By Chintan Pandya
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus 3 hours marinating
- Rating
- 4(612)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Traditionally, Indian chicken tikka — skewered boneless chicken pieces that have been marinated in assertive spices and cooling yogurt — is cooked in a clay tandoor oven, stacking layers of smoke upon layers of spice. But this murgh tikka recipe from Chintan Pandya, the chef and a partner at Unapologetic Foods, a New York restaurant group that runs Masalawala & Sons, Dhamaka, Semma and Adda Indian Canteen, captures the essence of the dish with the convenience of an oven. Juicy chicken thighs are marinated twice: The first marinade is a quick 10-minute rest in salt, vinegar and ginger-garlic paste, while the second is a 3- to 4-hour dip in yogurt punctuated with deggi mirch (a vibrant red chile powder), garam masala and turmeric. Don’t expect the yogurt to mute the flavors: It adds a level of creaminess, but the spices dominate this dish. — Alexa Weibel
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 1(2-inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled
- 6garlic cloves, peeled
- 2½pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1½-inch pieces
- ¼cup malt vinegar
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 4teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
- ¼cup melted unsalted butter, for basting
- Naan or Roomali roti (optional), for serving
- 1cup plain yogurt
- 3tablespoons malt vinegar
- 2tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons deggi mirch (red chile powder)
- 1tablespoon garam masala
- 1teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- 4teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
For the Ginger-garlic Paste
For the Chicken
For the Yogurt Marinade
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
419 calories; 19 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 42 grams protein; 698 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the ginger-garlic paste: Using a blender or mini food processor, mince or blend the ginger and garlic to form a paste, adding water (about ¼ cup) as needed to thin. The ginger-garlic paste makes more than you’ll need (about ⅓ cup total) and will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator, or you can portion and freeze in an ice cube tray.
Step
2
Prepare the chicken: In a medium bowl, marinate the chicken with the malt vinegar, salt and 4 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste; let rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
Step
3
Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt marinade: In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt, malt vinegar, deggi mirch, garam masala, turmeric, salt and 4 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste. Squeeze the chicken, discarding excess liquid, and add the chicken to the yogurt marinade; stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Step
4
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Set a wire rack over an aluminum foil-lined large baking sheet. Remove the chicken from the marinade and thread onto skewers. Place the skewers on the wire rack, spacing apart. Bake until the chicken is just starting to brown on the ends, about 15 minutes.
Step
5
Brush each skewer with the melted butter and continue baking until browned and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes more. Serve with naan or roti, if you’d like.
Ratings
4
out of 5
612
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Lori Putnam
Unfortunately, as I started to make it, I realized we were out of two key ingredients! We live 30 miles from a grocery, so I had to make substitutions for the garam masala and the deggi mirch. So, if you have to make those same subs, let me offer what I used:For the deggi mirch: 1/2 T hot, smoked paprika + 1/2 T cayenne pepper.For the garam masala: 3 T coriander + 2 T cumin + 2 T cardamon + 2 T black pepper + 1 tsp nutmeg + 1/2 tsp cinnamon + 1 tsp cloves.Yummmmmmm
Z S
What can I substitute for the malt vinegar?
cincynatty
Substitute malt vinegar with lemon juice. The two-step marination is the foundation of a lot of tikka recipes. Added step: during the second (yogurt marination), whisk in a tablespoon of Besan (chickpea flour) to the yogurt and spices. This aids the marinade to “stick” to the meat during the grilling/baking.
pizza
I’ll undercook the meat slightly and finish it on top of a pizza, one similar in style to the Indian pies of the Bay Area and Edison, N.J., among other places: a tomato sauce brightened with ginger and garlic; a bunch of shredded mozzarella and Cheddar; some cilantro leaves in place of the usual basil; everything studded with chicken tikka.
stephanie
deggi mirch is a type of kashmiri chili powder. in my opinion, it is unique. this is the one i buy on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MYRUYAI/i really recommend picking some up. it is mild but flavorful. if you really can't spring the extra few bucks, i would sub a combo of good quality paprika (sweet/hot/smoked).
Nancy
My MIL would’ve used lemon juice but apple cider vinegar would work too.
