Topic: CA's Chicken Tikka Masala

[missy]

One cheat when making big portions like I used to in my old pub, was to add sweet potato mash to the curry - it has a lovely flavour, blends in to the sauce and adds a bit of sweetness to this style of curry too.

Apart from that - I would use less base relative to the increased portion size, if that makes sense.

thanx for that Tom, I will look into that further.

[Unclefrank]

I cook mine on a low/medium heat stirring nearly all the time, because i am doing other stuff as well when cooking curries, so just make sure you dont cook it so much that it gets reduced too much (did this last week with CA's CTM recipe, was nice but flavour was a little intense,but you can always add water/stock etc to get back to that taste you are looking for).
 I know CA says in his recipe to add ladle at a time but i have just poured the whole base sauce in(due to not being able to add ladle at a time because of other stuff being prepared etc) and cooked on low heat for about 30-40 mins, you can see the "red oil" forming on the top of the sauce showing you that it is nearly ready.

Also dont forget to taste ALL the time.

My rule of thumb is never walk away from a cooking curry because you get used to seeing the reduction from start to the finished.

[missy]

I cook mine on a low/medium heat stirring nearly all the time, because i am doing other stuff as well when cooking curries, so just make sure you dont cook it so much that it gets reduced too much (did this last week with CA's CTM recipe, was nice but flavour was a little intense,but you can always add water/stock etc to get back to that taste you are looking for).
 I know CA says in his recipe to add ladle at a time but i have just poured the whole base sauce in(due to not being able to add ladle at a time because of other stuff being prepared etc) and cooked on low heat for about 30-40 mins, you can see the "red oil" forming on the top of the sauce showing you that it is nearly ready.

Also dont forget to taste ALL the time.

My rule of thumb is never walk away from a cooking curry because you get used to seeing the reduction from start to the finished.

Thanx for that. Will cook all of my curries for much longer now and on quite a high heat. I just made a large jalfrezi and madras and they are thicker and tastier now.

[Cory Ander]

So, like in CA's recipes he adds a laddle at a time, should I leave it cooking on very high heat for quite some time in between adding the laddles of base?

Absolutely, Phil, that's what you should do.  The whole process (and especially if using precooked meat) should take around 7 minutes (i.e. if you want BIR, rather than traditional, style).  I definitely wouldn't want to cook precooked chicken for too long...it will become very dry, and tough, I think.

If you are cooking large volumes, you need to ensure that your pan is big enough and that your heat source is strong/powerful/hot enough.  Otherwise, you will "stew", rather than "fry", the ingredients.  Adding liquids (e.g. curry base), a little at a time, on high heat, and evaporating the water content, is a good way to go.

You also need to ensure that you don't add too much of any other liquid (e.g. coconut milk).  Some ingredients will thicken the sauce (e.g. lentils, gram flour, coconut milk powder/flour, etc), but some will thin it (e.g. cream, milk, coconut milk, water, etc).  So, substituting one for another will influence the consistency of your sauce.

So. my "rule of thumb" (for BIR cooking at least) is high temp, short time.

[missy]

So, like in CA's recipes he adds a laddle at a time, should I leave it cooking on very high heat for quite some time in between adding the laddles of base?

Absolutely, Phil, that's what you should do.  The whole process (and especially if using precooked meat) should take around 7 minutes (i.e. if you want BIR, rather than traditional, style).  I definitely wouldn't want to cook precooked chicken for too long...it will become very dry, and tough, I think.

If you are cooking large volumes, you need to ensure that your pan is big enough and that your heat source is strong/powerful/hot enough.  Otherwise, you will "stew", rather than "fry", the ingredients.  Adding liquids (e.g. curry base), a little at a time, on high heat, and evaporating the water content, is a good way to go.

You also need to ensure that you don't add too much of any other liquid (e.g. coconut milk).  Some ingredients will thicken the sauce (e.g. lentils, gram flour, coconut milk powder/flour, etc), but some will thin it (e.g. cream, milk, coconut milk, water, etc).  So, substituting one for another will influence the consistency of your sauce.

So. my "rule of thumb" (for BIR cooking at least) is high temp, short time.

Cheers CA, the ones i've been having the most problems with are the CTM's and Korma's. Think I've been adding to much cream and not enough coconut powder, dessicated coconut. But, next time I cook these dishes I will add more and cook them longer on high heat. 

Do you think that if I'm making larger batches (about 1250ml of base sauce) I could add the chicken after frying the garlic and ginger paste, tomato paste, spices and about 500ml curry base together for about 5-7 mins?

I am gonna try cooking your chicken dhansak later on today, so I'll let you know how that goes on.

[sweetedge]

Hi CA, just wanted to say thank you so much - we tried this recipe last night and wow it was amazing!!  This is the 3rd recipe of yours we have tried and they have all been gorgeous so thank you very much  ;D ;D ;D xx

[curryhell]

Hi CA, just wanted to say thank you so much - we tried this recipe last night and wow it was amazing!!  This is the 3rd recipe of yours we have tried and they have all been gorgeous so thank you very much  ;D ;D ;D xx

He does make a damn fine curry, as do many others on here, past and present contributors.  Did you make it exactly to CA's spec using his gravy, spice mix etc?  And we do love a picture of the finished dish on here too ;D

[sweetedge]

oh yes he certainly does    I'm so glad we found this website - it's our curry bible!!  ;D ;D

We made it exactly to CA's spec and it turned out amazing! ;D  We did say after we had eaten it we should have taken a picture, but it was just so yummy it didn't last long I'm afraid!! haha  Next time we make it I shall get a picture in quick  ;D ;D

Tracy xxx

[976bar]

It's nice to see so many more new members on here trying all these wonderful recipes and not only enjoying, but posting their results too....

Well done to Stew for all his hard work in producing this website and bringing so many curry lovers together!!

Plus a thank you to all those contributing and mediating this site as well!!

[missy]

Hi CA,

I make all of your recipes now for my shop and supply business and the only dish I am having a few problems with and feel like needs improving is the CTM. It tastes good but is a little rich. I tried adding coconut powder and dessicated coconut but didn't like the flavour. I am also using whipped cream because it's the only cream that is readily available in Bangkok.

The following is the recipe I am making. What do you think I could add to it? Maybe some vegetables to break the richness? I really appreciate any advice you can give me.

Chicken Tikka Masala

serves 6

Ingredients:

48 pieces pre-cooked chicken tikka
8 tbsp oil 

- 4 tbsp fresh garlic and ginger (pureed)

- 5 tbsp tandoori masala
- 5 tsp curry masala
- 2 tsp chilli powder

- 4 tbsp tomato paste and
  1 tbsp Ketchup (diluted with 8 tbsp water)

- 5 cups curry base

- 4 tsp sugar (or to taste)
- 2 tsp salt (or to taste)

- 450 ml whipped cream