drizzle olive oil on them and place in the oven for 30-40 mins, until the chicken is cooked through, browning, and charring around the corners. Turn the skewers around and drizzle a little more oil half-way through them baking
Serve on the skewers or push them off. Taste great with some minty yogurt or coriander dip on the side!
Notes
Add some green peppers and red onions cut into chunky pieces to your marinade too and skewer those along with the chicken, for more flavour!
P.S. Check out my BBQ paneer tikka recipe for a lovely vegetarian complement to your chicken