Kavita's Kitchen: Chicken Tikka Masala

"Mom You Are The Best, I am going to miss the food you cook & miss you so much when I go to college " said my daughter, in that order :) Yes- This is one of her favorite dishes, despite the fact that she is a vegetarian. She loves the masala and sometimes will try a tiny piece of chicken :) This also happens to be mine & my husband's favorite. Every time we ate out in the restaurants, this dish was a must- order. Somehow I believed this dish would not taste the way it does in the restaurant if prepared at home. Until the day I watched Sanjeev Kapoor's show on the T.V. and he demonstrated the preparation for this dish. I was positive about the dish tasting the way it does in the resturants, after watching the recipe and prepared this for one of the gatherings with our friends. Honestly, everyone was licking their fingers and payed too many contended compliments :) I trust my culinary innovations and do make slight changes to even the expert's recipes, so this recipe is also tweaked here & there. The end result is bound to satiate all buds on your tounge . I BET you :)!!!

Here's to a Happy Halloween- Cheers : )!!!

Ingredients:
Serves: 4
Time: 30-40 minutes

Chicken Breast : 1 Pound (Cut into 1-2 inch pieces)
Lemon Juice: 3 tbsp
Hung Curd: 1 Cup
Sour cream: 1 tbsp
Ginger: 2 tbsp
Garlic: 2 tbsp
onion: 3 medium sized ( grated or grind them in the mixer/food processor)
Tomato puree: 1 cup
Butter melted: 3 tbsp
Mustard oil: 2 tbsp
Cumin: 1tsp
Coriander: 1 tbsp( Roasted and ground)
Cumin: 1 tbsp(Roasted and ground)
Kashmiri red chilli Powder: 2 tsp( Use chilli powder which is deep red in color but mild in heat)
Kasoori methi/fenugreek leaves dried: 1 tsp( roasted and crushed)

Method:
Take the chicken pieces in a bowl and add salt,lemon juice, and chilli powder 1/2 tsp,and mix well and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

Marination Process:
Take the chicken out from the refrigerator and add hung curd,half of ginger garlic paste,garam masala, 1/2 tsp of chilli powder, and 2 tbsp of mustard oil. Mix well & marinate this for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile get the onion & tomato masala ready for the gravy.
Method:
Take a kadai and heat 3 tbsp butter. When the butter is hot add cumin seeds and when they start to crackle and turn brown add the grated onion. Fry the onion well till it turns a deep golden brown.

Add the remaining ginger & garlic paste,salt and fry for couple minutes.Now add the roasted cumin and coriander powder,garam masala & chilli powder, to this masala/paste. Cook for couple minutes more and now add the tomato puree,continue to cook till the oil separates on the edges.

This is how it should look. The masala/gravy is ready. Now remove the marinated chicken,and thread them onto the skewers and grill/broil them in the preheated oven @ 400 degree Fahrenheit for 15- 20 minutes,till the chciken is well cooked.

The chicken is ready. You can now remove the chicken pieces from the skewers and add these to the masala in the kadai. Let them cook for couple minutes on reduced flame. Now take the roasted fenugreek leaves,crush them and add to the gravy along with 1 tbsp of sour cream. Garnish the dish with cilantro and enjoy this with Naan,I just did:)