A Chicken Tikka Korai is a slow cooked curry that’s well-liked in India, regions of Bangladesh as well as Pakistan. It comes in all dissimilarity and is commonly made with meat, such as chicken or lamb. Though, a vegetarian korai curry is also possible, which is equally delicious and appetizing as my other recipes.
Chicken Tikka Korai & its Significance
A Chicken Tikka Korai dish such as this chicken korai, is classically made in a karahi pot. So, you might actually know chicken tikka korai as chicken karahi curry.
The authentic meaning of Korai or karahi is an Indian cooking pot made from cast iron, identical to a wok. Karahi dishes are an Indian style of cooking other than a traditional recipe, so you’ll find the restaurant varieties can vary significantly. But the essential ingredients will be the same throughout. It is prepared with pieces of chicken cooked with onions, peppers, ginger, garlic, green chilies and fresh tomatoes.
Further names for this curry also include chicken kadai or chicken kadhi. Do any of these names sound conversant? Generally speaking, chicken korai or chicken karahi is one of the most admired chicken curries in restaurants or takeout.
All in all, this curry will only take you about an hour to prepare and cook. So, as you can see, it’s quite an effortless Indian Korai recipe. You can cook this takeaway dish on any night of the week!
What Spices Goes Into Chicken Tikka Korai?
As always, a Chicken Korai depends heavily on the type of Indian spices you utilize. Generally, to make my curry base sauce, I depend deeply on high quality spices. Sometimes, it’s quite challenging to find premium and fresh spices with plentiful oomph and fragrance.
However, this time fortuitously, I came across Steenbergs. Which I feel is blessing.
Steenbergs is a family-run company founded in North Yorkshire, which was established in 2003. They offer organic teas, organic stuffing mixes, herbs, spices, wellness products, home-baking extracts, flower waters along with other cooking ingredients.
Being highly committed to Fairtrade, all of their products are fairly sourced, organic, and environmentally-friendly. Above all, the products have excellent flavors and prevailing aromas to help you make vibrant dishes like this chicken korai.
Did you know that Steenbergs announced the first Fairtrade and organic vanilla extract to the UK and in Europe in 2007? Also, Steenberg is accountable for introducing the 1st Fairtrade saffron to the UK.
Generally, whether you would like to cook Indian dishes with brilliant spices, drink delicious teas or create fabulous baked goods, Steenbergs has something for everybody.
To pick up more about Steenbergs, click right here.
Ingredients Required
- 4 chicken breasts
- 4tbsp yoghurt
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 pieces of ginger(probably 1″in cubes)
- a handful of fresh coriander
- 2tbsp tikka paste
- 1/2tbsp Kashmir masala paste
- a pinch of salt
- 1tsp fenugreek
- 2tbsp mustard oil
- 1tbsp of coriander
- 1tbsp cumin
- 1tbsp turmeric
- a pinch of saffron colour powder(yellow food colouring)
- 1tbsp paprika
- 1tbsp curry powder
- 1tsp garam masala
- 1 onion diced
- 1 green pepper diced
- 1 tomato quartered
- 1tsp tomato puree
- 1tsp garlic chopped
- 1/4 pint of water
Best Spices For Indian Chicken Tikka Korai
There are three spices from Steenberg’s that eventually made this korai a total miracle.
Steenberg’s Organic Garam Masala
Garam masala is a traditional mixture of Indian spices. It is a sweet blend based around Punjabi recipes that lack the characteristic “curry” notes of cumin, coriander and turmeric. Thus, it is perfectly adaptable with other curry recipes, especially mild ones.
If you want to add extra flavour to the chicken korai, you can play around with the ratios for more impact. All things considered, I love this ayurvedic spice blend.
Steenberg’s Organic Chilli Powder
This chilli powder is prepared with dried organic chillies. Don’t confuse this chilli powder with other variabilities like the Mexican ones which holds cumin and herbs.
In terms of heat, it covers roughly 50,000 Scoville heat units making it medium-spicy. Again, depending on your likings, you can tweak the heat levels. If you are not a fan of chilli powder, you can also study other chilli powder substitutes.
Steenberg’s Organic Ground Coriander
Ground coriander is basically a must when it comes to Indian cooking. This spice is identified for its sweet lemony flavour. Yet again, if you are not a big fan, you can consider these coriander alternatives.
Instructions
- Marinate and then prepare chicken tikka pieces. You can use simmered chicken pieces if you don’t want to do chicken tikka.
- Add oil into the pan on a medium-high heat and then put in some onions. Cook until a little gold and translucent.
- Add the chilli and cook for 30-35 seconds.
- Add the garlic ginger paste and cook for 30-35 seconds.
- Add the ground cumin, Kashmiri chilli powder, ground coriander, paprika, salt and black pepper and cook for straight 1 minute, moving frequently. Add a splash of chicken stock so that the spices don’t burn.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, fresh coriander and vine ripened tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock in divisions whilst simmering, letting the curry to soak up some of stock separately. Which will end up greatly.
- Once all the stock has been combined, transfer to a blender to blitz. Wait for the curry to cool a little before doing this.
- Add the blended base back into the pan with a splish-splash of water and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the cooked chicken and cook gently for 1-2 minutes until you feel its good.
- Sprinkle the garam masala and Kasuri methi and stir.
- Serve and Enjoy!
Tips On Making The Best Chicken Tikka Masala
In order to make a chicken tikka masala accurate, you need a good base sauce.
Once you have that you need to choose how sweet you want your CTM (Chicken Tikka Masala). Many restaurants serve their tikka masala very sweetened. I desire mine to be more savoury. This is totally in your hands when you make your own. Just add more sugar if you want your masala to be sweeter.
Few chefs add coconut flour to their sauce. I add a little bit too. Not all chefs do this so if you aren’t a fan of coconut, just leave it out.
One more thing to consider is how creamy you want you CTM to be. I don’t add a lot of cream to mine but again, how much you add is down to your own personal likings.
