Topic: chicken tikka from the Zaal in Fleet

[Madrasandy]

Looks tasty CH
I love blades version but find it too overpowering to be used in a curry, where as this one, without any pastes, is going to be more subtle in flavour.
Will give it a go this weekend

[livo]

The problem of Tandoori spiced chicken overpowering the dish when used in curry seems to be often experienced and discussed. I had the same thing happen last week in a CTM and a butter chicken even though the Tandoori and Tikka alone were delicious.  I found that the curries really balanced out and mellowed after a day or 2 in the fridge. Most traditional curries improve with a rest and I often cook these a day or 2 ahead. BIR is instant so it is more an issue

Of course there really is no need to find a different recipe to solve this issue. Simply reducing the amounts of pastes and Masala in the marinade stage will effect a change in the impact the tandoori or tikka has on the final dish. You can also reduce your spicing at assembly..

[ELW]

The problem of Tandoori spiced chicken overpowering the dish when used in curry seems to be often experienced and discussed. I had the same thing happen last week in a CTM and a butter chicken even though the Tandoori and Tikka alone were delicious.  I found that the curries really balanced out and mellowed after a day or 2 in the fridge. Most traditional curries improve with a rest and I often cook these a day or 2 ahead. BIR is instant so it is more an issue

Of course there really is no need to find a different recipe to solve this issue. Simply reducing the amounts of pastes and Masala in the marinade stage will effect a change in the impact the tandoori or tikka has on the final dish. You can also reduce your spicing at assembly..

Cutting the amount of spice in general and either thinning the yoghurt with milk or not using it at all( I use milk only), is the way I adapt the standard tandoori/ tikka recipes for my home oven
Thick yoghurt marinade recipes tend to clump and curdle and end up with the grainy texture that you you see in many of the pics on here
Too much spice, be it paste or powders, relative to the other ingredients,  ends up bitter tasting, marinades or curries imo



ELW

[livo]

You are right about the sometimes grainy appearance and texture of "Thick Curd" marination.  It does get a bit caked on and transfer a lot of spice to the final curry dish.  Some Tandoori / Tikka recipes actually stipulate to transfer excess marinade from the bowl to the meat before, and again during, the cooking process.

I recall reading somewhere a few years ago a discussion about the use of Yogurt / Curd in the marination of meats and especially chicken. It maybe on this site, I can't remember where I read it. Specifically, it related to the actual conditioning affect that a yogurt marinade has on the fibres of the meat and the time that should be allowed in such marination.  There was some pretty contradictory arguments in that some recipe instructions call for minimum overnight, 24 or even up to 48 hours and obviously this is a fairly common practise. From memory, apparently food science actually recommends only 30 minutes to an hour in a yogurt based marinade otherwise it starts to have a detrimental affect on the tissue and can actually lead to break down, toughening and / or drying out.

I know that I have experienced purchased Takeaway Tikka that was clearly left in a yogurt based marinade for way too long and you can't miss the tell-tale, almost powdery texture of the resultant chicken.  In my own cooking experience, I can't say I've had problems with a 24 hour marinade but I'm usually equally happy with one that is performed over a much shorter period.

[littlechilie]

Just following up on CH excellent looking chicken spread, also Jb

[Madrasandy]

Finally got round to having a crack at this, chicken was left to marinade for 24 hours and then cooked last night under the grill.
I squeezed off as much of the yoghurt marinade as I could before cooking as I was going to be adding to a curry.

Produced a very nice tikka, worked really well in the curry and I still have a tub of chicken marinating in the fridge for tonights tea

CH did you add any food colouring? Yours certainly is redder than mine, maybe the tandoori powder used