Best Ever Homemade Chicken Tikka | Better Than Restaurant Chicken Tikka Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Servings
 
Ingredients
  • Chicken thighs or breast – 500 gms, boneless & skinless
  • Onion – 1, large
  • Green bell pepper/capsicum – 1, medium
  • Red bell pepper/capsicum – 1, medium
  • Mustard oil – 1 tbsp
  • Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
  • Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
  • Cumin powder – 1 tbsp
  • Dry mango powder/Amchur powder – 1 tsp
  • Garam masala – ½ tsp
  • Ginger-garlic paste – 2 tbsp
  • Cashew paste – 2 tbsp
  • Fresh cream – 2 tbsp
  • Tomato paste/puree – 2 tbsp
  • Sugar – 1 tsp
  • Kasuri methi – 1 tsp
  • Hung curd – ¼ cup, tightly packed
  • Roasted gram flour / besan – 1 tbsp
  • Butter – 25 gms/2 tbsp, melted
  • Salt to taste (about 1 tsp for 500 gms chicken)
Instructions
  1. Wash and pat dry the chicken well. Now cut the boneless chicken (breast or thighs) into thin small square shapes of about 1-inch length. Cutting into thin pieces is important for the marinate to penetrate and infuse the meat deeply.
  2. Cut the onion into big chunks – about 1-inch and then separate the layers to get onion petals. Cut each bell pepper/capsicum into 1-inch long pieces. Wash and let them dry in a colander.
  3. Now let’s prepare the chicken tikka marinade. In a large bowl, add mustard oil, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, dry mango powder and garam masla. Mix all the spices thoroughly using a wire whisk or fork.
  4. Next add ginger-garlic paste, cashew paste, fresh cream, tomato puree, sugar, kasuri methi and salt to taste to the same bowl. Whisk thoroughly to make a uniform mixture.
  5. Finally add the hung curd and roasted gram flour. Using hung curd is super important for making perfect chicken tikka. Whisk the curd in to mix with all the spices and aromatics to make a perfectly homogenous tikka marinade.
  6. Now it’s time to add the chicken pieces and the veggies. Drop in all the chopped veggies & chicken and mix them with the yogurt marinade preferably using your hand as that would best coat the chicken & veggies. Feel free to use a spatula if you are not comfortable using your hand for mixing.
  7. Once all the chicken pieces and veggies are nicely coated, cover the bowl tightly with a cling wrap and leave it to marinate in refrigerator for 8 hours for best result. If you cannot wait that long, you can grill them after 2 hours.
  8. Before skewering your chicken into bamboo sticks, soak them in water for 30 minutes; soaking will ensure that the sticks do not burn in the oven while grilling. At this time, preheat your oven to 200 C / 400 F and place the wire rack at the topmost level of your oven.
  9. After your chicken has marinated for sufficient duration, it’s time to skewer them. Thread a set of bell pepper, onion petal & chicken alternatively into a skewer leaving 1-inch gap at both ends of the stick. You should be able to thread this amount of chicken & veggies into 6 to 7 10-inch long sticks.
  10. Take a baking sheet and place a grilling rack on top. Place the skewered chicken tikkas on top of the grilling rack in a single layer i.e. do not place one stick on top of another; if your rack is not big enough to hold all the sticks at one go, then grill them in batches for uniform grilling, else your chicken will remain raw inside and will burn at the outside.
  11. Now it’s time to grill. Place the baking sheet with chicken tikkas at the topmost level of your oven and switch to broil mode. This is how I get the maximum smokiness in homemade grills as the chicken get the direct heat and is in very close contact to the heat source.
  12. Grill them at 200 C for 15 minutes. Then take them out and brush with melted butter. Flip them over and brush the other side too with melted butter.
  13. Return the chicken tikkas to the oven under similar setting and grill them further for another 15 minutes or until you notice any pink in the chicken pieces. The chicken must get charred on the outside and should be completely cooked through and feels tender when poked with a spoon. If not done, grill for few more minutes keeping close eye on it as broiling can burn the food within seconds.
  14. Take them out and drizzle more melted butter on the hot grilled chicken tikkas! Serve them hot with green mint chutney and onion rings! Enjoy!
Notes
Alternative: Even if you don’t have an oven or don’t want to use it, you can still make and enjoy these chicken tikkas at home. Here is how! Once all your chicken & veggies are threaded, heat a grill pan or a tawa/griddle until smoking hot. Then brush it with melted butter. Now place the chicken tikkas on top and cook them in the hot grill pan over medium-high heat. Keep rotating the skewers every 2 minutes and let each side cook evenly. Drizzle melted butter in between while cooking the tikkas for enhanced flavor. Once the chicken pieces turn completely opaque on all sides and have charred at the outside, your tikkas are ready to serve!
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at https://www.flavorquotient.com/2020/05/best-ever-chicken-tikka-homemade/