Alfred Prasad's chicken tikka recipe simmers the chicken in creamed fresh tomatoes flavoured with ginger, fenugreek leaves and honey, making a deliciously savoury combination. Kasoori methi is available from Indian grocery stores or to buy online. The recipe does require 4 hours marinating for the chicken tikka, so if easier, start to prepare the recipe the day before
Method
1.
To make the chicken tikka, mix the chicken with the ginger, garlic paste and salt and set aside
2.
Whisk the yoghurt, chilli powder, garam masala powder and oil together, then add to the chicken and marinate for a minimum of 4 hours
3.
Grill the marinated chicken in the tandoor, on a barbecue or under a hot grill until cooked through. Leave to cool, cut into bite-sized bits, cover with cling wrap and leave aside
4.
For the makhni sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan. Pierce the green chillies a few times with sharp knife and add to the pan along with the whole spices and ginger and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer over a medium flame for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked to pulp
5.
Pass the cooked tomatoes through a conical strainer or sieve and leave the sauce to one side. Transfer the contents of the strainer onto a tray, remove as many of the whole spices and green chillies as possible, then purée the rest in a blender with a little water if required. Pass through a sieve and add the extract to the sauce
6.
Put the sauce back on the heat and bring to the boil. Add the chilli powder, salt, honey, tomato paste and butter and simmer for a further 20 minutes
7.
Sprinkle with the crushed kasoori methi and the sauce is ready to use
8.
To finish, sauté the bits of chicken tikka in a small amount of butter. Sprinkle the chicken with some roughly chopped toasted cashew nuts
9.
Add the makhni sauce and the cream and simmer for a few minutes. Serve garnished with a swirl of cream
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