Indian Recipes
Chicken Tikka Masala
The curry-house favourite made at home: chicken given a quick lemon-and-chilli rub, then a long yoghurt marinade, charred on skewers and finished in a deeply savoury masala of slow-browned onions, tomato, ground almonds and cream.
- Serves 4
- Marinate 4 hrs–overnight
- Cook about 50 min
- Medium heat
- British Indian
Method
Toss the chicken (750 g) with the lemon juice (1 lemon), chilli powder (1 tsp) and salt (1 tsp) and leave for 20 minutes while you mix the yoghurt marinade.
In a large bowl stir together the yoghurt (150 g), garlic (3 cloves), ginger (15 g), garam masala (2 tsp), cumin (1 tsp), ground coriander (1 tsp), paprika (1 tsp) and turmeric (½ tsp). Add the chicken with its juices, mix well, cover and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Heat the grill to its highest setting. Thread the chicken on to skewers (soak wooden ones in water first), leaving small gaps between the pieces, and lay them on a rack over a foil-lined tray. Brush with the melted ghee (20 g).
Grill close to the heat for 10–12 minutes, turning once or twice, until charred in places. The chicken can be very slightly underdone at this point, because it finishes in the sauce.
Meanwhile, start the sauce. Heat the oil (2 tbsp) in a wide pan over a medium heat, add the onions (2 onions) and cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring often, until deep golden brown. This slow browning is what gives tikka masala its depth, so do not rush it.
Add the garlic (3 cloves), ginger (15 g) and green chilli (1) and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cumin (1 tsp), ground coriander (2 tsp), paprika (2 tsp) and turmeric (½ tsp) and cook for 1 minute, adding a splash of water if they start to stick.
Stir in the tomato purée (2 tbsp) for a minute, then add the chopped tomatoes (400 g), ground almonds (30 g), sugar (1 tsp) and 200 ml of water. Simmer for 15 minutes until thick. For a smooth, restaurant-style sauce, blend it now.
Stir in the cream (150 ml), then slide the chicken off the skewers into the sauce along with any juices from the tray. Simmer gently for 5–8 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Stir in the second measure of garam masala (1 tsp), check the seasoning and scatter with coriander (to serve). Serve with pilau rice, naan or chapatis.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
See also
Chef’s notes
- Two marinades work best: the quick lemon, chilli and salt rub seasons the meat right through, and the yoghurt coating chars and keeps it moist.
- No grill? Cook the skewers on a very hot barbecue, or in the oven at the highest setting on a rack for 15–20 minutes.
- Thigh meat is more forgiving than breast. If you use breast, take it off the grill as soon as it is charred.
- Tikka masala is a little spicier and more onion-rich than butter chicken, which is milder and silkier. See the link below for that recipe.
- The sauce keeps for 3 days in the fridge and freezes well; add freshly grilled chicken when you reheat it.
A British curry-house classic
Chicken tikka masala is a British creation. Glasgow’s Shish Mahal restaurant claimed it in the 1970s, saying a customer wanted sauce with his dry chicken tikka, although other restaurants have made similar claims.
By the 1990s it was one of the most-ordered dishes in Britain, and in 2001 Foreign Secretary Robin Cook called it “a true British national dish”.
How this recipe was developed
We compared versions by Laxmi Khurana, Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver and Christopher Kimball (Cook’s Illustrated) with the most-rated recipes on Allrecipes and Serious Eats.
- A quick salt rub, then a long yoghurt marinade. Cook’s Illustrated salts and spices the chicken before coating it in yoghurt; Serious Eats uses a salty yoghurt marinade; Laxmi Khurana marinates her chicken tikka for most of a day.
- Char it hard and leave it slightly underdone. Serious Eats and Cook’s Illustrated both grill hot for char and let the chicken finish in the sauce. Rick Stein brushes it with ghee first.
- Slow-browned onions and toasted spices. Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver build the sauce on well-browned onions with cumin, coriander, paprika and turmeric.
- Ground almonds and cream. Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver thicken with ground almonds; Allrecipes, Rick Stein and Serious Eats finish with cream. Jamie’s coconut milk was not adopted.
- Thighs by default. Serious Eats prefers thighs for juiciness; Allrecipes, Rick Stein and Cook’s Illustrated use breast, which we give as an option.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 31 October 2026):
- Laxmi Khurana: Chicken Tikka (An Indian Housewife's Recipe Book), Bookey chapter summary
- Rick Stein: Chicken tikka masala with chapatis and pilau rice (4.7/5, 21 ratings)
- Jamie Oliver: Chicken Tikka Masala (Comfort Food), The Happy Foodie (4.2/5, 6 ratings)
- Christopher Kimball (Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen)): Chicken Tikka Masala
- Serious Eats (J. Kenji López-Alt): The Best Chicken Tikka Masala (4.8/5, 19 ratings)
- Allrecipes: Chicken Tikka Masala (4.4/5, 2,951 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.