Chicken Tikka

This British-Indian fusion of fantastic flavor is definitely a show-stopper! Yes, it might involve a quick trip to an ethnic store that carries some of these spices. I am telling you right now, this is totally worth it! This is a build-in-stages recipe where mise en place is such an important skillset to have.

STAGE ONE INGREDIENTS:

1/4 C Olive Oil

1 White onion, large, rough-diced

1 Ginger, thumb-sized (about 3"x 1"), peeled and small sliced (you can dice instead) 4-6 Garlic cloves, finely chopped 1/2 tsp Kosher salt 1/2 tsp Black pepper

STAGE TWO INGREDIENTS: 8 oz Tomatoes, chopped 8 oz Tomato juice 3-4 Red Chili, chopped, stem removed 2 TB Cane sugar STAGE THREE INGREDIENTS: 2 TB Turmeric Powder 2TB Garam Masala 1 TB Paprika, smoked 1 tsp Cumin Seeds 1 tsp Cardamom powder

STATE FOUR INGREDIENT: 1/4 C - 1/2 C Greek Yogurt (or more - to your liking)

1.) In a saute pan on medium-high heat, add your oil and stage one ingredients. Continuously stir your ingredients while cooking as you want to help caramelize the onions, garlic and ginger as much as possible. Do not walk away from this as these have a high chance of burning. Depending on the side of your diced items, this can take about 15-20 minutes roughly. Once your onions are cooked through, you are ready for the next step.

2.) Add your stage two ingredients. Again, keep stirring constantly as we want this to concentrate. Again, do NOT walk away as this requires consistent stirring of the ingredients. This can take about 10-15 minutes depending on what you are using for a pan, heat source, etc...

3.) Add your stage three ingredients. Your spices will enhance all of the flavors you have brought together. Mix these spices in well and you will notice this starts to thicken into a paste-like consistency. Reduce the heat to low after about 5 minutes. Once the spices are absorbed, remove from heat and into a food processor next!

Stage two and three. Key element in stage two is to continue to stir this through and allow the tomatoes to break down and the juice to concentrate. Stage three involves adding the spices and mixing into a paste.

4.) Add your stage four ingredient: You are now ready to add your yogurt. Add 1/4 C and puree this through. You want this to be as smooth as possible. Taste-test this and determine if you want more creamy elements to this. Add another 1/4 C worth of your yogurt and repeat. You will notice the color gets lighter as you add more yogurt to this. That is ok.

Make sure to taste this and add more seasoning to your own liking.

Stage four: Adding the Greek yogurt in to help add more creamy textures.

Recommendations: Marinate vegetables, squash, eggplant, tofu. Marinate chicken, large shrimp, salmon, scallops, pork, beef. This recipe will make approximately one quart. I used half the batch to marinate chicken thighs over night in a foiled dish and baked at 400°F/204°C for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. The marinade and the chicken fat were all collected into a mixing bowl and with a whisk, this was whipped into a very smooth sauce to ladle over the chicken.

Serve with basmati rice, roasted or stir-fry vegetables and garnish with fresh lime and cilantro leaves. A light dusting of smoked paprika give the sauce a nice little “warming blanket” of flavor.