This was on the drafts for a long time now. My colleague Cyndy asked me this recipe few days ago, I heard it partially and posted Chicken tikka . She had asked this for her friend Barbara, who mailed me next day asking about tikka masala that is served in Indian stores here. For one or the other reason, I could not make it before and I finally prepared it over the weekend. It was delicious.
Few days back when I went to an Indian restaurant here, I saw a blood red colored gravy with chicken pieces in it, named as ‘chicken tikka masala ‘. The taste was good, but I started wondering why they call it tikka masala . For sure, those pieces were not tikkas – chicken pieces marinated in a spicy paste and then grilled in tandoor . After I returned home, I started wondering if my knowledge about this dish was wrong. I googled and finally I was sure that my knowledge of this dish was correct. There is one possibility that, the restaurant chefs might have added marinated pieces in the sauce but after heating it for few times, the coating of the pieces might have got dissolved in the sauce.
Like any other Indian recipe, there are many versions for this recipe. This is my version of it. It came out real good. So I thought of sending it to RP’s JFI tomatoes .
Ingredients: 8-10 chicken tikkas 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 tea spn ginger-garlic paste 1 cup tomato paste (boil tomatoes in hot water, peel and grind) 1/2 cup cream 1 tea spn chili powder 1/2 tea spn cumin powder 1/2 tea spn coriander powder 1/2 tea spn garam masala (optional) 1/2 tea spn sugar Oil Salt
Method: Prepare chicken tikkas , make sure to use small pieces of chicken for it.
Heat oil and fry onion, ginger-garlic paste. When onions turn slightly brownish, add tomato paste, all dry powders, sugar and salt. Cook for 3-4mins. Add cream, mix and now add tikkas , cook for another 2-3mins. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 15mins
PS: I prefer to add the pieces to gravy around 30mins before serving to stop the tikka covering getting dissolved in gravy.
Saarina pudi
This Saarina Pudi is a special spice powder used in most of the Udupi gravies and sambars . This is very different than normal sambar powders. I like to make it fresh because it looses the aroma as days pass, but if you cannot, store in the freezer in airtight container.
Few dishes where this can be used are beLe saru , puLi koddel etc
Ingredients: 10-12 red chilies 1 cup coriander seeds 1/4 cup fenugreek seeds 1/2 cup cumin seeds Coconut oil 10-12 curry leaves 1/4 cup dry coconut (optional)
Method: Heat oil and fry all the ingredients on a very low flame. Take care not to burn anything. Powder all of them together. This powder can be saved up to 7 days. As days pass, the aroma of the powder decreases. If you want to save it for longer, put in an airtight container and keep in freezer.
