GBK Cooks Winter Warmers- Jamie Oliver's Chicken Tikka Masala

Jamie Oliver's Chicken Tikka Masala

Back in January I wrote in my Blog about the rise in Popularity of curry in the UK and quoted from a recipe book I bought for Christmas called "Curry Nation"

(Cooking up some curries for the New Year)

One of the quotes I used was about Chicken Tikka Masala:

" So popular has curry become in the UK that former Foreign secretary, Robin Cook, declared that Chicken Tikka Masala was more popular than Fish and Chips. A pub chain in the UK, Wetherspoons, now sells 15,000 servings of Chicken Tikka Masala a WEEK! Up market UK Retailer Marks & Spencer sells 18 tonnes of it a week. Apparently if all the Chicken Tikka served in Britain in one year was piled up it would form a tower 2,270 times taller than the Millennium Dome!"

Source: Jaffrey, M 2021: Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Nation, Britain’s 100 favourite curries. London: Ebury Press.

So I decided to add this popular dish to my Winter Warmer series , but used a different recipe, this one from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food Recipe book.

My lovely recipe book from Miss Andrea!

For those who missed the last Blog this recipe comes from a great recipe book I received from my former work colleague, Miss Andrea for Christmas 2020 . As I had already sent my belongings ( including , by accident , all of my cookbooks ) to the Philippines this excellent recipe book has remained with me in Bahrain . Hence I was making winter warmers as the temperature hit 41 degrees in Bahrain!

Just a little background from Jamie on this dish:

" Without question chicken tikka masala is a brilliant curry that makes people very happy. Of course its inspired by fantastic Indian cooking , but is in fact an Anglo-Indian evolution, created to suit British palates. When you make it you will be super- proud- you can use top quality chicken , its loads of fun to marinate * and grill, the method rocks, and it's highly unlikely you'll find a better expression. I love to make my own paratha breads to serve with it too!"

Source: Jamie's Comfort Food , Michael Joseph, Penguin 2014

* Please note the chicken should marinate overnight in the fridge

So let's get started with the recipe

The Marinade ( at least 2 hours, preferably overnight)

Firstly use a frying pan to warm one teaspoon each of Cumin, Cloves, Paprika and Garam Masala for one minute ( no oil) and then put this in a large bowl. Next add the grated zest of one lemon and all its juice , and 6 crushed garlic cloves.

Jake- remember what I told you about the ginger!

Peel a thumb sized piece of ginger and grate it and add to the bowl with 6 heaped tablespoons of Natural Yogurt and a teaspoon of sea salt. Finally take 800 grams of skinless boneless chicken breasts and chop them into 5 cm cubes. Add these to the bowl and mix it all together.

As Jamie says , do not forget to use high quality chicken , like this from Alosra!

If you are going to grill or BBQ the chicken arrange the chunks on skewers with one green chili cut into short lengths and one lemon cut into quarters arranged between the chicken cubes ( e.g. Lemon, chicken x 2, chili, chicken x 2, lemon, chicken x 2, chili and lemon) . This recipe serves 6 so you want 3 large skewers or 6 smaller ones. Do not squash the chicken and lemon together too much ( remember your social distancing). Place the skewers on a tray, cover in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours or preferably overnight.

The one pot marinade version!

The last time I made this was in my one electric ring studio flat in Bahrain so I just left the chicken and lemon and chili in a bowl and fried it in batches in hot oil the next day.

The Sauce

Dice 2 onions and fry in olive oil in a large saucepan and then add 4 cloves of garlic and 2 red chilis and the stalks of a bunch of Coriander. I learnt from a Chef friend a while back that whenever a recipe tells you to fry Onion and garlic always fry the onion first ( as it takes longer being bigger) and then the garlic! Cook the mix for 20 minutes ( it smells amazing) . Then add 1 level tablespoon ground coriander, 2 level teaspoons of Turmeric 1 heaped teaspoon each of smoked paprika and garam masala. Cook for 2 minutes and add 6 tablespoons of ground almonds.

Now you pour in 2 cans of plum tomatoes, crumble in a chicken stock cube and add 300 ml boiling water ( I nearly filled the empty tomato can with the boiling water but forgot how hot it would be!) and simmer for 5 minutes. Finally add two cans of light coconut milk ( in my one pot kitchen I now had to split the mixture between two pots ) and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and seasoning to perfection.

Two pots of chicken tikka masala sauce- it tastes delicious but there are 2 missing ingredients!

The chicken!

When you are ready to eat drizzle the chicken skewers with a little olive oil and then grill on a hot barbecue or in a screaming hot griddle pan or under a hot grill , turning until its very golden and gnarly on all sides. I fried mine in a hot frying pan on my one electric ring!

When its cooked place the chicken into the Tikka Masala sauce and now you add the final secret ingredient....

HOT LEMON JUICE-

Use tongs to squeeze the lemon from the chicken skewers into the Tikka Masala sauce, to taste, and stir.

Finally, after you simmer the dish for 2 minutes , it is ready to serve with a little more yogurt, sprinkled with coriander leaves on a bed of fluffy Basmati rice or with Parathas and Poppadum's and chutneys.

For me the accompaniments are the thing that really make a good Chicken Tikka Masala! Sadly I had given my Mango Chutney to Mad Max when he was in Quarantine and forgot to buy some more!