Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken tikka masala is a dish consisting of roasted marinated chicken chunks (chicken tikka) in spiced curry sauce. The curry is usually creamy and orange-coloured. There are differing theories regarding the geographic origin of the dish, broadly split between those attributing it to cooks from South Asia living in Great Britain, and those that view it as first created on the Indian subcontinent. The dish is offered at restaurants around the world and was described by former UK foreign secretary Robin Cook as “a true British national dish.”

Composition

Chicken tikka masala is composed of chicken tikka, boneless chunks of chicken marinated in spices and yogurt that are roasted in an oven, served in a creamy curry sauce. A tomato and coriander sauce is common, but no recipe for chicken tikka masala is standard; a survey found that of 48 different recipes, the only common ingredient was chicken. The sauce usually includes tomatoes (frequently as purée), cream, coconut cream and a masala spice mix. The sauce and chicken pieces may be coloured orange using foodstuffs such as turmeric, paprika, tomato purée or with food dye.

The dish shares some similarity with butter chicken, both in the method of creation and appearance. The main difference is that chicken tikka masala uses a tomato gravy rather than a non-gravy sauce.