
Malai Chicken Tikka
I’m not going to waffle on today but here is a nice and light malai chicken tikka recipe. You may have had the bright red chicken tikka; malai (cream) chicken tikka is the softer and creamier sister of the bunch and a breeze to make! Plus, it is the perfect dish for this bbq weather right now.
If you are not allergic to nuts, I highly recommend adding in some cashew nut paste (just blitz up cashew nuts with a tiny bit of water) and adding it to the marinade. This makes for a super duper creamy version and is how Indian restaurants nail it every time. Just add it in to the cream and yoghurt marinating mixture.
Equipment I used for this recipe:
MALAI CHICKEN TIKKA RECIPE
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
½ kg boneless chicken, breast or thigh, cut into pieces
½ tsp salt
1.5 heaped tsp garlic
1 heaped tsp ginger
Juice of ½ a lemon
4 tbsp thick yoghurt
½ tsp cardamom powder
4 green chillies
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
1 large handful of coriander leaves
2 tbsp grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese
60ml double cream
1 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp butter, melted
Pinch of chaat masala
METHOD
- Marinate chicken with salt, garlic, ginger, and lemon. Leave this to the side for 15-20 minutes.
- In a blender, blitz the yoghurt, cardamom powder, green chillies, coriander, garam masala, salt and pepper together. Taste to see if anything needs to be added.
- In a bowl, mix together the double cream and cornflour. Add in the yoghurt mixture and mix well. Then mix in the chicken and grated cheese.
- Cover this in cling film and leave this to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour – an overnight marinade will be really great as the chicken will be softer and tender.
- Take the chicken out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking and soak the wooden skewers in water. Turn on the grill or bbq.
- Shake off the excess marinade from the chicken and skewer the pieces. Place on a tray under the grill or put on the bbq grill for 12-15 minutes. Baste the skewers with melted butter every 5 minutes.
- Once the skewers are cooked, sprinkle on some chaat masala and serve with salad or rice.