This is a perennial favourite with everyone. The recipe is easy and merely requires a day's forethought to prepare. Chicken Tikka can be eaten as a starter dish with a little salad; or with roti; in a sandwich with a feta cheese salad or tossed into a sauce to make the well-known and beloved 'Chicken Tikka Masala'!

Chicken Tikka is often cooked in a Tandoor in restaurants, but you can make it in a conventional oven or on a barbecue.

Ingredients

6 Boneless skinned chicken thighs (500g)
10 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Heaped Tablespoons sour yoghurt
2 Teaspoons of finely chopped fresh garlic
2 Teaspoons of finely chopped fresh ginger
1 - 3 Teaspoons of finely chopped green chillies
Juice of ½ a lemon (2-3 Tablespoons of concentrated lemon juice)

Spices
If you have Chicken Tikka ready-mixed spice powder then you can use this instead of making your own. Test the quantity required by adding half a spoon of the powder, then a little more, a little more etc. Otherwise use the following spice mixture.

1 teaspoon ground coriander (dhana)
2 teaspoons ground cumin (jeera)
½ Teaspoon ground cinnamon (taj)
¼ Teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of ground cardamom (eliachi)
1-2 Teaspoons of salt
¼ Teaspoon of food colouring (orange or red)
Pinch of ground pomegranate (Anardana) - optional

Method

Dice the chicken thighs into pieces about 1 inch square and pierce gently with a fork.

Place all the ingredients into a glass bowl and mix thoroughly. At this stage it will take on a glorious sunshine hue if you used orange food colouring or a rather alarming pink colour if you used red. Place the chicken pieces into the marinade and ensure that each piece is coated thoroughly.

Cover with cling film and set aside for 24 hours. You can place the mixture into the refrigerator, but remove it about 1 hour before cooking.

To oven-cook the Tikka, cover a high-lipped baking tray with foil. Coat the foil lightly with a little oil and arrange the Tikka pieces onto the tray. Cover the pieces with any remaining marinade.

Cook in the middle of the oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes turning the pieces every 5 minutes. Continue to brush the pieces with marinade or oil during the cooking process to prevent them drying out.

If barbecuing, skewer each piece into a thin metal rod and cook for about 15 minutes - brushing the pieces with oil and turning the skewer frequently.

Do not allow the chicken to burn. Once cooked through, remove the pieces from the oven and allow the meat to rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

To serve

You can serve Chicken Tikka as a starter with a little salad and mint sauce or you can serve it as a Tikka Sandwich.

Chicken Tikka Sandwiches

Ingredients
Pitta Bread or thin pitta wraps
Feta Cheese Salad
Houmous
Chicken Tikka
Mint Sauce
Chill Sauce

To make your sandwich, first warm the pitta bread. If you are using conventional pitta bread, slice it in half and smear generously with houmous. Fill your pitta packet with salad, Add 2-3 pieces of Chicken Tikka, garnish with mint sauce, and/or chilli sauce and enjoy.

If you are using a circular piece of pitta bread then you need to smear it with houmous, place your salad and chicken evenly over the wrap. Fold the bottom third of the circle and roll into a pitta wrap. Garnish with mint and/or chilli sauce and enjoy.

Mint Sauce

This is a cheat's recipe for Mint sauce. Purchase a bottle of mint sauce - the kind you would eat with roast lamb. Mix 1 teaspoon with 4 tablespoons of sour yoghurt and 'viola!' you have mint sauce.

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