Topic: Chicken Tikka Masala

[Hargiwald]

Indeed, they vary. When I was new here, which I still kind of am, I tried to emulate my favourite CTM. As I am lactose intolerant I wanted to be able to make it at home with cream and milk free from lactose, since I couldn't eat it there any more. Then recently I decided to have one from them to see if I had in any way come close, and guess what, they had changed it! It was still delicious, but suddenly it tasted carroty and more coconuty and with less cardamom than before. When you can't even have the same CTM in the same place I guess that says alot about how varied the curries are in different places. And CTM being so mild is extra hard to get right, no heat to cover your cock-ups.

[Cory Ander]

And CTM being so mild is extra hard to get right, no heat to cover your cock-ups.

I totally agree with that Hargiwald....it seems to me that the milder the curry, the harder it is to reproduce!

[George]

I just made the Madras, and I have to say even though I added lemon juice and thinned it out quite a bit as it was too thick in consistency, I was not overly impressed.
Also I only added 100ml of oil instead of the 250ml oil recommended and I found that it was still far too oily, bearing in mind that I only used the 250ml of base as recommended, I'm afraid that my confidence in making BIR curries has gone back down to zero again.I think your right Corry, we still haven't cracked it yet.......

When I found this thread, I hoped it would be about Chicken Tikka Masala, as per the subject heading. Some hope! As I see it, there's no shortage of dozens of recipes worth trying for CTM, Kormas, Dhansaks and most other BIR dishes. so I can't see a problem there. With respect, you altered the Madras recipe so much by reducing the oil from 250ml to 100ml that your results can't really be valid, can they?

It always make me laugh how some people tend to reduce oil, salt and other unhealthy ingredients when trying to recreate BIR curries at home.  Wrong! BIR curries must be about the least healthy food out there. Do you ask how many ml of oil they put in your BIR curry before ordering at the BIR? I doubt it, so if you want to recreate a similar dish at home, you probably need to add lots of oil and an incredible amount of salt.

[976bar]

No wonder we're the biggest nation in Europe for heart attacks then... As BIR seems to be the national dish here now

[Derek Dansak]

Ok so what are the best 2 ctm recipies on this site? i have been meaning to make this for 1 year. they seem to have got lost since this site has been modified. Is the ck ctm the best here ? cheers

[Derek Dansak]

Found the missing ctm links, sorry. is the ck ctm all that ?

[976bar]

Right!!!!

If you want the healthy style, I made this last night and it was fabulous and not a base or a depletion on the worlds oil sources either....



CTM

Chicken Tikka Masala


Ingredients
300gms. boneless chicken breast
100 gms finely chopped Onions
3 finely chopped fresh tomato 
1 cup single cream
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp mace & cardamom powder
1/4 tsp fenugreek powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
4 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt To Taste
1 tbsp butter
50gms Almond powder
Honey to taste

How to make masala:
Cut the chicken into 2 inch cubes. 
Take fry pan add oil, then fry Onions to Golden Brown , then ginger and garlic, remaining spices, tomato  and salt. Cook over low heat until reduced to a thick sauce. Add chicken tikka, butter and cream. 
Add fenugreek, Sugar, almond powder and honey. Garnish with fresh coriander or cream.


Ok, for starters I did not have any mace powder so left that out. I made my Cardamom powder from the seeds of green cardamoms. I used a quarter of a teaspoon which I found a little overpowering, so in future I will use an 1/8th of a teaspoon.

I had no honey, so I used maple syrup and I also added one teaspoon of tomato puree.

I also had no fresh tomatoes, so I used half a 400g can of plump italian plum tomatoes.

After having cooked the onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, salt and remaining spices, I blended the lot to a smooth puree in a food blender.

Then I returned it all to the pot and continued from there. I only had double cream so I used some of that and then thinned it out a bit with some semi skimmed milk.

I have been making CTM quite badly at home for some years, but I have never seen this demolished by my kids so quickly ever!!

I thought I had some left over for lunch today, but when I looked in the fridge I found that my daughter had stolen it last night to take to work with her for her lunch!!! grrrrrrrrr

This is really worth a try, and I know I will be slated by all the BIR fanatics on this web site.... sorry guys/gals, but it is very good...

[George]

And many thanks If the person who forwarded this to me will reveal himself...

I hope I'm wrong but is it fair of you to (a) reveal the originator's real name and (b) rush straight over here to post a recipe which he sent to you, presumably in confidence? If he'd wanted to publish the recipe here, I guess he would have done. Unless and until he indicates he's OK with your post, I suggest you should remove it.

[joshallen2k]

DD - I think the CK CTM is the best on the site. That said its only about 90% to the best I've had... Personal taste anyway.

[976bar]

Sorry George, and sorry to everyone for revealing the originators details, but I was so impressed with this recipe that I wanted to share it with everyone. It didn't occur to me that the originator would not have wanted this......

I now feel ashamed as I did not want in anyway to reveal anyones identity. I think I should remove myself from this site.