A little piece of home...

My posts have been very universal in terms of food, I’ve been skipping between countries but now, with this last post I think its time to bring it home. Home for me is a traditional Pakistani dish known as Chicken Tikka. The word Tikka means bits, piecces or chunks. Chicken Tikka is an easy-to-cook dish in which chicken chunks are marinated in special spices and then grilled on skewers.

 

Ingredients that you will need:

• 1kg chicken fillets, cut into pieces
• ¼ cup natural yogurt
• 2½ teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
• 2½ teaspoons fresh garlic, crushed
• 50ml vegetable oil
• 2½ teaspoons salt
• 1½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons garam masala (spice mix)
• ½ teaspoon hot chilli powder (optional)
• 4 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2-3 pinches of tandoori colour or turmeric powder or 5 teaspoons sweet paprika powder (for colour)

Garnish:

• 1½ teaspoons chat masala (tangy spice mix)
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• onion rings
• Fresh coriander, chopped

 

 

Method

1. Blend the yogurt with a whisk then add all the other marinade ingredients. Mix well. Add the chicken fillets and ensure that they get well covered with the marinade. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
2. Before cooking insert chicken pieces onto skewers. If you want some vegetable to go with it, a great idea is to put a few pieces of capsicum or tomato in between the pieces of chicken on the skewer and grill them.
3. Cook the chicken until the surface is flecked with brown and the chicken gets tender, about 4 minutes on each side.
4. Arrange on a plate with either white rice or small wedges of limes or with Raita, cutney (mint yoghurt dip) and fresh salad. They can also be served with naan (bread).

This dish is easy to make with minimal effort and best of all is not very time consuming to make. So I hope you enjoy it!