Vin C
Fine version and great on grill too. A little time saving thing I do - chop a lot of garlic and ginger in the food processor, put it in a ziplock bag and smooth it out to about 3/8” thick. Stick it in the freezer. Break off what you need. I do half and half, then add one or the other to match the recipe. I grow a lot of garlic and I use up the ones that look like they won’t store well like this. I also put the tough part of the scapes in there.
Nancy
How about lemon juice instead of malt vinegar? Or apple cider vinegar.
CN
This is truly a must try recipe. I made it today. but made the following changes: 1. Kept chicken in marinade for 8 hours2. Combined the leftover marinade with a 13 Oz can of fire roasted tomatoes and 1 T curry, 1 T Garam Masala, 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)…simmer. Serve as sauce over Basmati rice
JG
Enjoyed this recipe - chicken very tender and tasty. Only issue was amount of marinade remaining on chicken, leaving a slightly gritty texture. Not sure what the best way of removing some of the marinade to give a cleaner look, more like the picture accompanying the recipe. Any suggestions?
melp
Try sherry vinegar
EvieP
This is a great weeknight dish. I actually bake it in a pyrex dish in the oven leaving most of the marinade on top, so it's different from a usual Tikka Masala, but we love it this way. It comes out more like a curry with sauce. Easy and flavorful.
Kari
Sam sifting suggestion - undercook then make an Indian pizza - tomato sauce with ginger and garlic, mozzarella, and cilantro
SGS
Romali (handkerchief) roti is a very thin and stretchy bread. Loads of videos on YouTube about it you can check out.
Tani
Wonderful taste, but would only marinate chicken for 2 hours next time as it got a little soft with 3 hours.
KK
I'm Indian and so are my parents. I am fairly new to cooking (and this is the first Indian dish I have ever attempted). My family loved it, and they are harsh critics! Took me a while, and I used Desi yogurt + true Indian spices for the garam masala and deggi mirch. I could have dialed down the ginger. Otherwise, was perfect and the texture/consistency was authentic. Highly recommend!
Andrea
Too spicy for my family! I would try again with just 1 T of the chili powder. More time consuming than I expected.
Berndo
Subbed apple cider vinegar for the malt vinegar since we somehow couldn't find it at the supermarket. Worked out just fine. Will make again!
Michael
Five stars. This is a great recipe - follow it, no need for changes.
CN
This is truly a must try recipe. I made it today. but made the following changes: 1. Kept chicken in marinade for 8 hours2. Combined the leftover marinade with a 13 Oz can of fire roasted tomatoes and 1 T curry, 1 T Garam Masala, 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)…simmer. Serve as sauce over Basmati rice
EvieP
This is a great weeknight dish. I actually bake it in a pyrex dish in the oven leaving most of the marinade on top, so it's different from a usual Tikka Masala, but we love it this way. It comes out more like a curry with sauce. Easy and flavorful.
Nancy from Queens
You should halve all of the spices at each step, UNLESS your guest or family member has lived in India or thrives on very, very spicy traditional recipes. Also, the chicken was done in 10 minutes after the second round of baking in my oven. A bit juicy only, very much cooked through, which was fine for me. I will try this again with reduced (halved) spices.
Kitfo
Breaks down if marinates any longer than recipe indicates. Vinegar lends odd flavor.
Happy Eyeball
As written except subbed Kashmiri chili pepper. Web search said it was similar. A whole lot of heat, need to cut it in half next time. Otherwise nice.
Kirk
Did anyone else find this unpleasantly hot? The only variance I made from the recipe was Icelandic yogurt when my local stores had no plain, regular yogurt.
GBH
This was good but a lot of effort. I too wound up with quite a bit more marinade clinging to the chicken after marinating and what we didn't shake off before cooking wound up being a bit grainy when we were done. Worth trying again, though.
Heather A
Absolutely Delish and spicy! served with brown basmati rice and homemade Saag Paneer. Got the proper spices from a local Indian market and well worth the trip.
Denise
This was an epic fail. The vinegar broke down the thigh meat to the point that the texture was like cat food. Super upset and disappointed!
Vin C
Fine version and great on grill too. A little time saving thing I do - chop a lot of garlic and ginger in the food processor, put it in a ziplock bag and smooth it out to about 3/8” thick. Stick it in the freezer. Break off what you need. I do half and half, then add one or the other to match the recipe. I grow a lot of garlic and I use up the ones that look like they won’t store well like this. I also put the tough part of the scapes in there.
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