Chicken tikka
Chicken, marinated in yogurt and spices, and baked at super high heat!
Chicken Tikka
Time: 2 hours, +marinating | Difficulty: 2/5 | Recommendation: A slow weeknight or weekend
This is a typical appetizer at Indian restaurants, that’s basically just chicken, marinated in yogurt with lemon juice and a bunch of spices, and baked a really high heat. Traditionally it would be made in a tandoor (a super hot clay oven), but this recipe achieves the same crispy, charred exterior and soft, juicy interior, just using your oven and a grill pan! This recipe is for one person, but for me it makes a bit more than a meal—so leftovers also works great in a sandwich, either as a naan-taco or with normal bread.
Ingredients/Tools:
1 chicken breast
Yogurt
Chickpea flour/besan
Lemon juice
Peanut oil
Spices: Tandoori masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, ginger powder, paprika, salt, pepper
Wooden skewers
Grill pan (you can usually find one in the drawer under your oven!!)
Method:
Chop up the chicken into 1-inch cubes or so, and put in a bowl.
Add a good amount of yogurt (about 1.5x to twice the amount of chicken), a tbsp of chickpea flour, and stir well.
Add in all the spices and stir until well mixed. Then sprinkle in some lemon juice and about a tsp of peanut oil. Mix and marinate for at least two hours, or overnight.
When you’re ready to bake, heat the oven to 475°. Soak some wooden skewers (skip if using metal), then skewer the chicken pieces.
Brush the grill pan well with peanut oil. Place two skewers and bake for about 25 minutes, until the outside has little charred bits and the inside is at least 165°.
Enjoy with yogurt, or raita, or sliced red onion, or a parotta or roti or naan, or potatoes, or ANYTHING!!