Bollywood Cooking: Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala (02) by MeetaK

The chicken tikka masala is known all around the world as one of the most popular Indian dishes. The irony of the chicken tikka masala, better known as CTM, though is that what is often enjoyed in restaurants as a traditional Indian dish has very little to do with authentic Indian cuisine.

When Bee of the fantastic blog Rasa Malaysia wrote to me asking me if I would be interested in being a guest writer on her blog I was extremely ecstatic. Bee wanted me to help her show her readers how to cook a chicken tikka masala. She cracked me up when she referred to me as "a real Indian food expert" - I was flattered but modestly and in all honesty admit that I do not consider myself an expert in Indian food and the irony of this is that I am going to be showing Bee and her readers how to cook "Britain's true national dish".

You'll find my recipe for chicken tikka masala and the entire post, taking a closer look at the origins of the dish over at Rasa Malaysia.

Tell me what you think?

Bee, I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do and thank you for having me over as your guest.

You might like these flavorful chicken dishes from WFLH:

Butter Chicken 01 framed Chicken Curry01 ArabianChicken01
Butter Chicken Chicken Curry Spicy Arabian Chicken


All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2008 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First

Continue »

26 comments:

  1. Meeta, thanks for such a great post. It's a real honor to have you as a guest writer, really, plus now I will know how to make a killer CTM. :)

    Drool, I think I can't wait now I have to go to my Indian restaurant to buy now. I am not kidding.

    Thanks again. :)

    Best,
    Bee

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Meeta!

    A really big honor to do a guest post at Rasa Malaysia.

    Congrats for you as Indian food expert ..I love chicken tikka masala when I can...but first time I see that is more British than Indian ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. My dear! Have you been reading my mind?! I recently asked Manisha if she had a good recipe and here you have posted one with gorgeous photos to boot! Now you make me scrunch my nose at my own dinner :) Thank you so much for the recipe. You are a GEM!!! xxoo

    ReplyDelete
  4. great post, Meeta - CTM and Chicken Saag are two of my absolute favorite Indian dishes (eaten with lots and lots of naan, of course). Speaking of which, do you have a good recipe for naan? I can't wait to try my hand at CTM, thanks for the recipe :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I read your post at Rasa Malaysia! I'll just report my comment here:
    Great and informative post! My husband and I love chicken tikka masala but never knew about its colorful origins! Thanks for shedding some light :) Coming from a country that has been influenced by several foreign cultures (conquerors, haha), I am very familiar with having food (and everything else...myself included!) that is never "100% pure" ethnically, or with disputed origins. But my view is simple: If I like the way it tastes, I eat it :) Thanks for sharing this recipe! I hope I will soon be able to make some of these favorite Indian dishes (which I love!) from scratch!

    Thanks Meeta! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Another rich and tasty looking dish. Now I will have to go and read the recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just went and cheked the recipe.
    CTM looks so yumm it is one of the dishes i make when i give a full indian dinner and till now i have never known anyone who don't enjoy this Brittish favourite Indian dish.
    Yours look fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good for you Meeta...I'm going across to Rasa Malaysia to check out your post. Of course you are an authority on Indian food!!I love CTM & can't wait to see your post.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Meeta, your CTM looks so much nicer :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Regardless of the true origins, you did a beauty of a job with that dish. Plus, the way I see it, CTM is like the gateway indian dish to get people trying more indian food, so British or not, its a good thing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. wow tikka masala is my favourite. Usually though I buy a spice mix ready made. I ll try this recipe next time. You re great !!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. It's certainly a popular dish and I didn't know the story behind it. On the bright side...nice to see how Indian cuisine is an influence.

    ReplyDelete
  13. If there's one thing I like as much as butter chicken ... it's CTM, this is a fantastic recipe, Meeta!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great to see you at Rasa Malaysia! I love chicken tikka masala; it's one of the first Indian dishes I ever tasted, and remains one of my favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Meeta,

    I did go to the Indian restaurant for CTM but they were closed. The waiter was telling me they are closed, I begged and said "I wanted to order CTM to go" and he said "NO, we are close." I felt like an episode of Sienfeld "No soup for you." LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  16. thanks everyone. glad you liked my guest blog for chicken tikka masala and the chicken tikka masal recipe on RM. i had a lot of fun doing this.

    Jen - lol did Manisha have a good recipe for you? Glad I could help. I make it a point not to blog hop before i eat. LOL!

    Bee - you do not have to go to a restaurant now. You have the recipe! LOL! Try it at home and you can forget the restaurant version.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I've already commented on Rasa Malaysia, but wow...this deserves another comment. Love your Bollywood Cooking title! Hehe!

    ReplyDelete
  18. A wonderful and informative write up. Beeeeeeeeautiful pictures!
    And thank you for the recipe too! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Very nice... This is one of those dishes that I can never get tired of.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I've eaten tikka masala, it's just lovely. Nice post, Meeta.

    ReplyDelete
  21. what a gorgeous looking CTM. Have a good weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I won't cook CTM on principle, just to prove a point that it's not Indian! Bit silly, really...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wow..! this looks so delicious. I love very much chicken tikka masala. This is one of my favourite indian food.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I have just made your Chicken Tikka Masala and I have to say it is sooo delicious!

    Thanks for a great recipe!!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. so glad that everyone's enjoying this!

    Malika please break your principle just this once. You will love this!

    Marija - I love what you did with it!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi! I love CTM but unfortunately, am not able to find paprika powder in the shops.. can the recipe do without paprika powder? or is there a substitute? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hugs
Meeta