Chicken Tikka recipe with step by step photos and video . Chicken Tikka is a popular starter from India where boneless chicken pieces are marinated with yogurt and spices and then grilled to perfection. These grilled chicken bites are tender , juicy and burst with flavours.
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About this recipe
Tandoori chicken tikka is one of the most popular chicken appetizer/starter originating from North India . The word Tikka basically means "bits" or "pieces" orginated from Turkish word " Tike " which mean "pieces"
Boneless chicken pieces are mixed in hung curd and spices left for few hours to tenderize chicken and absorb all flavors. Its always essential to allow chicken in marination for minimum 3 hours. More hours of marination gives more flavourful chicken.
In any meat marination , its essential to make a marinade with acidic , salt and oil medium , as it allows meat to tenderize without addition of any chemicals . So you can see this 3 main ingredients in any meat marination. For acidic medium , you can use either lime juice or vinegar.
Also to get that authentic taste , secert here is to baste chicken tikka with butter at intervals while grilling in tandoor oven . This not ony avoids drying of chicken but enhances the taste.
Traditionally Chicken tikka was made in a clay oven also called ‘Tandoor’. But you can make it in an oven, microwave, air fryer, stove top or outdoor grill.
Here I made 1 batch of chicken in oven and other batch on stove top. But yields almost same taste without drying out the chicken. It was moist and juicy ! Additionally to give a smokey flavour , I have infused smoke using coal technique which makes this chicken tikka , to good to resist.
Also , do you love charred look on your chicken tikka? Then place it directly on high flame for few seconds to get charred spots on chicken tikka.
Checkout the video recipe !
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this delicious Chicken Tikka along with Mint Chutney / Mint Dip with a side of some sliced onions and lemon wedges. Also sprinkle some lemon juice and chaat masala over it , while serving.
You can also make a wrap out of it by placing some chicken tikka in a wrap along with mint dip , sliced onions , chopped coriander leaves and sprinking some chaat masala.
You can also make a salad by placing some chicken tikka on lettuce berg leaves along with cucumber and julliences of carrot , beetroot and cabbage with simple Vinaigrette dressing .
Step by Step directions to make Chicken Tikka recipe
Clean chicken , allow water to drain completely and then pat dry it with a kitchen paper towel.
In a mixing bowl , add spices, salt , hung curd, ginger, garlic paste, roasted gram flour , mustard oil, lime juice and mix well.
Add chicken pieces , mix well in marination and
allow to sit in refrigerator for minimum 3 hours or more. You can also keep marination overnight .
After 3 hours ,
add all the cubed vegetables to the chicken marinade ,
Mix gently and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
Now thread chicken and veggies alternatively on skewers.
You can either grill in 200 deg Celsius , preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Pause at midway around 10 minutes , and baste butter on tikka and continue to grill for another 8-10 minutes.
If making on stove top , in a frying pan , grease ½ tsp of mustard oil .
Arrange skewers on frying pan and
cook on medium heat rotating skewers at equal intervals.
Add ½ tbsp of butter on top of skewers , rotate skewers and continue to cook till done.
It took about 18 minutes for me to cook on medium flame.
To infuse smokey flavour :
Heat a piece of charcoal until it turns red hot .
Place a charcoal piece inside a small bowl , drizzle few drops of oil or ghee over it.
Keep charcoal bowl along with chicken tikka and immediately close the lid of frying pan. Let it sit for 8 or more minutes to absorb smokey flavour.
To get charred look :
Place chicken skewers directly on high flame and rotate for few seconds until charred spots appear on chicken tikka.
Remove , sprinkle some chaat masala and serve with mint chutney , lemon wedges and onion rings.
Recipe Card for Chicken Tikka
Recipe Card
Chicken Tikka | Bestever Chicken Tikka Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 grams Boneless Chicken
- ½ Cup Hung Curd
- 1 Tsp Ginger Paste
- 1 Tsp Garlic Paste
- 1.5 Tbsp Kasuri Methi / Dried Fenugreek leaves
- ¼ Tsp Turmeric Powder
- ½ Tsp Red Chilli Powder
- ½ Tsp Coriander Powder
- ½ Tsp Garam Masala
- ¼ Tsp Cumin / Jeera Powder
- ½ Tsp Black Pepper Powder
- 1.5 tbsp Roasted Besan / Gram Flour
- ½ Tbsp Mustard Oil
- ½ Tbsp Butter
- Lemon Juice: 1 Tbsp
- Salt to taste
For Dungar :
- 1 Piece of Charcoal
- Few drops of mustard oil or ghee
For Assembly :
- 10-12 skewers
- 1 cup Onion - Cut into cubes
- 1 cup Capsicum - Cut into cubes
- 1 cup Tomato - Cut into cubes
Instructions
- Clean chicken , allow water to drain completely and then pat dry it with a kitchen paper towel.
- In a mixing bowl , add spices, salt , hung curd, ginger, garlic paste, roasted gram flour , mustard oil, lime juice and mix well.
- Add chicken pieces , mix well in marination and allow to sit in refrigerator for minimum 3 hours or more. You can also keep marination overnight .
- After 3 hours , add all the cubed vegetables to the chicken marinade , keep it aside for 10 minutes.
- Now thread chicken and veggies alternatively on skewers.
- You can either grill in 200 deg Celsius , preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Pause at midway around 10 minutes , and baste butter on tikka and continue to grill for another 8-10 minutes.
- If making on stove top , in a frying pan , grease ½ tsp of mustard oil .
- Arrange skewers on frying pan and cook on medium heat rotating skewers at equal intervals.
- Add ½ tbsp of butter on top of skewers , rotate skewers and continue to cook till done. It took about 22 minutes for me to cook on medium flame. When done turn of the flame.
To infuse smokey flavour :
- Heat a piece of charcoal until it turns red hot .
- Place a charcoal piece inside a small bowl , drizzle few drops of oil or ghee over it.
- Keep charcoal bowl along with chicken tikka and immediately close the lid of frying pan. Let it sit for 5 or more minutes to absorb smokey flavour.
To get charred look :
- Place chicken skewers directly on high flame and rotate for few seconds until charred spots appear on chicken tikka.
- Remove , sprinkle some chaat masala and serve with mint chutney , lemon wedges and onion rings.
- Keep it inside stove top Brush with butter and grill for another 2-3 minutes to get that charred spots
- Serve hot with Pudina Chutney / Mint Chutney and Onion rings.
Video
Notes
- Skewers – Try to use metal skewers to thread the chicken pieces. They get hot and cook the chicken from inside as well. If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes before threading the chicken otherwise they will get burned.
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