Topic: marinating tikka in base gravy

[martinr1000]

hi all, has anyone ever tried to cook tikka before having only marinated it in base gravy?

the reason i ask is that i had an amazing portion of tikka in my local the other day and i could have sworn that it had an underlying flavour that was the same as the madras that i had after it. the only difference for me was that it had nice big strips of coriander attached to it whereas the madras was just a smooth sauce.

I was chatting with the owner asking him how he does it and he says to combine tikka paste, tandoori paste, kashmiri masala paste, yoghurt and mix powder (no quantities unfortunately) but i can't see how that would have the mild flavour of the tikka i ate.

i think i will have to just do a base gravy marination and see what happens just to get it out of my system

[Malc.]

I would accept his comment on using paste, we know this is how many BIR/TA's do it. It migh tbe that he dilutes the paste with alot more yoghurt in comparison to to others.

[martinr1000]

i will be defo trying his method as well but i just wondered has anyone tried marinating in base?

he said to dilute the pastes with enough yoghurt to make a korma like consistancy.

[Fi5H]

I`ve thought about this before, I will be giving it a try next time i make tikka..

[Malc.]

I seriously doubt that marinating in a base would impart enough flavour to stand up alongside what we know as chicken tikka. The flavours in a base are just far too mild for that.

[martinr1000]

many of the marinades i've tried up to now have (dare i say it) imparted too much flavour.

take for instance Dipurajas tandoori recipe lots of paste, garlic, mix powder etc. and the result for me was something that was overpowering.

the one i had on wednesday was much more subtle, the flavour was there but none of the over tartness or over saltyness that i've experienced by making up marinade with pastes.

i reckon i'll give it a go, it can't hurt and it looks like for once the weekend will be kind enough to let me get the tandoor out. maybe i can do a trial that includes more than just base i.e. mix powder, tomato paste etc.

[Malc.]

I'm sure you'll get something from it as you say, it can't hurt to give it a go. But I don't  think it will be anything like the tikka your used to.

I know what you mean about the pastes. I recently tried a local TA that I had never visited and by admission they said they used Patak's pastes. I tried various dishes and all were far too salty and over powering. I think this is where recipes such as Dipurajah's should be taken with a pinch of salt, pardon the pun.

Pastes are already balanced with seasoning adding them together will unbalance them. If used in larger quantities over added ingredients like yoghurt, the end result will be very overpowering.

It will be interesting to see what results your tests reveal.

[Razor]

Hi Martin,

I think what you will end up with is just another variation of pre-cooked chicken,  it will no doubt have a nice flavour but, good tikka usually has a bit of charring on it. To try and char chicken, marinated in the way that you are suggesting, I think you would end up overcooking the chicken.

By all means, give it a go, but I don't think it will be tikka as we know it.

Ray

[martinr1000]

Hi all, well i had a go at some tikka marinated in base gravy yesterday.

i hedged my bets a bit and did one batch with just gravy and another with gravy, mix powder, garlic paste and tomato paste.

i also did a batch made up as close as i could to the directions given to me by the owner of my local. i.e. pastes and yogurt.

predictably the yoghurt one came out overpowering with a grainy texture (not at all like the curry house one - perfectly edible but not what i'm looking for).

the one with just base sauce was a non-starter i marinated for about 24 hours and the chicken had taken on no colour and just looked like chicken breast (i didn't cook that as it was)

the one i did with mix powder and garlic came out surprisingly very well. lovely flavour no grainyness not overpowering in the slightest. nowhere near the flavour from my curryhouse but it didn't matter, tasted great.

i need to refine and experiment with this a bit but i will be doing it again.

ps i do have a picture but i need to figure out how to get it off my phone.

[Malc.]

I think most of us would agree that they are fairly predictable results, but well done for giving it a go. It's all part of the journey to finding out what works and doesn't work.

I've often played about only to find something quite different but tasty. My only advice, write down what you do, i'm forever forgetting what I did and fail to recreate it. :